Mary Elaine DeVries O’Neill was born in Armour, South Dakota, on June 13, 1950 to Ray and Ruby DeVries. She attended high school in Corsica, South Dakota, graduating in 1968. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Math in 1972 and Master’s in Geography in 1994, both from South Dakota State University. She married Douglas O’Neill in 1993.

Her professional career includes:

• SDView Coordinator (January 2014 to Present), Water Resources Institute, 2014-
• Program Manager, Remote Sensing, Water Resources Institute, SDSU, 2010-2013
• Manager, Office of Remote Sensing, Engineering Resource Center, SDSU, 1989-2010
• Adjunct Instructor, Geography Department, SDSU, 2003-2013
• Adjunct Instructor, Engineering Tech. and Management, SDSU, 2005-2006
• Adjunct Instructor, Mathematics Department, SDSU, 2005 Spring
• Visiting Scientist, EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, SD, 1993
• Adjunct Instructor, Computer Science Department, SDSU, 1980s various semesters
• Various Positions, Remote Sensing Institute, SDSU, 1972-1989

Projects and activities:

• Principal investigator of a USGS-funded AmericaView project entitled “Building Partnerships and Infrastructure in South Dakota to Facilitate the Availability, Timely Distribution and Utilization of Remote Sensing and Associated Geospatial Data and Technology.” September 1, 2002 – May 21, 2014.
• Geographic Information System Specialist in support of USAID/Uganda’s Feed the Future Program via Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement with USGS National Center for EROS, Sioux Falls, SD. May 1, 2011 to December 31, 2012
• Co-investigator of Remote Sensing for Water Quality Monitoring and Watershed Assessment on the Lake Traverse Reservation funded by NASA and the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium. May 2010 – May 2011
• Coordinator of South Dakota’s Education Public Access Resource Center (EdPARC), a subgroup of the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium (UMAC). 1998 – 2012
• Principal Investigator of Main Street Sioux Falls Geographic Information System Development and Maintenance project, January 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008
• Planned and team-taught several one- or two-week geospatial technology workshops for K-12 educators at various locations in SD including SDSU and the USGS National Center for EROS near Sioux Falls. 1999 – 2012
• Co-investigator of three geospatial technology projects for Science Applications International Corporation (contractor at National Center for EROS): Digitization of Historic Pollution Sources, Digitizing Las Vegas Transportation Features, and Analog to Digital Conversion of Spatial Data. April 2005 – September 2006
• Member of a five-person SDSU fact-finding team that traveled to Poland to discuss collaborative project possibilities. Activities during the 18 days in Poland included visits to universities and institutes in Lublin and Pulawy, meetings with scientists and planners, and presentations to university students and professionals. May 1998
• Member of the “Wildlife Rangeland and Monitoring by Remote Sensing of the Negev Desert” project team. Provided two weeks of image processing services on the Sde Boker campus of Ben Gurion University in Israel. Funding for the project was provided by the International Arid Lands Consortium. June 1997

International Workshop Participation:

• July 16-25, 1985: "Application of Remote Sensing in Agricultural Research" workshop, Dhaka, Bangladesh
• March 11-15, 1985: U.S. India Symposium Workshop on Remote Sensing, Ahmedabad, India
• July 13-August 1, 1983: Remote Sensing Workshop, Dakar, Senegal.
• March 31-April 10, 1980: Remote Sensing Workshop, Dakar, Senegal.
• October 1-11, 1979: Remote Sensing Workshop, Khartoum, Sudan.
• April 30-May 4, 1978: Remote Sensing Workshop, Kathmandu, Nepal.

She was also instrumental in the organization of the Professional Staff Advisory Council which establishes representation for non-faculty exempt staff members.

O’Neill retired in 2013.