Marie Poland Fish

Early life and education Marie Poland was born in 1900 in Paterson, New Jersey. Her nickname "Bobbie" derived from her bobbed flapper haircut. She graduated from Smith College before earning a PhD from the University of Rhode Island. The six-month long expedition left New York on February 11, 1925, and sailed through the Sargasso Sea to the Galápagos Islands, returning to New York on July 30, 1925. Marie Poland Fish worked on samples from the expedition at least up to 1932. During this expedition she became the first person to identify the eggs of the elusive American eel. which reached the newspapers given the mystery surrounding the origin of eels. In a 1926 article in Science she first describes the collection of the eggs and their development into what she was able to identify as an American eel. In 1927 she published the full taxonomic description. She concludes her initial description by noting that

Fish's publications include work cataloging sounds from marine animals, including from fish and whales. She went on to determine the biological mechanisms that allow fish to make sounds. She was a prolific author, writing over 200 articles in academic journals and popular magazines, including a newspaper column on popular science that she wrote with her husband from 1936 to 1939, the only time they collaborated professionally.

Selected publications

Awards Navy Distinguished Public Service Award (1966)