But Tharp and Heezen went further, using photographic data to locate downed World War II military aircraft, discovering deep valleys along the ocean floor where US submarines could hide from the enemy, and learning where and how transatlantic cables were being broken. They began working to define the earth’s submarine topography at a time when knowledge of the ocean floor was limited mainly to harbors and shallow coastal areas used for the safe navigation of ships. There she met Bruce Heezen, a geology grad student, with whom she would collaborate for 30 years. In 1947 she moved to New York and Columbia University’s Lamont Geological Observatory (now the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory), becoming one of its first female employees. It was sound advice, since women who refused the deskbound duties of analyzing and drawing out results collected by men rarely, if ever, made their mark in the sciences.Īfter four years in Tulsa, Tharp was ready to take the next step in her career. Tharp’s mentors, recognizing her talent but knowing what she was up against, encouraged her to stick with it and polish her drafting skills to increase her chances of getting a better job in earth sciences once the war ended. Bored, she took night classes at the University of Tulsa, earning her second bachelor’s degree in science. Because women weren’t permitted to go out into the field to look for oil and gas, she was stuck in an office, collecting maps and data from men doing the actual field work. Hired by Standard Oil in Oklahoma as a junior geologist, she soon realized it wasn’t for her. Geological fields were rife with gender barriers for young female scientists. Curious, and having taken geology classes at Ohio, Tharp applied for and was accepted into the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor’s petroleum geology program, where she completed her master’s degree. During World War II, when many young men left universities for the military, she saw an ad for women moving into professions like petroleum geology - a traditional no-woman’s land. At Ohio University, she changed her major every semester, always with her father’s advice in mind, graduating in 1943 with bachelor’s degrees in English and music, along with four minors.Ī simple advertisement led to her future in cartography.
It was there she took a class called Current Science, learning about contemporary scientists and their research, and going on weekend field trips to study native trees and rocks - an experience that was a turning point in her life.Īfter high school, Tharp still planned to become a teacher until her father gave her some advice she never forgot: Choose a subject of study you not only love, but one that will provide you with a career and financial security.
She finally spent a full year in an Alabama public school. Her father’s work kept the family on the move to the extent that Tharp attended more than a dozen different schools. Tharp as a young girl assisting her father in soil surveying and sample collection.