Donna Beneteau is an assistant professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan (USask). She obtained her BASc in Geological Engineering from the University of Waterloo in 1990. She worked in backfill research at the Noranda Technology Centre, as a mine engineer at Holloway Mine, and consulted with Ionic Engineering before returning to school to earn her MSc in mineral resources engineering at Laurentian University in 2012. At USask she has progressed from a contract sessional position to full-time instructor and then to professor. 

Beneteau is very passionate about outreach and public education. Her volunteer work has focused on giving students the information and contacts they need to consider mining as an education and career choice. Her current passion project is working with the mining industry to complete a historical Canadian mining database.