Ángeles Alvariño

Alvariño’s natural-sciences studies were interrupted by the Spanish Civil War; she completed her degree in 1941. She subsequently joined the Spanish Institute of Oceanography and studied zooplankton at its Vigo laboratory. A 1953 fellowship brought her to Britain for further research and scientific work at sea.

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In 1956 Alvariño went to the United States to work with Mary Sears. Sears subsequently recommended her for a position at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where she remained until 1969. Collections from different oceans supported detailed comparisons of plankton morphology, classification and descriptions of new species.

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Alvariño later studied planktonic fish larvae at NOAA. The Spanish Institute of Oceanography’s biography credits her with describing twenty-two new planktonic species. After her formal retirement in 1987, she continued scientific work and wrote about the history of Spanish marine science.

References: [1]