Oceanography Vol. 1

Artist Reuben Margolin has spent the last ten years making kinetic sculptures inspired by wave motion. Seeking to combine the logic of mathematics with the sensuousness of nature, Reuben built a series of monumental mechanical mobiles that have been exhibited internationally, including at the Aquarium of the Pacific. He received his BA from Harvard University, has studied at art schools in Russia and Italy, and has been an artist in residence in Spain and India.

Dr. Welland, is the founder and director of Orogen Ltd., a consulting company based in London, England. He has been face-to- face with geology around the world from the Arctic to the dunes of the Gulf Kebir (Great Barrier) in the Western Desert of Egypt. He holds a PhD in geology from the University of Cambridge. He and his wife divide their time between London and France.

At the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Aster is Professor of Geophysics, the Chair of Earth and Environmental Science, and the Geophysics Program Coordinator in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science. Aster earned his Masters in Geophysics from the UW Madison and his PhD in Earth Sciences from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Aster serves on the Seismological Society of America’s Board of Directors. He received the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Service Medal in 1999.

Dr. Griggs has been a professor of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz since 1968. He is presently the director of the Institute of Marine Sciences and also the chair of the University of California Marine Council. He served for 15 years as a geologic advisor to Santa Cruz County and has consulted widely for local, state, and national government agencies. Griggs' research and teaching have been focused on coastal processes, hazards, and coastal engineering. Since 1991, he has led an effort to develop a major marine research and education center at the University’s Long Marine Laboratory. Dr. Gary Griggs has written or co-written over 150 articles published in professional journals as well as several books.

Daniel Botkin is a scientist who studies life from a planetary perspective. He writes about nature, and is one of the world’s leading researchers who has helped solve major environmental issues. Dr. Botkin is a research professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at the University of California Santa Barbara and president of The Center for the Study of the Environment. For 39 years, as a Ph. D. ecologist, Botkin has tried to understand life on the Earth. He has studied moose in the far north, elephants in Africa, bowhead whales in the northern ocean, and forests in North and Central America. Botkin has worked as a professional journalist and has degrees in physics, biology, and literature.

Dr. Margaret Leinen is the Chief Science Officer of Climos, Inc., a company leveraging natural processes to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Between 2000 and 2007, Dr. Leinen managed the Geosciences Directorate, the second largest at NSF, that funds the majority of new publicly funded research initiatives in ocean, atmospheric and earth science in the United States. Before going to the National Science Foundation, Dr. Leinen was Dean, Graduate School of Oceanography and Vice Provost for Marine and Environmental Programs at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Leinen is also a well-known researcher in paleo-oceanography and paleo-climatology.

Graeme Rae, PhD, is the product manager of and creative source behind Surfline.com, a popular online surfing website focusing on the East Coast. Kevin Wallis is the forecast manager and lead forecaster at Surfline where he develops and supervises the daily surfing forecasts for a large part of the eastern Pacific coast and Hawaii so that surfers will "know before they go".

Rear Admiral Richard West, USN (Re.) is president of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) division of the Consortium of Ocean Leadership whose mission is to advance research, education, and sound ocean policy. In his view of the ocean from Washington, Admiral West gives us a candid look at what’s happening now and a peek into the future.

The National Ocean and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), under the direction of Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret), is charged with analyzing and predicting the nation’s climate and weather now and into the future. Admiral Lautenbacher explains how NOAA agencies are responding to the need to help society understand, plan for, and respond to climate variability and change.

Bill Patzert has a PhD in oceanography and is a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab at the California Institute of Technology.