91视频

Teresa Elliott wanted to be an astronaut when she was younger and, while she remained earthbound, her interest in science and engineering led her to become the first woman to head the Portland Water Bureau.

She joined the water bureau in 1996 after earning her degree in civil engineering from Portland State University. As the bureau’s chief engineer she manages about 125 people and oversees a range of projects, all of which incorporate a seismic component.

In fact, Elliott is so committed to earthquake preparation and resiliency that she shares her time and expertise to help investigate earthquake damage and conduct assessments in the U.S. and abroad. Her volunteer work has taken her as far away as Turkey, where she studied a fault line that is similar to the San Andreas Fault, and, closer to home, to New Orleans where she spent 30 days performing damage assessments for that city’s water bureau after Hurricane Katrina.

A member of three subcommittees of the American Society of Civil Engineers Infrastructure Resilience Division, she also has led damage assessments along the Oregon and Washington coastlines when they have been battered by hurricane-force winds.

Elliott admits that as chief engineer, her work is now about 10 percent engineering and 90 percent public outreach, politics and coordinating with other officials and agencies. She said she enjoys public speaking and technical writing, both of which play a big role in her work.

鈥淲hen I was in college I took a lot of writing classes, and one of my writing teachers said you should always know who your audience is and the issues they are interested in,鈥� she said.

Shortly after Elliott was promoted to chief engineer last year, Bureau Director Michael Stuhr told the 91视频 he picked Elliott for the job because of her engineering abilities and also for her talent for working with people.

鈥淚t’s hard for younger engineers to understand that one of the challenges is getting permission (for work on the water system),鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have to get permission from state agencies, interested groups in the communities and boards. She does very well interfacing with city groups.鈥�

When she’s not working or volunteering, Elliott enjoys genealogical research, playing on the beach and ziplining.