Marge Penton obtained a B.S. from Northern Arizona University with a dual major in Aquatic Biology and Chemistry. Her M.S. degree was granted from University of Arkansas. Her thesis topic was the study of epiphytic algae on natural and artificial surfaces. She worked in a algal ecology/culture lab during her undergraduate years at NAU. After receiving an M.S. she worked as a research technician at Cornell University and (in the summers) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab for a stream ecologist studying macroinvertebrates. She continues to work at RMBL in the summers  and is pursuing her interests in phycology.