Margaret Dorothy Foster (March 4, 1895 – November 5, 1970) was an American chemist. She was the first female chemist to work for the United States Geological Survey, and was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project.
Beginning in 1918, she became the first female chemist to work on the United States Geological Survey, developing ways to detect minerals within naturally occurring bodies of water.[2]
In 1942, she worked on the Manhattan Project in the Chemistry and Physics Section, under Roger C. Wells, developing two new techniques of quantitative analysis, one for uranium and one for thorium,[3] as well as two new ways to separate the two elements.[2]
Upon her return to the Geological Survey after the war, she researched the chemistry of clay minerals and micas.[2] She retired in March 1965.[1] Over the course of her career, she authored dozens of scientific papers.[1]
