Lisa Levin
Lisa Levin, of the Marine
Life Research Group (MLRG), travels to some very strange places to locate
and study some very strange animals.
Her research on organisms such a marine worms (polychaetes and oligochaetes) and large, one-celled animals (xenophyophores and
foraminifera) takes her from mudflat and salt marsh environments, to the continental slope and deep seamounts via submersible.
Levin in one of only a handful of scientists in the world studying xenophyophores-fist-sized, one-celled animals that create intricate fan- and honeycomb-shaped compartments by secreting a substance that glues together seafloor sediments. Other deep-sea animals, such a marine worms, then take up residence within these compartments.
Xenophyophores and polychaetes are among her favorite organisms to study, but she also researches life histories, dispersal, and population dynamics of other invertebrate marine creatures.
Levin, born in Los Angeles, received a bachelor's degree in biology from Radcliffe College, and a Ph.D. in biological oceanography from Scripps. After finishing her studies at Scripps, she took a postdoctoral position at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution followed by a faculty position at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where she taught in the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences for nine years. She returned to Scripps in 1992 as an associate professor.
Levin's early interest in science came from a particular teacher in junior high. She found the influence and support of a mentor to be very important in giving her direction and confidence. Her first contact with marine sciences came during a high school summer program in oceanography, math, and marine biology sponsored by the National Science Foundation at Humboldt State University in Humboldt, California.
Now that she has chosen a career in oceanography, Levin must spend extensive time at sea during research expeditions. The same is true for her husband, David Checkley, also an associate professor at MLRG. With two children at home, this couple puts extra creativity and concern into planning expeditions.
"It's really challenging to raise a family with two parents having careers, but rewards are certainly there for the kids. My children are used to one or the other parent going away on research trips," said Levin, "I look forward to the day when they are old enough to go along with us on a research cruise, or down in a submersible, to experience firsthand what their parents actually do while they are gone."
© 1995