Marie Victoire Lebour (20 August 1876 – 2 October 1971) was a British

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others th ...

known for her study of the life cycles of various marine animals. She published more than 175 works during her long career.

Early life and education

Marie Lebour was born the youngest of three daughters to Emily and George Lebour in Woodburn,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

on 20 August 1876. Her father was a professor of geology and Marie regularly joined him on expeditions, collecting specimens for her own collections. She attended Armstrong College and studied art, then went on to

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

, where she earned degrees in

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

: an associate degree in 1903, bachelor's degree in 1904, master's degree in 1907, and doctorate in 1917.

Career and research

In 1900, before beginning her scientific education, Lebour began her research career with a paper on land and freshwater molluscs in

. While studying for her master's degree, Lebour was on staff at

. From 1906–1909, she was a demonstrator in the Department of Zoology at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

and from 1909–1915 she was also an assistant

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

. Lebour's professional research career was entirely conducted at the

Marine Biological Association The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA) is a learned society with a scientific laboratory that undertakes research in marine biology. The organisation was founded in 1884 and has been based in Plymouth since the Citadel H ...

's Laboratory at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, where she joined the research staff in 1915. She was a full staff member there until 1946, then an honorary staff member until she could no longer conduct research due to health problems, in 1964. Her main research interests were the larval stages of both trematodes (some species of which are parasites of molluscs) and of molluscs themselves. She published more than 100 papers on these topics during her career. She also worked on

microplankton Marine microorganisms are defined by their habitat as microorganisms living in a marine environment, that is, in the saltwater of a sea or ocean or the brackish water of a coastal estuary. A microorganism (or microbe) is any microscopic living ...

and discovered at least 28 new species which she catalogued in two books. After publishing these books, Lebour used the newly invented plunger jar to better study the egg and larval stages of krill in the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, and

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

. She also published well-regarded work on the eggs and larvae of sprat,

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

, and pilchards. She also conducted research in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

. Lebour retired in 1945 at the age of 70, but continued to work into the laboratory and publish until she was 88 and her failing vision prevented her from working at the microscope. Lebour died on 2 October 1971, at the age of 95. Many of Lebour's publications are still used by researchers.

Selected publications

* * * *

Honors and legacy

Lebour was a member of several professional societies. She was a fellow of the

Linnaean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, a lifetime fellow of the Zoological Society, and a member of the

Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA) is a learned society with a scientific laboratory that undertakes research in marine biology. The organisation was founded in 1884 and has been based in Plymouth since the Citadel Hi ...

. Multiple species of dinoflagellates were named after her, including genera ''Lebouraia'' and ''Lebouridinium'' and the species ''Polykrikos lebourae'' and ''Cochlodinium lebourae''. She was remembered fondly by her colleagues.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebour, Marie V. 1876 births 1971 deaths Women marine biologists British marine biologists British women scientists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Scientists from Northumberland English non-fiction writers English women writers Academics of the University of Leeds Alumni of Armstrong College, Durham