Since taking over the leadership at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, McNutt has encouraged the institution to tackle the sort of research problems that traditionally have been difficult to support under federal grants and contracts, such as high-risk ventures, development efforts with long lead times, and interdisciplinary research. She received her B.A. degree in physics from Colorado College and her Ph.D. degree in earth sciences from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Her research ranges from studies of ocean island volcanism in French Polynesia to continental break-up in the Western United States. She has participated in 15 major oceanographic expeditions and has published 90 peer-reviewed scientific articles.
McNutt’s honors include membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the International Association of Geodesy. She also serves on evaluation and advisory boards for institutions such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Stanford University, Harvard University, Science magazine, and Schlumberger.