Sallie Watson "Penny" Chisholm (born 1947) is an American
biological oceanographer at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
. She is an expert in the ecology and evolution of
ocean microbes. Her research focuses particularly on the most abundant marine phytoplankton, ''
Prochlorococcus
''Prochlorococcus'' is a genus of very small (0.6 μm) marine cyanobacteria with an unusual pigmentation ( chlorophyll ''a2'' and ''b2''). These bacteria belong to the photosynthetic picoplankton and are probably the most abundant photosynth ...
,'' that she discovered in the 1980s with Rob Olson and other collaborators. She has a
TED talk
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
about their discovery and importance called "The tiny creature that secretly powers the planet".
Early life and education
Chisholm was born in
Marquette, Michigan
Marquette ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,629 at the 2020 United States Census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette serves as the seat of government of Marquett ...
and graduated from
Marquette Senior High School in 1965. She attended
Skidmore College
Skidmore College is a Private school, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Scien ...
and earned a PhD from
SUNY Albany
The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a Public university, public research university with campuses in Albany, New York, Albany, Rensselaer, New York, Rensselae ...
in 1974. Following her Ph.D., she served as a post-doctoral researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography from 1974 to 1976.
Career
Chisholm has been a faculty member at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
since 1976 and a visiting scientist at the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering.
Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it ...
since 1978. Her research has focused on the ecology of marine
phytoplankton.
Chisholm's early work focused on the processes by which such plankton take up nutrients and the manner in which this affects their life cycle on diurnal time scales. This led her to begin using
flow cytometry which can be used to measure the properties of individual cells.
The application of flow cytometry to environmental samples led Chisholm and her collaborators (most notably Rob Olson and
Heidi Sosik) to the discovery that small plankton (in particular ''
Prochlorococcus
''Prochlorococcus'' is a genus of very small (0.6 μm) marine cyanobacteria with an unusual pigmentation ( chlorophyll ''a2'' and ''b2''). These bacteria belong to the photosynthetic picoplankton and are probably the most abundant photosynth ...
'' and ''
Synechococcus
''Synechococcus'' (from the Greek ''synechos'', in succession, and the Greek ''kokkos'', granule) is a unicellular cyanobacterium that is very widespread in the marine environment. Its size varies from 0.8 to 1.5 µm. The photosynthetic c ...
'') accounted for a much more substantial part of marine productivity than had previously been realized. Previously, biological oceanographers had focused on silicaceous
diatoms
A diatom (New Latin, Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group com ...
as being the most important phytoplankton, accounting for 10–20 gigatons of carbon uptake each year. Chisholm's work showed that an even larger amount of carbon was cycled through these small algae, which may also play an important role in the global
nitrogen cycle.
In recent years, Chisholm has played a visible role in opposing the use of
iron fertilization as a
technological fix for
anthropogenic climate change.
Awards and honors
Chisholm has been a member of the
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
(NAS) since 2003 and a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
since 1992.
In January 2010, she was awarded the
Alexander Agassiz Medal
The Alexander Agassiz Medal is awarded every three years by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences for an original contribution in the science of oceanography. It was established in 1911 by Sir John Murray in honor of his friend, the scientist Ale ...
, for "pioneering studies of the dominant photosynthetic organisms in the sea and for integrating her results into a new understanding of the global ocean."
She was a co-recipient in 2012 of the Ruth Patrick Award from the
Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography
The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), formerly known as the Limnological Society of America and the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, is a scientific society established in 1936 with the goal of advan ...
.
Chisholm received the
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...
from President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
on February 1, 2013.
In 2013, she was awarded the
Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology
The Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology ( ca, Premi Ramon Margalef d'Ecologia) is a prize awarded annually by the Generalitat de Catalunya to recognize an exceptional scientific career or discovery in the field of ecology or other environmental scienc ...
, "for being one of the most productive, charismatic and active researchers on biology and marine ecology".
On May 24, 2018, she was awarded the Doctor of Science degree by
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
.
In 2019 she received the
Crafoord Prize
The Crafoord Prize is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist, and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord. The Prize is awarded in partnership between the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Crafoord Foun ...
in Biosciences, "for the discovery and pioneering studies of the most abundant photosynthesising organism on Earth, Prochlorococcus". This prize is considered equivalent to the Nobel Prize (for which there is no Biosciences category). Chisholm was honored at the Crafoord Prize Symposium in Biosciences
/ref> at which 6 internationally prominent scientists spoke (in order of presentations): Alexandra Worden (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany), Corina Brussaard
Corina Brussaard is a leading scientist for Antarctic viral ecology working for the Royal Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ) and is a Special Professor of Viral Ecology at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics of the University of ...
(NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, The Netherlands), Ramunas Stepanauskas (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, USA), Rachel Foster (Stockholm University, Sweden), Francis M. Martin (INRA French National Institute for Agricultural Research, France) and David Karl (University of Hawaii, USA).
Select works
*Chisholm, S.W. 2012. Unveiling Prochlorococcus: The Life and times of the ocean's smallest photosynthetic cell. 2012. In: Microbes and Evolution: The World That Darwin Never Saw. In: R. Kolter and S. Maloy ds ASM Press. p. 165.
*
*
*
*
See also
*''Prochlorococcus
''Prochlorococcus'' is a genus of very small (0.6 μm) marine cyanobacteria with an unusual pigmentation ( chlorophyll ''a2'' and ''b2''). These bacteria belong to the photosynthetic picoplankton and are probably the most abundant photosynth ...
''
*''Synechococcus
''Synechococcus'' (from the Greek ''synechos'', in succession, and the Greek ''kokkos'', granule) is a unicellular cyanobacterium that is very widespread in the marine environment. Its size varies from 0.8 to 1.5 µm. The photosynthetic c ...
''
* Carbon cycle
The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major componen ...
* Global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
References
External links
Chisholm Lab at MIT
Online Chisholm Lecture
Video of Chisholm talking about her work
from the National Science & Technology Medals Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chisholm, Sallie W.
1947 births
Living people
People from Marquette, Michigan
American marine biologists
American oceanographers
Sustainability advocates
American women biologists
Skidmore College alumni
University at Albany, SUNY alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Winners of the Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology
Fellows of the Ecological Society of America
Biogeochemists
Women oceanographers
Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology
American women academics
20th-century American biologists
20th-century earth scientists
20th-century American academics
20th-century American women scientists
21st-century American biologists
21st-century earth scientists
21st-century American academics
21st-century American women scientists
Scientists from Michigan