Joan Murrell Owens facts for kids

Joan Murrell Owens (born June 30, 1933 – died May 25, 2011) was an American teacher and a marine biologist. She loved studying corals, which are tiny sea animals that often live together in big groups. Joan earned degrees in different subjects like geology, art, and counseling. She even discovered a new group of corals called Rhombopsammia and named three new types of corals.

Early Life and Education

Joan Murrell was born on June 30, 1933, in Miami, Florida. She was the youngest of three daughters born to William and Leola Murrell. Her father was a dentist.

From a young age, Joan was very interested in the ocean. Her parents encouraged this interest. Her father enjoyed fishing and often took his family on weekend fishing trips. These trips helped Joan become curious about marine life. One of her favorite books was The Silent World by Jacques Cousteau, a famous ocean explorer.

In 1950, Joan graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Miami. She received two scholarships to attend Fisk University. One was from the Pepsi-Cola Company, and the other was an art scholarship.

When Joan started at Fisk University in 1950, she wanted to study marine sciences. However, the university did not offer a program in that field. So, she decided to major in fine art. She also studied mathematics and psychology. She earned her degree in 1954.

After Fisk, Joan went to the University of Michigan for graduate school. She first planned to study commercial art. But she changed her mind and focused on guidance counseling. In 1956, she earned a Master of Science degree in guidance counseling, with a special focus on helping people with reading.

Teaching and Research Career

After finishing her studies, Joan Murrell worked for two years. She taught at the University of Michigan's Children's Psychiatric Hospital. In 1957, she joined the faculty at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. There, she taught remedial English, which helps students improve their basic English skills.

In the 1960s, Joan moved to Newton, Massachusetts. She designed special programs to teach English to students who needed extra help. This work was for an organization called the Institute for Services to Education. Her programs later became a model for the Upward Bound program. This is a program by the United States Department of Education that helps students prepare for college.

Return to Marine Biology

Joan later returned to Washington, D.C. Her interest in marine biology grew stronger. With encouragement from her friend, Philip Morrison, she decided to go back to school. In 1970, she enrolled at George Washington University.

Since George Washington University did not have an undergraduate marine science program, Joan created her own. She majored in geology and minored in zoology. In 1973, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in geology. She continued her studies and received her Master of Science degree in 1976.

In 1976, Joan returned to Howard University as a professor of geology. She also continued working towards her doctorate degree. Joan had a health condition called sickle cell anemia traits. This meant she could not dive underwater to collect coral samples. Instead, she worked in a laboratory at the Smithsonian Institution. She studied coral samples that had been collected by a British expedition way back in 1880.

Her doctoral research focused on deep-sea button corals. These are a special type of stony corals that do not form large colonies. Her dissertation was about how these corals changed over time and what that meant for their classification and environment. In 1984, she earned her PhD from George Washington University.

Discovering New Corals

After getting her PhD, Joan Murrell Owens continued her lab work at the Smithsonian. She classified and studied button corals. In 1986, she became an associate professor at Howard University in the geology and geography department.

She discovered a new group of corals, which she named Rhombopsammia. She also described two species within this new group. In 1994, she added a new species to the Letepsammia group. She named this new species L. franki after her husband, Frank A. Owens. Both Rhombopsammia and Letepsammia belong to the Micrabaciidae family of corals.

In 1992, the geology and geography department at Howard University was closed. Joan Owens then moved to the biology department. She retired from full-time work in 1995.

Later Life and Legacy

Joan Owens passed away on May 25, 2011. She is remembered for her important contributions to marine biology and her dedication to education. She was survived by her sister, Willette M. Carlton; her two daughters, Adrienne Lewis and Angela Owens; and a granddaughter, Chara Johnson.

Selected publications

See also

In Spanish: Joan Murrell Owens para niños