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 Ce...
