Linda_Zall

Linda Zall

Linda Zall

American environmental scientist

Linda Zall is an environmental scientist who previously worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. While at the CIA she was responsible for establishing in 1992 a task force named Medea, which specialized in using spy satellite images to produce environmental data.[1][2]

Biography

Zall grew up in North Hornell, New York as the oldest of three children. Her father was the manager of a large dairy.[1] He later became a professor at Cornell University, retiring as Professor Emeritus.[3]

Education and career

Zall received a PhD in civil and environmental engineering from Cornell University (1976). While at the school, she was mentored by Donald James Belcher.[1]

After graduation, she worked from 1975 to 1984 at the Earth Satellite Corporation and used computers to enhance Landsat images, so that details in the satellites' scanned details could be more easily accessed. In 1985, she moved to the CIA. There, she led teams of scientists and became instrumental in realizing the potential power of spy satellites to keep track of numerous environmental problems and the changes that could be seen from space, an activity that she has called "environmental sleuthing." She retired from the CIA in 2013.[1]

She was awarded the Career Intelligence Medal by CIA Director John Brennan in 2013, and the Intelligence Medal of Merit by CIA Director George Tenet in 2000.[1] In 2023, Zall was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Personal life

Zall married and divorced Charles Sheffield, an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction writer. The pair had two daughters Elizabeth and Victoria Sheffield.[4][5]

References

  1. [1]
    Broad, William (5 January 2021). "Inside the C.I.A., She Became a Spy for Planet Earth". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  2. [2]
    Sanchez, Kate (5 January 2021). "Go read these stories about the use of spy satellite images in environmental studies". The Verge. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  3. [3]
    https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.cornell.edu/dist/3/6798/files/2016/01/Robert-Zall-1co3ekv.pdf
  4. [4]
    Pace, Eric (9 January 2002). "Charles Sheffield, 67, Physicist And Author of Science Fiction". New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  5. [5]
    Estrada, Louie (3 November 2002). "Charles Sheffield Dies at 67". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
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