FREE ESSAY ON DR. BRENDA J. LITTLE

DR. BRENDA J. LITTLE

Dr. Brenda J. Little of the Naval Research Laboratory Stennis Space Center is the
recipient of the 1995 women in Science and Engineering Award. This award recognizes
specific or special scientific or technical contributions by a woman scientist in the
Federal service and specific contributions made by a woman scientist toward encouraging
young girls and women to pursue science or engineering careers, or enhance employment,
promotional or development opportunities for women scientists in their field. Dr. Little,
head of the Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion Section at NRL, has worked on MIC
projects for the Department of Energy and the U. S. Army, and has served as a consultant
to the U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Atomic Energy
Laboratory of Canada.
In addition to her accomplishments in basic research, Dr. Little also works on U. S. Navy
platforms to identify and control MIC. Her research has been used to determine the cause
of corrosion failures in weapons systems, seawater piping systems, storage tanks and
other U. S. Navy equipment. She is currently 
investigating fungal growths on wooden spools and corrosion of wire ropes used to
transfer people and 
weapons between ships.
In 1988 Dr. Little received a patent award for an innovative dual-cell corrosion
measuring device, the only published technique for quantifying the electrochemical impact
of microorganisms on metal surfaces. In 1985 she was selected by the National Science
Foundation as one of eight American Scientists to attend a workshop on biodeterioration
in La Plata, Argentina, and to attend a similar NSF workshop in Paris, France in 1988.
Dr. Little is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Mississippi and Montana
State University, 
and has collaborative research with investigators at Harvard University, University of
Southern California, 
University of South Alabama, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M University, Naval Surface
Warfare Center, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 
The Singing River Chapter of the American Business Women's Association selected Dr.
Little as one of the 
ten 1990 Women of the Year on the Gulf Coast for her participation in programs for women
in science and 
technology. She has been keynote speaker for several Women in Science and Technology
Conferences for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, has participated in career
day programs sponsored by the 
Girl Scouts Chapters of Mississippi, and has presented lectures at honors classes in
chemistry and biology 
and local schools.
She is a member of the American Chemical Society, the Adhesion Society, the
Electrochemical Society, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, Sigma Xi,
Federally Employed Women, and the Mississippi Academy of Science. She has served the Gulf
Coast Chapter of Sigma Xi as secretary, president-elect, president and past president. 
In addition to numerous performance awards, Dr. Little was selected for Who's Who in
Technology Today and American Men and Women in Science in 1986, received NRL publications
awards in 1981 and 1986, received an invention award and Best NRL Patent Award for 1989,
and the NRL Alan Berman Research Publication Award in 1994.