 In 1990, she joined the newly established Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage, Alaska, where she monitored eruptions in the Aleutian arc and investigated of the eruption history and volcanic hazards along the Alaska Peninsula and the eastern Aleutians.In 1998, Neal took a two-year posting at the United States Agency of International Development in Washington, DC as the first USGS geoscience advisor to the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, where she assisted with and reviewed hazard mitigation programs for several countries, including Thailand, Nepal, Ecuador, Colombia, and Kazakhstan, among others.She returned in 2000 to the Alaska Volcano Observatory as a staff geologist, mapping and studying active Alaskan volcanoes.