Sonya Dyhrman, associate professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Lamont-Doherty, studies how marine microbes like phytoplankton interact with their environment.

Working together, Farhana Mather at Lamont-Doherty and Christina Vellios at CC secured a $499K, five-year grant from Jim Angell ’83CC and The Paul M. Angell Foundation. The grant supports work by Professor Sonya Dyrham (pictured) on how changing ocean environments will impact microbes at the bottom of the marine food chain. Angell’s grant, which builds upon his family’s generosity to the College, furthers Columbia’s leadership in ocean resiliency research.

Angell directs the Angell Foundation’s environmental program, his philanthropic passion for sea life aligning with Dyrham’s studies. Angell’s father, Charles Angell ’63CC, the Foundation’s president, has been an active CC alumnus who helped lead his 50th College Reunion and worked for over a decade with Jim McMenamin, senior associate dean for CC Development and senior director of principal gifts.