Geologist, Paleontologist

—USGS: Science for a changing world —

After earning her doctorate in geology from Johns Hopkins University (1911), Julia Anna Gardner worked for the USGS as a contractor. In 1917 during World War I, she volunteered as an auxiliary nurse with the Red Cross in France, often working on the front lines. In 1920, she rejoined the USGS and studied the coastal plain along the Atlantic and Gulf shores from Maryland to Mexico. She produced over forty scientific reports and papers.

During WWII, she was part of the USGS Military Geology Unit (MGU), which provided maps, aerial photographs, and other related information to the military. During this tour of duty, Dr. Gardner helped to identify beaches in Japan from which balloon-borne incendiary bombs were launched against the Pacific coast of the United States. Using her knowledge of coastal paleontology, she identified marine animal shells from Japanese beaches in the sand ballast of the balloons.

Dr. Gardner served as President of the Paleontological Society, and Vice President of the Geological Society of America. Upon her retirement from the USGS in 1952, she was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the U.S. Department of the Interior's highest honor.

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