Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Professor Featured in Exhibition Highlighting Work of Women Paleontologists

Wednesday, December 15, 2021, By Dan Bernardi
Share
College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of Earth and Environmental SciencesGeology

As a young girl, Linda Ivany ’88 was fascinated by the natural sciences. Flipping through the pages of National Geographic magazine, she would learn about the work of noted female scientists Eugenie Clark, known for her pioneering research with sharks and fish, and Jane Goodall, one of the world’s leading experts on chimpanzee behavior. While she drew inspiration from those trailblazing researchers, she often wondered why there weren’t more women making headlines in other branches of the sciences, such as geology.

Linda Ivany

Linda Ivany

“When it came to geology and deep-time paleontology, I don’t think I knew of any women working in the field at all until I met brand-new professor Cathryn Newton when I visited Syracuse University as a prospective undergrad,” says Ivany, now professor and associate chair in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). Ivany would go on to receive an undergraduate degree from Syracuse, majoring in geology and minoring in zoology (now biology). Newton, now Dean Emerita of A&S, was both an advisor and mentor to Ivany as she cultivated her passion for paleontology at Syracuse. Today, Ivany hopes to encourage a future generation of young female scientists, as she is a featured researcher in an exhibit at the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca, NY, titled “Daring to Dig: Women in American Paleontology.”

The virtual and in-person exhibit looks back on the careers of 19 female paleontologists who paved the way for women in science today and profiles 41 women currently working in paleontology, reflecting on their challenges and triumphs.

Ivany, who received an M.S. in geology from the University of Florida-Gainesville and a Ph.D. in Earth and planetary sciences from Harvard University, has been a faculty member at Syracuse University since 2000. She specializes in paleoecology and paleoclimatology, studying the evolution of the Earth surface and how ecosystems evolve and respond to changes in the physical environment.

For decades, Ivany has collaborated with the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), which is the parent organization of the Museum of the Earth. Their extensive collection of fossil mollusks from Antarctica and the U.S. Gulf Coast—two areas where Ivany works extensively—provided a great resource for her, and she has in turn contributed her own research materials to their collection. When PRI asked if she was interested in being featured in an exhibit highlighting women in paleontology, Ivany happily accepted.

“If sharing my experiences might help a young person realize that she has a place in this field if she wants it, it is my honor and privilege to help. As well, the conversations among women scholars that this exhibit helped to foster have been empowering and validating, connecting women who might otherwise be isolated in their home institutions with stories of shared challenges and triumphs,” says Ivany, who is also a member of PRI’s Board of Trustees.

exhibit

Professor Linda Ivany’s work (center, in glass case) is on exhibit in a Daring to Dig display highlighting modern women paleontologists. (Photo by Jon Reis)

As true of other branches of science as well, Ivany points out that women have faced issues ranging from subtle marginalization to overt sexism. “The exhibit at the Museum of the Earth shines a light on this, recognizes the significant contributions of early pioneers in the field who worked in virtual anonymity and highlights the diversity of women currently engaged in research. The situation is steadily improving as more women enter the field and change the landscape for professional networking.”

In association with the exhibit, Ivany was one of four women who recently participated in a panel discussion livestreamed by WSKG Public Media. Their talk touched on various aspects of being a woman in the geosciences and paleontology. The panel also featured Syracuse University alumna Christy Visaggi, who received a master’s degree in geology from A&S in 2004 and is now a senior lecturer and undergraduate program director of geosciences at Georgia State University.

The Daring to Dig in-person exhibit is on view through December. View Linda Ivany’s virtual exhibit.

  • Author

Dan Bernardi

  • Recent
  • Behind the Greens with Drumlins’ Peter McPartland
    Friday, June 24, 2022, By Abby Haessig
  • Tips for Managing Your Spring (Achoo!) Allergies
    Friday, June 24, 2022, By Diane Stirling
  • 9 Faculty Members Presented NSF CAREER Awards
    Friday, June 24, 2022, By Diane Stirling
  • Faculty expert reflects on 80th anniversary of Holocaust publication
    Thursday, June 23, 2022, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Syracuse Views Spring/Summer 2022
    Wednesday, June 22, 2022, By News Staff

More In STEM

Two Professors Win Prestigious Google Research Scholar Awards

Assistant Professors Ferdinando Fioretto and Endadul Hoque, faculty members in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, have earned highly competitive Google Research Scholar awards. The Google Research Scholar Program provides unrestricted gifts of up to $60,000 to support research…

Hidden in Plain Sight: A&S Biologists Say Southern Right Whale Habitat Choice is Key to Keeping Young Calves Safe

Sitting on a beach looking out to sea, it may seem unusual to spot one of the world’s largest animals swimming in shallow, coastal, 30-foot-deep waters. But each winter, female southern right whales migrate thousands of miles to bay habitats…

AFRL-Syracuse University Consider Quantum Research Pairing, Student Opportunities for Future Collaborations

More than 30 Syracuse University faculty and leaders and representatives from the U.S. Air Force Research Lab convened on campus on May 6 to ideate around future collaboration opportunities. These include combined research initiatives in quantum information science and quantum…

Graduate Students Bring Physics to Local Classrooms With Outreach Program

“When am I ever going to use this in real life?” That is the oft-heard refrain from middle- and high-school science students, struggling through labs and formulas that feel as far removed from their day-to-day as, well, space travel. Sarthak…

Bringing ‘CSI’ Into the Classroom

Dusting for fingerprints, documenting blood stain patterns and measuring bullet trajectory—you might think this is a description of a recent episode from the popular television series “CSI.” While this may be true, these are also the daily lessons students are…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2022 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.