Penny Chisholm

Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department of Biology

MIT 48-419
15 Vassar Street
Cambridge, MA 02139

Phone: (617) 253-1771
Fax: (617) 324-0336
Email: chisholm at mit dot edu

View Curriculum Vitae


Employment and Positions:

2006-2008 Director, MIT Earth System Initiative (web.mit.edu/esi)
2002-present Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies
1993-present Joint Appointment, Department of Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1976-present Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Division of Water Resources & Environmental Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1988-1995 MIT Director, MIT/Woods Hole Joint Program in
Oceanography and Oceanographic Engineering
1978-present Visiting Scientist, Biology Department
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
1974-76 Post-Doctoral Researcher, Biological Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Professional Societies:

American Society of Microbiology
American Geophysical Union
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
Phycological Society of America
The Oceanography Society
Ecological Society of America
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Sigma XI


Honors and Awards:

2012 Ruth Patrick Award, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
2011 Darbaker Prize: Botanical Society of America
2010 Agassiz Medal: National Academy of Sciences
2010 Petersen Award: IFM-GEOMAR Kiel, Germany
2005 Huntsman Award for Excellence in Marine Science
2004-present Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Investigator in Marine Science
2003 Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
2002-present Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies (Endowed Chair)
1995-2002 McAfee Professor of Engineering (Endowed Chair)
1998 Resident Scholar, Bellagio Center, Italy
1997-1998 Guggenheim Fellow
1996 Elected Fellow, American Geophysical Union
1993 Elected Fellow, American Society of Microbiology
1993 Member, International Ecology Institute
1992 Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1991 Rosenstiel Award in Ocean Sciences
1980-1982 Doherty Professor of Ocean Utilization
1977-1978 Edgerton Assistant Professor

Selected Outside Service:

Board Member, World Wildlife Fund (2004- 2008)
Board Member, Institute for Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY (2003-)
Board Member, Union of Concerned Scientists (1996- 2002)

Selected MIT Service:

Associate Chair of the MIT Faculty (1987-1989)
MIT/Woods Hole Joint Program Strategic Planning Committee (2010-2011)
Enviromnental Task Force (2007-2011)
Faculty Policy Committee (1987-1990, 2001-2004)
Gender Equity Committee, School of Engineering (1999-2010)
President’s Task Force on Student Life and Learning (1996-1998)
Committee on Senior Women Faculty in the School of Science (1994-2000)
Council on the Environment (1992-present)
MIT Press Editorial Board (1989-1996)
The MIT/WHOI Joint Committee on Biological Oceanography (1979-present)

Oceanographic Cruises:

R/V ALPHA HELIX, Gulf of California, 1974.
R/V ELLEN B. SCRIPPS, Southern California Bight Survey, III, 1975.
R/V ELLEN B. SCRIPPS, Southern California Bight Survey IV, 1975.
R/V DAVID STAR JORDAN (National Marine Fisheries), 1976.
R/V COLUMBUS ISELIN, Sargasso Sea, 1977.
R/V G.W. PIERCE, Sargasso Sea, 1979.
R/V KNORR Caribbean, 1985.
R/V OCEANUS Caribbean, 1986.
R/V ATLANTIS II, Southern California Bight, 1986‑87.
R/V OCEANUS Caribbean, 1989.
R/V ISELIN Saragasso Sea, 1993.
R/V ISELIN Equatorial Pacific, 1993.
R/V OCEANUS Sargasso Sea, 1996,1997 (Chief Scientist)

Current Teaching:

Undergraduate subjects: Fundamentals of Ecology; Introductory Biology
Graduate subjects: Topics in Microbial Oceanography.



Research Interests:

General Areas: Biological oceanography, Global ecology, Ecological genomics.
Current Interests: Ecology, evolution, and comparative genomics of marine cyanobacteria and the viruses that infect them; Iron and phytoplankton growth; Ocean fertility.