She started work for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1942,[6] and was the first woman to attain the rank of 'professional' in the organization.
[7] She later became director of geographic programs at the Office of Naval Research[8] where she worked on coastal erosion[9] and helped advance the use of satellites to study the planet.
[13][14] Pruitt retired from the Office of Naval Research in 1973, by which time she was the highest ranking woman scientist in the United States Navy.
[15] In the early 1960s, Pruitt realized that advances in science meant that aerial photography was no longer an adequate term to describe the new data streams being used to study the planet.
[16][17] With assistance from her fellow staff member at the Office of Naval Research, Walter Bailey, she coined the term "remote sensing"[18][7] in an unpublished white paper.