BIOGRAPHY

Gladys Cotter
Associate Chief Biologist for Information
USGS/BRD
300 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
703-648-4090
Fax: 703-648-4042
E-mail: gladys_cotter@usgs.gov with copy to elaine_frame@usgs.gov

Gladys Cotter is the Assistant Chief Biologist for Information in the Biological Resources Discipline (BRD), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Department of the Interior. Ms. Cotter — the senior policy official in BRD for all matters related to information management and dissemination — heads the division's Biological Information Office (BIO). Her office is responsible for information resource management oversight and policy; information technology development and application; information content, analysis, and dissemination; technology transfer; publications; museums; libraries; education; public affairs; and a highly specialized biological informatics program. One of her key responsibilities is overseeing the development of the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII), the biological component of the Administration's effort to create a National Information Infrastructure (NII).

Before joining USGS, Ms. Cotter was the Assistant Director for Information in the National Biological Service (NBS), Department of the Interior. Previously, she served as the Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Scientific and Technical Information Program and as an analyst in the space agency's High Performance Computing & Communications Office. Before joining NASA, Ms. Cotter held a variety of technical and managerial positions in the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), including the positions of Director of the Defense Applied Information Technology Center and Chief of Information Systems and Technology. Ms. Cotter has experience designing databases for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and has also served on special assignments to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as an information management expert.

A member of the Senior Executive Service, Ms. Cotter received her B.A. from George Mason University, her M.L.S. from the University of Maryland, and her M.B.A. from George Washington University.