Oceanography

Interview with Clara Deser, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Deser describes growing up in Massachusetts with intellectual parents, her father being physicist Stanley Deser and her mother being an artist. She recalls her early schooling, including time spent in France during her father’s sabbatical, which is where she discovered her love for maps. Deser discusses the beginning of her undergraduate studies at Smith College before transferring to MIT, where she became interested in geology, earth sciences, meteorology, and oceanography. She shares stories from her field work as a seagoing oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where she worked after graduation. Deser explains her decision to pursue graduate studies in atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington under Mike Wallace. She reflects on the sense of camaraderie within the department and describes her thesis research on El Niño. The interview concludes with Deser recalling the many conferences she has attended over the years and her involvement in the American Meteorological Society. 

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In this interview, Marcia McNutt discusses: current position as President of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in Washington, D.C.; mission, history, and structure of the NAS; NAS’s work on climate change and COVID-19; experience as a geophysicist; partnering with the National Academies of Engineering and Medicine; childhood in Minnesota; decision to study geophysics; graduate research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography; research on ocean island volcanism in French Polynesia and Hawaii; early use of magnetometers, gravity meters, and seismometers in oceanic plate tectonic observation; development of techniques to take gravity, bathymetry, or topography data on continent and use them in inversion to learn about topography; work directing Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI); time at US Geological Survey (USGS) under Ken Salazar; professorship at MIT and collaboration with Woods Hole; details of leading an oceanographic expedition in the Marquesas Islands; spearheading structural change at MBARI; MBARI-created autonomous device to identify microscopic ocean life without samples; MBARI-invented deep-sea laser Raman spectrometer; being the first organization to put AI on autonomous underwater vehicles to map plumes; response to the Deepwater Horizon spill; fracking; the National Water Census; decision to become editor-in-chief of Science; procedures as editor; career evolution; becoming president of NAS; transition from the Obama to Trump administrations; opinions on geo-engineering; Decadal survey; Koshland Science Museum and LabX; efforts to nominate and elect younger scientists and underrepresented minorities to the Academy; making recommendations to Congress; collaborations with the private sector; communication with the public; and the 2018 Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s report on sexual harassment in academia. Toward the end of the interview, McNutt reflects on her career as both scientist and leader and the importance of integrity in research.

In this interview, Cesare Emiliani and Don Moore discuss their careers and the history of the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.  Topics discussed include: deep sea drilling project; Fritz Koczy; F.G. Walton Smith; Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; Bob Ginsburg; W. Drost-Hansen; Warren Scriver Wooster; Gil Voss; Shell Development Company; Gordon Gunter; Gulf Coast Research Laboratory; Ed Hoffmeister.

Topics include his childhood and early education; World War II experiences; decision to take up geology; availability of Western publications at Humboldt University; fixism and alternative ideas to plate tectonics; the International Geophysical Year and East German participation; National Oil company job; accused of being a Western spy; escape to West Germany and refuge camp experience; his work with the German Geological Survey; research on the North Sea; Indian Ocean Expedition and its importance to German marine science; trip to U.S. to meet American colleagues; differences between German and US marine sciences; recollections of Maurice Ewing; comparison of Scripps, Lamont, Woods Hole; participation on Atlantic Panel; MOHOLE Project; Joint Institute Deep Earth Sampling Program; German science policy; international cooperation in science; work on the Argentine volcanic margins; cooperation with Russian researchers; government scientific advising.

Topics include:  his family and early education; his decision to attend Cambridge University and Kings College; the impact of WWII on his education; his Naval experiences; his post-war education; getting into geophysics; work on seismic refraction at sea; his dissertation work on the velocity of sound through the sea-bottom sedimentation; obtaining a Fulbright scholarship to go to U.S. where he spent one year at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observation; work with deep-sea camera; work with Bruce Heezen; comparison of Lamont with Scripps Institution of Oceanography; work leading to the gradual acceptance of sea-floor spreading; his work at National Institute of Oceanography; studies related to sea-floor spreading; comparison of British and American standards for classification of data; the Indian Ocean Expedition and its importance to the theory of sea floor spreading; his research vessel, Discovery;  reactions to the work of Vine and Matthews; his work in the Gulf of Aden; Soviet ships and style of research; recollections of Russian scientist Gleb Udintsev; participation on the Atlantic Panel and participation on international programs and committees; comparison of the NIO to Lamont; the British government's support for research; the Rothschild report; differences between applied and strategic research; submarine detection work; creating government science policy; negotiations on the 3rd Law of the Sea; radioactive waste disposal.

For five decades, Prof. Klaus Wyrtki was part of the illustrious group of leading oceanographers. His scientific career began in Kiel, where he got his PhD under the supervision of Prof Wüst, lead him to Indonesia, Australia and California, until he finally came to Honolulu, where he stayed until his retirement in the early 1990s. On the occasion his 75th birthday and 50th PhD anniversary, Jürgen Sündermann, Klaus Magaard and Hans von Storch spoke with him about his experiences and insights of a long, successful and exciting scientific life.

Topics include a discussion about the Ewing family and John's brother, Maurice Ewing; the development of underwater photography; his education at Harvard and Maurice's influence on his studies; the research vessels at Lamont and his experiences aboard them; trips to the Soviet Union and the Soviet earth scientists who came to Lamont, the development of the air gun, the Mohole drilling project; the Industrial Associates program at Lamont and its impact on funding; the relationships between Woods Hole, Scripps Institute and Lamont; Maurice Ewing's arguments against plate tectonics; Maurice's departure from Lamont to the University of Texas; deep sea drilling. Prominently mentioned are: Vladimir Belousov, Francis Birch, Bruce Heezen, Karl Hinz, Columbus Iselin, Xavier LePichon, Angelo Ludas, Frank Press, Manik Talwani, Gleb Udintsev, Joe Worzel.

Topics include a discussion about the Ewing family and John's brother, Maurice Ewing; the development of underwater photography; his education at Harvard and Maurice's influence on his studies; the research vessels at Lamont and his experiences aboard them; trips to the Soviet Union and the Soviet earth scientists who came to Lamont, the development of the air gun, the Mohole drilling project; the Industrial Associates program at Lamont and its impact on funding; the relationships between Woods Hole, Scripps Institute and Lamont; Maurice Ewing's arguments against plate tectonics; Maurice's departure from Lamont to the University of Texas; deep sea drilling. Prominently mentioned are: Vladimir Belousov, Francis Birch, Bruce Heezen, Karl Hinz, Columbus Iselin, Xavier LePichon, Angelo Ludas, Frank Press, Manik Talwani, Gleb Udintsev, Joe Worzel.

Topics include a discussion about the Ewing family and John's brother, Maurice Ewing; the development of underwater photography; his education at Harvard and Maurice's influence on his studies; the research vessels at Lamont and his experiences aboard them; trips to the Soviet Union and the Soviet earth scientists who came to Lamont, the development of the air gun, the Mohole drilling project; the Industrial Associates program at Lamont and its impact on funding; the relationships between Woods Hole, Scripps Institute and Lamont; Maurice Ewing's arguments against plate tectonics; Maurice's departure from Lamont to the University of Texas; deep sea drilling. Prominently mentioned are: Vladimir Belousov, Francis Birch, Bruce Heezen, Karl Hinz, Columbus Iselin, Xavier LePichon, Angelo Ludas, Frank Press, Manik Talwani, Gleb Udintsev, Joe Worzel.