Hélène Morlon, born in 1978, is a French mathematician and ecologist specializing in biodiversity computational modeling, identifying the factors that influence diversification of species and their phenotypic evolution over millions of years. For her work, she was awarded an
Irène Joliot-Curie Prize
The Irène Joliot-Curie Prize is a French prize for women in science and technology, founded in 2001. It is awarded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the Airbus Group corporate foundation, the French Academy of Scien ...
in 2017.
Biography
In 1995, Hélène Morlon began studying mathematics and physics at the Thiers high school in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
. In 1997, she joined the
École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay
The École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (also ENS Paris-Saclay or Normale Sup' Paris-Saclay), formerly ENS Cachan, is a grande école and a constituent member of Paris-Saclay University. It was established in 1892. It is located in Gif-sur-Yv ...
in mathematics and obtained the ''
agrégation'' in 2000. In 2001, she obtained her DEA in ecology at the
Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University and the
École Normale Supérieure
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, S ...
(ENS). From 2001 to 2005, she completed a thesis in
ecotoxicology
Ecotoxicology is the study of the effects of toxic chemicals on biological organisms, especially at the population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecotoxicology is a multidisciplinary field, which integrates toxicology and ecology ...
at
Bordeaux-I University under the supervision of Alain Boudou and Jacqueline Garnier-Laplace. In 2014, she was authorized to direct research by the École Normale Supérieure.
Career
In 2006, Morlon moved to the United States where she carried out her postdoctoral research. From 2006 to 2007, she worked at the
University of California at Merced with engineer
Jessica Green. In 2007, she relocated to continue working with Green at the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
in the laboratory of
Brendan Bohannan. In 2009, she worked with
Joshua Plotkin at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, and in 2010, she carried out research with Matthew Potts at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
.
On her return to France in 2010, Morlon was recruited by the
National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and continued her research at the applied mathematics center of the
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
.
There, she was granted funding from the National Research Agency, Chair of Excellence, and trained a team of young researchers. In June 2011, she became an associate member of the Interdisciplinary Center for Research in Biology at the
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...
. In September 2013, she was appointed assistant professor at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
. In 2014, she joined the ENS Institute of Biology and obtained a consolidator grant from the
European Research Council.
Morlon is an editor for three academic journals (''
PloS Biology
''PLOS Biology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of biology. Publication began on October 13, 2003. It is the first journal published by the Public Library of Science. The editor-in-chief is Nonia Pariente.
In a ...
'', ''
Ecology Letters
''Ecology Letters'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Wiley and the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Peter H. Thrall is the current editor-in-chief, taking over from Tim Coulson (University of Oxford). The j ...
'' and ''
Systematic Biology
Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tr ...
'') and a reviewer for other major publications.
Tree of Life tool
Morlon has also been involved in the development of an online visualization tool demonstrating the tree of life called “onezoom,” which is an interactive map showing evolutionary links among numerous living things. It also identifies species that are under threat of extinction.
Distinctions and awards
*
National Center for Scientific Research
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...
bronze medal (2015)
*
Irène Joliot-Curie Prize
The Irène Joliot-Curie Prize is a French prize for women in science and technology, founded in 2001. It is awarded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the Airbus Group corporate foundation, the French Academy of Scien ...
in the “Young Woman Scientist” category for her work on modeling biodiversity, at the crossroads of mathematics and ecology (2017)
*
National Center for Scientific Research
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...
silver medal (2021)
* Chevalier of the
National Order of Merit (2021)
References
External links
* Video of her 2016 TED talk in Hamburg titled
Exploring the history of Life
* Site of he
research team* Site of the online Tree of Life visualization tool named
onezoom
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morlon, Helene
1978 births
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
21st-century French scientists
21st-century French women scientists
21st-century French mathematicians
French ecologists
Pierre and Marie Curie University alumni
French women mathematicians
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
French National Centre for Scientific Research awards
French National Centre for Scientific Research scientists
University of Arizona faculty