Elizabeth Southerland received a PhD in environmental science and engineering from Virginia Tech. She worked as an environmental scientist for local and state government before joining the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1984. At the USEPA, she served as a manager in the Water and Superfund programs, retiring in 2017 as the director of the Office of Science and Technology for the Office of Water. She was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni at Virginia Tech in 2013 and received a Distinguished Presidential Rank Award in 2015 in recognition of her career accomplishments.
