Medlin's early work was with
Greta Fryxell on the taxonomy of diatoms.[4][5] She is known for her work on applying molecular tools to the study of phytoplankton, and she was the first to develop primers for
polymerase chain reaction that targeted eukaryotic organisms,[6] She applied this tool to taxonomic studies of multiple species of phytoplankton cultured in the laboratory.[7][8][9] Her work extended into the ocean where she examined the diversity of phytoplankton in different regions including the Pacific Ocean,[10] Antarctica,[11] and the time series from the German research station at
Heligoland.[12] Through the application of molecular tools, Medlin was able to define species differences in
coccolithophores[13] and examine the evolution of diatoms.[14] In 2007, Medlin led the group who discovered a new lineage within photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms, the
picobiliphytes,[15] and then presented the first cultured strain in 2013 but the group is not photosynthetic but heterotrophic and feeds primarily on cryptomonads and may keep their plastids, hence the chartarcteristic pigments first associated with the group..[16] More recently. Medlin has worked on the phytoplankton within
harmful algal blooms and improving methods for monitoring such blooms using DNA barcodes as probes in electrochemical biosensors.[17][18][19]
Medlin, Linda; Simon, Nathalie (1998), Cooksey, Keith E. (ed.), "Phylogenetic Analysis of Marine Phytoplankton", Molecular Approaches to the Study of the Ocean, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 161–186,
doi:
10.1007/978-94-011-4928-0_7,
ISBN978-94-010-6067-7
Awards and honors
Medlin was elected foreign member of Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 1998.[20] Four of Medlin's papers have received awards, one paper[21] received the Luigi Provasoli award from the
Phycological Society of America,[22] and three papers[14][23] have received the Tyge Christensen Award from the
International Phycological Society.[24] Medlin received the Yasumoto Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae in 2021.[25]
^Medlin, Linda K.; Elwood, Hille J.; Stickel, Shawn; Sogin, Mitchell L. (1991). "Morphological and Genetic Variation Within the Diatom Skeletonema costatum (bacillariophyta): Evidence for a New Species, Skeletonema pseudocostatum1". Journal of Phycology. 27 (4): 514–524.
Bibcode:
1991JPcgy..27..514M.
doi:
10.1111/j.0022-3646.1991.00514.x.
ISSN1529-8817.
S2CID84971128.
^Gescher, Christine; Metfies, Katja; Medlin, Linda K. (2008-06-01). "The ALEX CHIP—Development of a DNA chip for identification and monitoring of Alexandrium". Harmful Algae. 7 (4): 485–494.
doi:
10.1016/j.hal.2007.11.001.
ISSN1568-9883.