Roger Arliner Young was the first African American woman to earn a PhD in Zoology, which she received from the University of Pennsylvania in 1940. She graduated from Howard University with a zoology degree in 1923 and went on to publish her first scientific paper in 1924 on the structure of Paramecium, becoming the first black woman to have work published. Throughout her career, Young conducted important research on topics such as the effects of radiation on sea urchin eggs and fertilization of marine organisms.