
Home Reunion Schedule Contacts Alumni In Memoriam Registration Form Send us your bio and a recent picture	Lisa Ballance Spouse/partner: Robert Pitman I spent many years after high school in more school! (B.A. in Biology at University of California San Diego in 1981; M.S. in Marine Science at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA in 1987; Ph.D. in Marine Ecology at University of California San Diego in 1993). Although I love the mountains (and still miss northern New Mexico dearly) I chose to study marine mammals and seabirds of tropical oceans and that is still my specialty. I am a Marine Ecologist with the Southwest Fisheries Science Center of NOAA Fisheries--a branch of the Federal government that is responsible for "keeping our oceans safe" and lead the Protected Resources Division and the Ecosystem Studies Program. I am also the Chief Scientist for our marine mammal and ecosystem assessment cruises in the eastern tropical Pacific. I spend 2-4 months at sea each year, analyze data and write papers, and do administration! In 2003 I also became a professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and currently advise three graduate students in research that focuses on effects of climate change on animals in tropical oceans, and how to conserve threatened and endangered species in today's world. My husband is also a dedicated marine ecologist (he has described a new species of seabird and is well on the way to describing a new species of killer whale in the Antarctic). We met on a ship and will celebrate our 14th anniversary this November. Our jobs command a huge amount of our time but we love it. We have sailed in tropical and polar seas all over the world, visiting the Maldives, Oman, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, Greenland, and all the countries between the United States and Peru. We have no children but I maintain a close relationship with my sister (Lori) and her two daughters, and with my Mom (who just turned 80 and looks and acts like a 50-year old). Back to Alumni

Lisa Ballance

Spouse/partner: Robert Pitman

I spent many years after high school in more school! (B.A. in Biology at University of California San Diego in 1981; M.S. in Marine Science at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA in 1987; Ph.D. in Marine Ecology at University of California San Diego in 1993). Although I love the mountains (and still miss northern New Mexico dearly) I chose to study marine mammals and seabirds of tropical oceans and that is still my specialty. I am a Marine Ecologist with the Southwest Fisheries Science Center of NOAA Fisheries--a branch of the Federal government that is responsible for "keeping our oceans safe" and lead the Protected Resources Division and the Ecosystem Studies Program. I am also the Chief Scientist for our marine mammal and ecosystem assessment cruises in the eastern tropical Pacific. I spend 2-4 months at sea each year, analyze data and write papers, and do administration!

In 2003 I also became a professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and currently advise three graduate students in research that focuses on effects of climate change on animals in tropical oceans, and how to conserve threatened and endangered species in today's world.

My husband is also a dedicated marine ecologist (he has described a new species of seabird and is well on the way to describing a new species of killer whale in the Antarctic). We met on a ship and will celebrate our 14th anniversary this November. Our jobs command a huge amount of our time but we love it. We have sailed in tropical and polar seas all over the world, visiting the Maldives, Oman, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, Greenland, and all the countries between the United States and Peru. We have no children but I maintain a close relationship with my sister (Lori) and her two daughters, and with my Mom (who just turned 80 and looks and acts like a 50-year old).

Back to Alumni