Oceanography Vol. 1

In his talk with Jeanine Jones on January 25, 2012, Jackson discussed recent scientific discoveries are revealing new information about atmospheric rivers—the concentrated streams of moisture that originate over the Pacific Ocean and cause major winter floods in California. Jackson is the meteorologist in charge for the National Weather Service serving Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties.

In her talk with Mark Jackson on January 25, 2012, Jones discussed recent scientific discoveries are revealing new information about atmospheric rivers—the concentrated streams of moisture that originate over the Pacific Ocean and cause major winter floods in California. Jones is the interstate resources manager for the California Department of Water Management.

Dr. Richard Feely, who spoke on May 23, 2011, is a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. He also holds an affiliate full professor faculty position at the University of Washington’s School of Oceanography. His major research areas are carbon cycling in the ocean and ocean acidification processes.

Dr. James Lindholm, who spoke at the Aquarium on April 27, 2011, is the James W. Rote Distinguished Professor of Marine Science and Policy and the founder and director of the Institute for Applied Marine Ecology at California State University, Monterey Bay. His research interests include the landscape ecology of fishes, the recovery of seafloor habitats following the cessation of fishing activity, and the design and efficacy of marine protected areas.

Peter Ward, who spoke at the Aquarium about the impacts of climate change on June 16, 2011, is a professor of biology and space sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. His books include "Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe" and "The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive"?

Clark Snodgrass, who spoke at the Aquarium on July 6, 2011, has twenty-five years of experience in aerospace systems engineering and development spanning numerous space programs at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. He currently serves as the Northrop Grumman director of System Engineering, Integration, Test and Operations for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System.

Dr. Alexander "Sandy" MacDonald, the inventor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Science on a Sphere, spoke at the Aquarium on May 31, 2011. He is the deputy assistant administrator for Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes for the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. He also serves as director of the Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.

Dr. Sager is a professor of oceanography at Texas A and M University. His current research efforts are concentrated on geophysical studies of hotspots and ocean plateaus and how they formed and evolved, as well as magnetic anomaly interpretations and the geomagnetic polarity reversal time scale.

Dr. Parker is presently a visiting professor at the Center for Maritime Systems at the Stevens Institute of Technology and is the former chief scientist of the National Ocean Service at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He has a Ph.D. in physical oceanography from The Johns Hopkins University, a master’s degree in physical oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and a bachelor’s degree in biology and physics from Brown University.

Richard Somerville is a theoretical meteorologist and distinguished professor emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. He earned his Ph.D from New York University and has received awards for both his research and his popular book, The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change.