Tanya Atwater (an haife ta a shekara ta 1942) ita 'yar ƙasar Amurka ce ƙwararren masanin ilimin kimiya na ƙasa kuma ƙwararriyar ilimin ƙasa ta ruwa wacce ta kware a fannin tectonics. Ta shahara musamman don bincikenta na farko akan tarihin tectonic plate na yammacin Arewacin Amurka. An haife Atwater a Los Angeles, California a shekara ta 1942. Mahaifinta injiniya ne kuma mahaifiyarta ƙwararriyar kimiya ce. Atwater na daya daga cikin matan farko da suka yi bincike a kan tekun ta fuskar Geology. Atwater ta fara karatun ta a shekarar 1960 a Cibiyar Fasaha ta Massachusetts, sannan ta sami B.A. a Geophysics daga Jami'ar California, Berkeley a 1965. Ta sami digiri na uku. (1972) a cikin geophysics na ruwa daga Cibiyar Scripps na Oceanography, Jami'ar California, San Diego. Ita ce darekta na Jami'ar California, Santa Barbara Educational Multimedia Visualization Center inda ta kasance farfesa a fannin kimiyyar ƙasa. Ta kasance farfesa a Cibiyar Fasaha ta Massachusetts kafin ta shiga jami'a a UCSB a 1980. Atwater ya yi ritaya daga UCSB a 2007.