Sylvie Dufour, is Emeritus Research Director at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Head of Mission for the Sea at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN) and Vice-Director of the Ocean Institute of the Sorbonne University Alliance. She graduated from the Ecole Normale Supérieure and Sorbonne University, and received her doctoral degree from MNHN and Sorbonne University.

She worked as postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, USA, before joining CNRS and MNHN, in Paris. She founded the research laboratory BOREA «Biology of Aquatic Organisms and Ecosystems» (MNHN, CNRS, Sorbonne University, Institute for Research and Development (IRD), University of Caen-Normandy and University of Antilles) and recently co-funded the Ocean Institute of the Sorbonne University Alliance in partnership with the French Navy and Navy school.

She has been a member of the Scientific Councils of various major research Institutions: MNHN, CNRS-Institute of Ecology and Environment, National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE), and the French Biodiversity Agency (AFB).

She was Visiting Researcher at the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS)-Water-Earth-Environment, Canada, and is currently Visiting Professor at the National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU), Keelung, Taiwan. Her research projects in the field of evolutionary biology focus on the origin and evolution of neuroendocrine regulatory systems and their roles in the evolution and adaptation of life cycles in the context of the global changes. She is also committed in promoting science outreach towards scholars and citizens.