Cindy Lee Van Dover, 2009 WINGS Elected Fellow

"Follow your passion and don't wait for someone else to show you the path. Search out and engage in opportunities that take you beyond where you ever expected to be." — Cindy Lee Van Dover

Deep-Sea Biologist; Director, Duke University Marine Laboratory and Harvey W. Smith Professor of Biological Oceanography at Duke U.

Born: 1954-01-01

Hometown: Eatontown, NJ

Education: PhD in Biological Oceanography

Achievements

Discoveries: Strange eyes in deep-sea shrimp and geothermal light on the sea floor

Expeditions: Undersea mountain ranges: Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Central Indian Ridge, East Pacific Rise, Pacific Antarctic Ridge, Juan de Fuca Ridge, Gorda Ridge, Mohn's Ridge, Galapagos Spreading Center, Manus Basin, Lau Basin, Fiji Basin

Biography

Dr. Cindy Lee Van Dover is a deep-sea biologist with an interest in ocean exploration and the ecology of chemosynthetic ecosystems. She began her work in this field in 1982, joining the first biological expedition to hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise. After earning a Master's degree in ecology from UCLA in 1985, she continued her graduate education in the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Biological Oceanography. There 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. In 1989, she described a novel photoreceptor in a vent invertebrate, which in turn led to discovery and characterization of a geothermal source of light at vents and investigations of its biological significance. On receiving her Ph.D. in 1989, Van Dover joined the group that operates the deep-diving submersible ALVIN. She qualified as pilot in 1990 and was pilot-in-command of 48 dives. Her work with ALVIN and other deep-submergence assets has taken her to nearly all of the known vent fields in the Atlantic and Pacific, as well as to deep-water seamounts, seeps, and other significant seafloor features. Her current research focuses primarily on the study of biodiversity and biogeography of invertebrates from chemosynthetic ecosystems and invertebrate functional anatomy. She has published more than 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals and is an active participant and Chief Scientist in NSF-and NOAA-sponsored field programs to hydrothermal vents and other chemosynthetic environments. 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 also the author of the first textbook on hydrothermal vents (The Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents; Princeton University Press, 2000). Her work has been featured in Science News, Discover Magazine, The New York Times, and National Public Radio. Dr. Van Dover was named Virginia Outstanding Scientist in 2006 and is a Fulbright Scholar (France 2004), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Distinguished Lecturer for the NSF Ridge 2000 Program. She is the recipient of a George Hammell Cook Distinguished Alumni Award (Cook College, Rutgers University), a Career Award from the National Science Foundation, and a William & Mary Alumni Fellowship Award for Outstanding Teaching. She was the Marjorie S. Curtis Associate Professor in the Biology Department at The College of William & Mary in Virginia, and is currently the Director of the Duke University Marine Laboratory in the Beaufort, N.C.,  Nicholas School for the Environment at Duke University.

(Biography from the Nicholas School for the Environment website.) 

Fun Facts

Favorite Item to have in the field: The deep-diving submersible ALVIN

Heroes: Monsieur Arronnax, the naturalist held captive by Captain Nemo in Jules Vernes' 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; the real-life scientists who helped me find my way - Fred Grassle, Robert Hessler, and Robert Ballard; Rachel Carson, whose books celebrate the wonder of nature and words; Else Bostelmann, an early watercolor illustrator of deep-sea animals.