Sallie W.

Chisholm
Sallie Watson "Penny" Chisholm (born 1947) is an
American biological oceanographer at the Sallie Watson Chisholm
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is an expert
in the ecology and evolution of ocean microbes. Her
research focuses particularly on the most abundant
marine phytoplankton, Prochlorococcus, that she
discovered in the 1980s with Rob Olson and other
collaborators.[1] She has a TED talk about their
discovery and importance called "The tiny creature
that secretly powers the planet".[2]

Early life and education

Chisholm was born in Marquette, Michigan and
graduated from Marquette Senior High School in
1965.[3] She attended Skidmore College and earned a
PhD from SUNY Albany in 1974. Following her
Born 1947 (age 77–78)
Ph.D., she served as a post-doctoral researcher at the
Marquette, Michigan, U.S.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography from 1974 to
1976. Alma mater Skidmore College
University at Albany, SUNY
Known for Study of phytoplankton,
Career especially Prochlorococcus
Awards National Medal of Science
Chisholm has been a faculty member at the Alexander Agassiz Medal (2010)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1976 and Crafoord Prize (2019)
a visiting scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Scientific career
Institution since 1978. Her research has focused on the
ecology of marine phytoplankton.[4] Chisholm's early Fields Marine biology
work focused on the processes by which such plankton Institutions Massachusetts Institute of
take up nutrients and the manner in which this affects Technology
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
and Synechococcus) accounted for a much more substantial part of marine productivity than had
previously been realized. Previously, biological oceanographers had focused on silicaceous diatoms 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

Chisholm discussing her research
use of iron fertilization as a technological fix for anthropogenic and childhood.
climate change.[5]

In 1994, Chisholm was one of 16 women faculty in the School of Science at MIT who drafted and co-
signed a letter to the then-Dean of Science (now Chancellor of Berkeley) Robert Birgeneau, which started
a campaign to highlight and challenge gender discrimination at MIT.[6]

Awards and honors

Chisholm has been a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) since 2003 and a
fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1992.

In January 2010, she was awarded the Alexander Agassiz Medal, for "pioneering studies of the dominant
photosynthetic organisms in the sea and for integrating her results into a new understanding of the global
ocean."[7]

She was a co-recipient in 2012 of the Ruth Patrick Award from the Association for the Sciences of
Limnology and Oceanography.[4]

Chisholm received the National Medal of Science from President Barack Obama on February 1, 2013.[4]

In 2013, she was awarded the Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology, "for being one of the most productive,
charismatic and active researchers on biology and marine ecology".[8]

On May 24, 2018, she was awarded the Doctor of Science degree by Harvard University.[9]

In 2019 she received the Crafoord Prize in Biosciences, "for the discovery and pioneering studies of the
most abundant photosynthesising organism on Earth, Prochlorococcus".[10] 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[11] at which 6 internationally prominent scientists spoke (in
order of presentations): Alexandra Worden (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel,
Germany), Corina Brussaard (NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, The Netherlands),
Ramunas Stepanauskas (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, US), Rachel Foster (Stockholm
University, Sweden), Francis M. Martin (INRA French National Institute for Agricultural Research,
France) and David Karl (University of Hawaii, US).

Select works
Bang, Molly; Chisholm, Penny (2012). Ocean Sunlight. Blue Sky Press (AZ). ISBN 978-0-
545-27322-0.
 Chisholm, Sallie W. (January 1, 2012). "Unveiling Prochlorococcus" (https://hahana.soest.ha
waii.edu/cmoreserver/summercourse/2015/documents/Chisholm_06-03/2012_Chisholm-Un
veiling%20Prochlorococcus._in_Microbes_and_Evolution-without_cover.pdf) (PDF).
Microbes and Evolution. American Society of Microbiology. pp. 165–171.
doi:10.1128/9781555818470.ch23 (https://doi.org/10.1128%2F9781555818470.ch23).
hdl:1721.1/69963 (https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1%2F69963). ISBN 978-1-55581-540-0.
Coleman, M. L.; Chisholm, S. W. (2010). "Ecosystem-specific selection pressures revealed
by comparative population genomics" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC29729
31). PNAS. 107 (43): 18634–18639. doi:10.1073/pnas.1009480107 (https://doi.org/10.107
3%2Fpnas.1009480107). PMC 2972931 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC29
72931). PMID 20937887 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20937887).
Lindell, D.; Jaffe, J.D.; Coleman, M.L.; Axmann, I.M.; Rector, T.; Kettler, G.; Sullivan, M.B.;
Steen, R.; Hess, W.R.; Church, G.M.; Chisholm, S. W. (2007). "Genome-wide expression
dynamics of a marine virus and host reveal features of coevolution". Nature. 449 (7158):
83–86. Bibcode:2007Natur.449...83L (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Natur.449...83
L). doi:10.1038/nature06130 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature06130). PMID 17805294 (htt
ps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17805294). S2CID 4412265 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/
CorpusID:4412265).
Chisholm, Sallie W.; Falkowski, Paul G.; Cullen, John J. (October 12, 2001). "Dis-Crediting
Ocean Fertilization". Science. 294 (5541). American Association for the Advancement of
Science (AAAS): 309–310. doi:10.1126/science.1065349 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscienc
e.1065349). ISSN 0036-8075 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0036-8075). PMID 11598285
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11598285). S2CID 130687109 (https://api.semanticschola
r.org/CorpusID:130687109).
Chisholm, S.W.; Olson, R.J.; Zettler, E.R.; Goericke, R.; Waterbury, J.; Welschmeyer, N.
(1988). "A novel free-living prochlorophyte abundant in the oceanic euphotic zone". Nature.
334 (6180): 340–343. Bibcode:1988Natur.334..340C (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/198
8Natur.334..340C). doi:10.1038/334340a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F334340a0).
S2CID 4373102 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4373102).

See also
Prochlorococcus
Synechococcus
Carbon cycle
Global warming

References
1. Chisholm, Sallie W.; Olson, Robert J.; Zettler, Erik R.; Goericke, Ralf; Waterbury, John B.;
Welschmeyer, Nicholas A. (1988). "A novel free-living prochlorophyte abundant in the
oceanic euphotic zone" (https://www.nature.com/articles/334340a0). Nature. 334 (6180):
340–343. Bibcode:1988Natur.334..340C (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1988Natur.334..
340C). doi:10.1038/334340a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F334340a0). ISSN 1476-4687 (htt
ps://search.worldcat.org/issn/1476-4687). S2CID 4373102 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/
CorpusID:4373102).
2. Chisholm, Penny (July 2, 2018), The tiny creature that secretly powers the planet (https://w
ww.ted.com/talks/penny_chisholm_the_tiny_creature_that_secretly_powers_the_planet),
retrieved May 30, 2021
3. "InfiniteMIT | Sallie (Penny) W. Chisholm" (https://infinite.mit.edu/video/sallie-penny-w-chish
olm). infinite.mit.edu. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
 4. "Sallie (Penny) Chisholm awarded the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest honor
for scientists" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130614214852/http://cee.mit.edu/news/releas
es/2013/Chisholm-national-medal-of-science). MIT. February 19, 2013. Archived from the
original (http://cee.mit.edu/news/releases/2013/Chisholm-national-medal-of-science) on
June 14, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
5. Strong, Aaron; Chisholm, Sallie; Miller, Charles; Cullen, John (September 17, 2009). "Ocean
fertilization: time to move on". Nature. 461 (7262): 347–348. Bibcode:2009Natur.461..347S
(https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Natur.461..347S). doi:10.1038/461347a (https://doi.
org/10.1038%2F461347a). PMID 19759603 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19759603).
S2CID 205049552 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:205049552).
6. Zernike, Kate (2023). The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in
Science. New York, NY: Scribner. ISBN 978-1-9821-3183-8.
7. "Academy Honors 17 for Major Contributions to Science" (http://www8.nationalacademies.or
g/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=01202010b). Office of News and Public Information,
The National Academies. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
8. "Scientific forum on oceans and climate with the participation of Sallie W. Chisholm, Ramon
Margalef Prize in Ecology 2013" (http://www.ub.edu/web/ub/en/menu_eines/noticies/2013/1
0/045.html). Universitat de Barcelona. October 8, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
9. "Harvard awards seven honorary degrees" (https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/05/
harvard-awards-seven-honorary-degrees/). May 24, 2018.
10. "The Crafoord Prize in Biosciences 2019" (https://www.crafoordprize.se/news/the-crafoord-p
rize-in-biosciences-2019/). Crafoord Prize. January 16, 2019.
11. "Crafoord Days 2019" (https://www.crafoordprize.se/news/crafoord-days-2019/). Crafoord
Prize. October 27, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2023.

External links
Chisholm Lab at MIT (http://chisholmlab.mit.edu/)
Online Chisholm Lecture (https://web.archive.org/web/20070322212558/http://mitworld.mit.e
du/video/421/)
Video of Chisholm talking about her work (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSB9rPBl768),
from the National Science & Technology Medals Foundation

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