On January 6, 1874, Carlotta Joaquina Maury was born in New York City. She became a groundbreaking geologist, stratigrapher, and paleontologist, and was among the first women to work professionally in the oil and gas industry at a time when geology was almost entirely male-dominated. Maury specialized in fossil correlation and stratigraphy, using microfossils to determine the age of rock layers — a method that proved highly valuable for oil exploration. Her work helped oil companies better predict where petroleum-bearing formations were likely to be found, improving drilling success rates long before modern seismic tools existed. Despite her expertise, Maury was often excluded from academic positions because of her gender, leading her to consult directly for oil companies instead. Over her career, she published more than 30 scientific papers and worked internationally, including major geological studies in Brazil, where her stratigraphic research influenced petroleum exploration for decades. Her contributions helped establish paleontology as a practical tool in hydrocarbon discovery.