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Over the last week, many people on Twitter have turned into amateur detectives in an attempt to find a scientist that attended the 1971 International Conference on the Biology of Whales. Not the kind of thing you'd expect to go viral.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.Whilst doing research for a book on the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, author Candace Jean Andersen stumbled across a picture buried in an article about the conference. What caught Andersen's eye was that there was only one woman in attendance.
“Seeing this lone woman in the group, I wanted to know who she was,” Andersen told Smithsonian.com. “Surely she’s of some importance if she’s at this conference.”
Frustratingly, as well as being the only woman scientist at the event, she was the only person of almost 40 people in the photograph who wasn't named in the caption.
In a long shot, Andersen asked her Twitter followers to help her identify the mystery scientist.
It quickly captured the interest of the Internet.
Several people suggested she was Suzanne Montgomery Contos, who worked in adminstration at the Smithsonian and who organized the conference.
This theory was quickly put to rest by Contos herself, who chipped in on the thread to confirm it wasn't her. However, researchers at the Smithsonian were now aware of the case.
When other Twitter users floated the name Sheila Minor Huff, Dee Allen Link of the Smithsonian checked with colleagues who may have been at the conference. They confirmed this was indeed her.
Andersen tracked down Huff through Facebook, and ended up chatting with her about her career, CNN reports.
"At the time this photo was taken, Sheila had a BS in Biology," Andersen tweeted. "She was working in her first position with the Federal government. Her boss, Clyde Jones, took her to that conference."
She went on to become a scientist for 35 years, working on some interesting projects during her career...
... as well as improving education for schools, regularly giving lectures to elementary and high school biology students.
Huff was appointed to the Smithsonian Women's Council early on in her career, before pursuing environmental sciences and receiving an MS from George Mason University.
She went on to work for several federal agencies before moving to the US Department of the Interior in Washington, DC, where she occupied a top-level position.
Now retired, she is focused on her grandchildren and enjoys belly dancing classes and driving around in her convertible, CNN reports.
