Cindy Lee Van Dover

Last updated
Cindy Lee Van Dover
Scientific career
Fields Biological Oceanography
Institutions Duke University

Cindy Lee Van Dover (born 1954) is the Harvey Smith Professor of Biological Oceanography and chair of the Division of Marine Science and Conservation at Duke University. She is also the director of the Duke University Marine Laboratory. Her primary area of research is oceanography, but she also studies biodiversity, biogeochemistry, conservation biology, ecology, and marine science. [1]

Contents

Education

Raised in Eatontown, New Jersey, [2] Van Dover attended Monmouth Regional High School [3] and graduated from Rutgers University in 1977 with a B.S. in Environmental Science. In 1985, Van Dover earned her Master's degree in ecology from UCLA. She received her Ph.D. in 1989 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Biological Oceanography. [4] In the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Biological Oceanography, she joined numerous expeditions and published on diverse topics such as reproductive strategies and recruitment of vent invertebrates, vent food webs, and taxonomic descriptions of new species. On receiving her Ph.D. in 1989, Van Dover joined the group that operates the deep-diving submersible ALVIN. [5]

Achievements

In 1982, Van Dover joined the first biological research expedition to the East Pacific Rise [6] and she had her first dive in the DSV Alvin on the Galápagos rift in 1985. [7] In 1990, she became the 49th to earn the Naval Dolphinfish pin to operate and pilot the DSV Alvin, in addition to becoming Alvin's first female pilot. She made 48 dives as pilot-in-command of Alvin and participated in more than 100 such dives in total. On such expeditions, she discovered new species of mussels, shrimp, tube worms, and bacteria. [8]

Prior to her current role at Duke University, Van Dover was the Mary Derrickson McCurdy Visiting Scholar at the Duke University Marine Lab. She has also held teaching positions at the College of William and Mary and the University of Oregon and several research positions. Including a Fulbright Research Scholar at the Centre de Brest in France and as Science Director of the West Coast National Undersea Research Center.

Her current research focuses primarily on the study of biodiversity, biogeography, and connectivity of invertebrates from chemosynthetic ecosystems and invertebrate functional anatomy. in addition, she is active in developing pre-industrialization policy and management strategies for deep-sea resources. [5]

She has received dozens of research grants, including many from the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

In addition to research, Van Dover has authored a popular book for the lay audience about the deep sea and her experiences as an ALVIN pilot (Deep-Ocean Journeys; Addison-Wesley, 1997, a.k.a. The Octopus’s Garden). She is the author of the first textbook on hydrothermal vents (The Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents; Princeton University Press, 2000), is curator of ‘Beyond the Edge of the Sea’, a traveling exhibition of original deep-sea art by watercolor artist Karen Jacobsen, and is helping to develop Art and Science: Envisioning Ocean Depths, a mixed media exhibition. [9] She has published over 90 academic papers, in addition to policy briefs, encyclopedia entries, and extended abstracts.

Awards and honors

Van Dover is the recipient of many awards, [10] including:

Van Dover is a Founding Trustee of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership and founder of ChEss, an international scientific body for the study of the biogeography of deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems. [13] She chaired the NASA Astrobiology CAN5 Review Panel and the Replacement HOV Oversight Committee, in addition to having been a member of the National Association of Marine Laboratories, the Duke-UNC Oceanographic Consortium Program Advisory Committee, the Deep Submergence Science Committee, the NSF Informal Science Education Review Panel, and the COSEE National Advisory Council. Van Dover is a Fulbright Scholar and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is currently the Harvey W Smith Professor of Biological Oceanography in the Division of Marine Science and Conservation of the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, where she serves as Chair of the Division and Director of the Marine Laboratory [14] and is the first woman in that position. [7]

Related Research Articles

DSV <i>Alvin</i> Crewed deep-ocean research submersible

Alvin (DSV-2) is a crewed deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The vehicle was built by General Mills' Electronics Group in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Named to honor the prime mover and creative inspiration for the vehicle, Allyn Vine, Alvin was commissioned on June 5, 1964. The submersible is launched from the deep submergence support vessel RV Atlantis (AGOR-25), which is also owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by WHOI. The submersible has made more than 5,000 dives, carrying two scientists and a pilot, to observe the lifeforms that must cope with super-pressures and move about in total darkness, as well as exploring the wreck of Titanic. Research conducted by Alvin has been featured in nearly 2,000 scientific papers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemosynthesis</span> Biological process building organic matter using inorganic compounds as the energy source

In biochemistry, chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon-containing molecules and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic compounds or ferrous ions as a source of energy, rather than sunlight, as in photosynthesis. Chemoautotrophs, organisms that obtain carbon from carbon dioxide through chemosynthesis, are phylogenetically diverse. Groups that include conspicuous or biogeochemically-important taxa include the sulfur-oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria, the Campylobacterota, the Aquificota, the methanogenic archaea, and the neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrothermal vent</span> Fissure in a planets surface from which heated water emits

A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal deposits are rocks and mineral ore deposits formed by the action of hydrothermal vents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold seep</span> Ocean floor area where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs

A cold seep is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. Cold does not mean that the temperature of the seepage is lower than that of the surrounding sea water. On the contrary, its temperature is often slightly higher. The "cold" is relative to the very warm conditions of a hydrothermal vent. Cold seeps constitute a biome supporting several endemic species.

<i>Kiwa hirsuta</i> Species of crustacean

Kiwa hirsuta is a crustacean discovered in 2005 in the South Pacific Ocean. This decapod, which is approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) long, is notable for the quantity of silky blond setae covering its pereiopods. Its discoverers dubbed it the "yeti lobster" or "yeti crab".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colleen Cavanaugh</span> American microbiologist

Colleen Marie Cavanaugh is an American academic microbiologist best known for her studies of hydrothermal vent ecosystems. As of 2002, she is the Edward C. Jeffrey Professor of Biology in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and is affiliated with the Marine Biological Laboratory and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Cavanaugh was the first to propose that the deep-sea giant tube worm, Riftia pachyptila, obtains its food from bacteria living within its cells, an insight which she had as a graduate student at Harvard. Significantly, she made the connection that these chemoautotrophic bacteria were able to play this role through their use of chemosynthesis, the biological oxidation of inorganic compounds to synthesize organic matter from very simple carbon-containing molecules, thus allowing organisms such as the bacteria to exist in deep ocean without sunlight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep-sea community</span> Groups of organisms living deep below the sea surface, sharing a habitat

A deep-sea community is any community of organisms associated by a shared habitat in the deep sea. Deep sea communities remain largely unexplored, due to the technological and logistical challenges and expense involved in visiting this remote biome. Because of the unique challenges, it was long believed that little life existed in this hostile environment. Since the 19th century however, research has demonstrated that significant biodiversity exists in the deep sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems</span> Project to determine the biogeography and understand the processes driving these systems

The Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems is a field project of the Census of Marine Life programme (CoML). The main aim of ChEss is to determine the biogeography of deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems at a global scale and to understand the processes driving these ecosystems. ChEss addresses the main questions of CoML on diversity, abundance and distribution of marine species, focusing on deep-water reducing environments such as hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, whale falls, sunken wood and areas of low oxygen that intersect with continental margins and seamounts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard A. Lutz</span>

Richard Arthur Lutz is an American marine biologist and deep-sea oceanographer. He is known for deep-sea research using the Alvin submersible, and is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on the ecology of deep-sea hydrothermal vents.

<i>Bathymodiolus thermophilus</i> Species of bivalve

Bathymodiolus thermophilus is a species of large, deep water mussel, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae, the true mussels. The species was discovered at abyssal depths when submersible vehicles such as DSV Alvin began exploring the deep ocean. It occurs on the sea bed, often in great numbers, close to hydrothermal vents where hot, sulphur-rich water wells up through the floor of the Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beebe Hydrothermal Vent Field</span>

The Beebe Hydrothermal Vent Field is located just south of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, on the north side of the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre in the Cayman Trough. Approximately 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of Beebe is the Von Damm Vent Field.

Katrina Jane Edwards was a pioneering geomicrobiologist known for her studies of organisms living below the ocean floor, specifically exploring the interactions between the microbes and their geological surroundings, and how global processes were influenced by these interactions. She spearheaded the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigation (C-DEBI) project at the University of Southern California, which is ongoing. Edwards also helped organize the deep biosphere research community by heading the Fe-Oxidizing Microbial Observatory Project on Loihi Seamount, and serving on several program steering committees involving ocean drilling. Edwards taught at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and later became a professor at the University of Southern California.[1][2]

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katrin Linse</span> British zoologist

Katrin Linse is a German marine biologist, best known for her work on discovering new Antarctic and deep sea species.

Kathleen (Kathy) Crane is an American marine geologist, best known for her contributions to the discovery of hydrothermal vents on the Galápagos Rift along the East Pacific Rise in the mid-1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Frederick Grassle</span> American oceanographer and academic

John Frederick Matthews ("Fred") Grassle was an American marine biologist, oceanographer, professor, and distinguished research scientist, notable for early work on the communities associated with deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and for his involvement in the creation of the Census of Marine Life and the first integration of marine biological data on a global scale, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System.

Charles R. Fisher "Chuck" is a marine biologist, microbial ecologist, and leader in the field of autotrophic symbiosis in deep sea cold seeps and hydrothermal vents. He is Professor Emeritus and Distinguished Senior Scholar of Biology at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Fisher has authored/coauthored over 100 publications in journals such as Nature, Oceanography, and PNAS among others. He heads the Fisher Deep-Sea Lab at Penn State, which primarily investigates the physiological ecology of the major chemoautotrophic symbiont-containing fauna in the deep ocean environment. The lab works closely with other interdisciplinary researchers on expeditions to research sites at cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico and hydrothermal vent sites on the East Pacific Rise, the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and in the Lau back-arc Basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RISE project</span> 1979 international marine research project

The RISE Project (Rivera Submersible Experiments) was a 1979 international marine research project which mapped and investigated seafloor spreading in the Pacific Ocean, at the crest of the East Pacific Rise (EPR) at 21° north latitude. Using a deep sea submersible (ALVIN) to search for hydrothermal activity at depths around 2600 meters, the project discovered a series of vents emitting dark mineral particles at extremely high temperatures which gave rise to the popular name, "black smokers". Biologic communities found at 21° N vents, based on chemosynthesis and similar to those found at the Galapagos spreading center, established that these communities are not unique. Discovery of a deep-sea ecosystem not based on sunlight spurred theories of the origin of life on Earth.

Deborah Sue Kelley is a marine geologist who studies hydrothermal vents, active submarine volcanoes, and life in these regions of the deep ocean.

Karen Louise Von Damm was an American marine geochemist who studied underseas hydrothermal vent systems. Her work on black smoker hot springs after they were first discovered on the mid-ocean ridge in 1979 significantly advanced understanding of how vent fluids acquire their chemical composition and how those chemicals support biological communities. An area of hydrothermal vents located just south of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean was named the Von Damm Vent Field in her honor.

Susan Humphris is a geologist known for her research on processes at mid-ocean ridges. She is an elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

References

  1. ↑ "Nicholas School Faculty". duke.edu. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  2. ↑ Cindy Lee Van Dover, American Museum of Natural History. Accessed January 25, 2022. "Hometown: Eatontown, New Jersey (Exit 105 on the Garden State Parkway), which is about five miles from where Bruce Springsteen grew up and about five miles from the Atlantic Ocean."
  3. ↑ "Submarine provides glimpses of life at the bottom", Asbury Park Press , August 4, 1996. Accessed January 25, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Stocks and other scientists, including Cindy L Van Dover, a former Eatontown resident and graduate of Monmouth Regional High School and Rutgers, have not actually seen sludge on the bottom."
  4. ↑ "The Van Dover Lab". ml.duke.edu. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Cindy Van Dover". Nicholas School of the Environment.
  6. ↑ "Biographical Sketch". life.bio.sunysb.edu. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  7. 1 2 Dreifus, Claudia (2007-10-16). "Deep in the Sea, Imagining the Cradle of Life on Earth". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  8. ↑ Van Dover, Cindy. "Hot Topics: Biogeography of deep-sea hydrothermal vent faunas". divediscover.whoi.edu. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  9. ↑ "Cindy Lee Van Dover".
  10. ↑ "Cindy Lee Van Dover CV" (PDF). Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "Historic Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  12. ↑ "Rachel Carson Lecture | AGU". www.agu.org. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  13. ↑ "Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems". Archived from the original on 2012-08-08. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "Our Team".
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