Linda Travers, EPA's Data & IT Guru

Linda Travers, right, is the Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Information. She has worked to develop Data.gov and President's Open Government Directive. Travers was Acting CIO of the Environmental Information office until the end of November.

A Maryland native, Travers is a "charter member" of EPA, meaning she has been working at the agency since it was created in 1970. She has a master's in Public Administration from American University. In 1988, Travers worked on EPA's "first public access program" that made public data on chemicals released into the environment.

Travers will help EPA comply with the Open Government Directive by getting more of her agency's data sets registered on Data.gov, launching EPA's new open government site and helping develop the agency's open government plan. EPA has actively been using social media tools to get the public more involved. During Administrator Jackson's major announcement on air emissions on December 7, video of the event was streamed live on its web site and Facebook page, and at the same time EPA tweeted about it. (DOT.gov)