2004 UNOLS Council Slate

Elections will be held at the UNOLS Annual Meeting on 15 October to fill expiring Council terms. UNOLS Nominating Committee members Bob Knox (Chair), Charlie Flagg, and Peter Ortner have assembled a slate of candidates for the UNOLS Council positions to be filled. This election will be held in accordance with the UNOLS Charter as readopted November 2001. The slate is included below. Additional information about the candidates can be found by viewing the slate on-line at <http://www.unols.org/meetings/2004/200410anu/slate04.html> and clicking on the candidate’s name in the Statement of Interest section.

A pdf copy of the slate can be downloaded at <slate04.pdf>.

UNOLS COUNCIL SLATE- 2004

Chair-Elect (2 year term) - individual affiliated with any UNOLS Member Institution:

NON-OPERATOR REPRESENTATIVE (3 year term) - from among designated UNOLS Member Non-Operator institutions:

AT-LARGE (3 year term) - individual affiliated with any UNOLS Member Institution:

UNOLS Chair and Immediate Past Chair

At the UNOLS Annual meeting the following Council position changes will be announced:

 Statements of Interest and Biographical Sketches

UNOLS Chair-Elect Position

Dr. Marcia McNutt, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Statement of Interest for Chair-Elect Position

The next decade will be an incredibly exciting and dynamic time for ocean sciences in general and UNOLS in particular. The report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy is advocating a doubling of the ocean research budget and substantial upgrades to the oceanographic fleet and other infrastructure. Sustained ocean observing will become a reality both for researchers and for a variety of very practical applications. It is important that UNOLS be ready for these changes and take a proactive role in shaping the research fleet to support the future of oceanography.

I have been a sea-going oceanographer for 30 years, and during that time have sailed on ships from many UNOLS institutions. I have come to appreciate the different styles of the various ship operators that have been optimized to the needs of different disciplines within the ocean sciences. My current institution, MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), has been a member of UNOLS for many years, although our ships are not part of the UNOLS fleet. I believe that this arrangement provides me with an inside perspective on UNOLS and ship operations without the perceived conflict of interest that would arise if decisions that affect MBARI vessels are involved. Furthermore, MBARI has been one of the innovators in designing and deploying ocean observatories. As a result, I have much experience to share on what sort of marine operations and equipment will be required to install and service observatories, and provide complementary platforms for observation and experiments.

Brief Biography - Marcia McNutt

Marcia McNutt is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in Moss Landing, California. MBARI is a research laboratory funded by the Packard Foundation to develop and exploit new technology for the exploration of the oceans. The institute’s main focus is on designing and building new tethered and autonomous underwater vehicles and in situ sensor packages for increasing the spatial and temporal sampling of the ocean and its inhabitants.

She was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she graduated class valedictorian from Northrop Collegiate School (now The Blake Schools) in 1970. In 1973, she received a BA degree in Physics, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Colorado College in Colorado Springs. With the help of a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, she next studied geophysics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, where she earned a PhD in Earth Sciences in 1978. After a brief appointment as a sabbatical replacement at the University of Minnesota, she spent the next three years working on the problem of earthquake prediction at the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, before joining the faculty at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1982. Dr. McNutt spent the next 15 years at MIT, where she was appointed the Griswold Professor of Geophysics. While at MIT, she also served as Director of the Joint Program in Oceanography and Applied Ocean Science and Engineering, a cooperative graduate educational program between MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In 1988, she won the Macelwane Award from the American Geophysical Union, presented for outstanding research by a young scientist.

Dr. McNutt’s principal research involves the use of marine geophysical data to study the physical properties of the Earth beneath the oceans. Her research is both theoretical and field-based, using data she has collected on nearly two dozen oceanographic expeditions. The principle tools she has used include multibeam bathymetry, gravity, heat flow, magnetic, and seismic reflection and refraction data.

Dr. McNutt has served as President of the American Geophysical Union and is married to Ian Young, a sea captain.

Dr. James H. Swift, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Statement of Interest for UNOLS Chair-Elect Position

There are any number of pressing issues facing UNOLS, as is nearly always the case.  I mention "nearly always the case" because we are engaged in an enterprise - the support of marine research - which cannot succeed simply by maintaining a status quo.  If we are doing our job, there will always be a list of pressing issues as we come to grips with the evolving needs of our users, shifts in global geopolitics and regulations, and changes in the resources we can apply.

Regarding the UNOLS Chair-elect position, I am a great supporter of UNOLS, seeing the organization as our voice for the pursuit of excellence, efficiency, and effectiveness in support of marine science.  My principal prior experience within UNOLS is as the founding chair of the Arctic Icebreaker Coordinating Committee (this also made me an ex officio Council participant), which initially oversaw science-related aspects of the construction and testing of the research icebreaker USCGC Healy, but whose long-term mission includes promoting a productive and successful working relationship between the Coast Guard and the science users of icebreakers.  The "working together" model promoted by UNOLS underlay much of the success of the AICC:  If one were looking ahead to whatever personal style I might bring to the Chair position, that is where to begin.

The continual challenge to improve operations and support, while evolving to fit the science, is only one aspect of the fit of UNOLS to its niche.  It gets down to people, and how to support them: the key to the success of UNOLS-supported science has been the expertise and experience of the personnel involved in marine support.  New ships and related facilities, as required to support evolving US marine science needs, are surely a very important issue, but all in all it is the maintenance of expertise, provision for training, and eye to evolution of personnel needs that will drive the continued success of UNOLS supported marine science.

The UNOLS position would bring significant obligations.  I was surprised (and remain deeply honored) to be nominated.  After thinking it over, I realized UNOLS represents an endeavor for which I am truly willing to devote the required effort.

Biographical Sketch – James Swift:

Non-Operator Representative

Dr. Albert C. Hine, University of South Florida

Statement of Interest

To the Nominating Committee:

I would nominate myself to serve in the non-operator position that has become available on the UNOLS Council. I am doing this with the knowledge and encouragement of my Dean, Dr. Peter R. Betzer.

I have extensive sea-going and panel-type experience. Over the years I have been co-chief scientist on 26 cruises on UNOLS vessels, mostly the smaller ones such as the R/Vs Calanus, Eastward, Cape Hatteras, Endeavor, and Iselin. Some of these vessels have gone on to greener pastures. I have also had a dive series on the DSRV Alvin as well as dives using Harbor Branch’s Clelia and Delta submersibles. I was Co-chief Scientist on Leg 182 (Great Australian Bight) on the D/V JOIDES Resolution and sailed on Leg 194 (Marion Plateau) on the same vessel as a Shipboard Scientist.  Finally, I have been the chief or co-chief scientist on numerous cruises on non-UNOLS vessels such as the Florida Institute of Oceanography’s R/Vs Bellows and Suncoaster.

Being a geological oceanographer, most of this seagoing work has involved seismic reflection profiling, side-scan sonar mapping, and the deployment of a variety of bottom sampling and ground-truthing tools (piston cores, bottom camera, dredges, ROVs, etc). I have published about 125 papers based upon this collective work, which was funded over the years by NSF, ONR, NOAA, and the USGS. I have also used research vessels as creative teaching tools in education and outreach activities.

I have been appointed to numerous panels and committees. I served on NSF MG&G’s proposal review panel for 3 years (twice a year). I have been and continue to be involved with ODP/IODP activities having served on the former Ocean History Panel (3 years), Site Survey Panel (3 years), and the US Science Advisory Committee (3 years), which advises JOI. I also am my institution’s alternate BOG member to both JOI and CORE.

Additionally, I have been on the ground floor of various national initiatives such as NSF MG&G FUMAGES, ONR’s STRATFORM, and NSF’s MARGINS and IODP.

I have always been fundamentally a seagoing scientist and am actively interested in ship issues, particularly bringing new technology to seagoing scientific operations. I think I could bring an experienced perspective to the UNOLS Council.

Please examine my CV for more information.

Sincerely,

Albert C. Hine, Professor and Associate Dean of Research

Biographical Sketch:

Dr. Eileen E. Hofmann – Old Dominion University

Statement of Interest:

My primary research interest is in using coupled ocean circulation and ecosystem models to understand physical-biological interactions in marine ecosystems, which might seem to make me a non-seagoing oceanographer.  However, mathematical models are large users of data and for many modeling applications these data need to be collected.    As a result, throughout my career, I have participated in oceanographic cruises that have used a variety of oceanographic research vessels and instrumentation and have taken place in a variety of environments.

My experience with oceanographic research vessels began in graduate school, when I participated in an extensive field program designed to investigate Gulf Stream upwelling along the southeastern U.S. continental shelf.  These cruises were multidisciplinary and provided opportunities to learn to use a wide range of oceanographic sampling instrumentation, such as conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) instrument systems, eXpendable BathyThermograph (XBT) probes, water sampling devices, plankton nets, and to learn how to design and implement cruise plans.  On some of the later Gulf Stream cruises, I served as Chief Scientist, which gave me an appreciation for difficulty associated with coordinating multidisciplinary oceanographic cruises.  About 12 years ago, I participated in a field program that was focused on continental shelf waters along the western Antarctic Peninsula, which provided experience at dealing with the logistics of working in an environment far removed from home and working in cold, ice-covered conditions.  During the past five years I have been involved in developing and implementing the field program for the U.S. Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (SO GLOBEC) program, which was focused on the western Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf.  The field effort for this program consisted of 4 process cruises and 4 survey cruises during the austral fall and winters of 2001 and 2002.  As Chair of the U.S. SO GLOBEC Executive Committee, I was involved in designing the cruises and in the logistics of making the cruises happen.  I participated in two of the survey cruises and my group was responsible for obtaining hydrographic data, using a Rosette/CTD system, on all of the survey cruises. 

 As a result of the SO GLOBEC cruise experience, I have participated in discussions about modifications needed in the design of vessel that will replace the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer.  The evolution of physical and biological sampling instrumentation and capability requires future oceanographic research vessels to have particular characteristics, especially vessels designed for high latitude environments.  Through participation in the UNOLS Council, these needs can be brought forward, discussed, and incorporated into modifications of existing ships and into the design of future oceanographic vessels.  Also, as a user of oceanographic data, I know how important it is to maintain sampling capability, via research ships, moored instrumentation, and observing networks.  The UNOLS Council can ensure continuation of a quality research fleet and the development of future observing systems, which will also include ships.  I am willing to work through the Council to move these efforts forward. 

Biographical Sketch:

AT-LARGE Council Position

Dr. Bruce H. Corliss – Duke University

Statement of Interest:

The UNOLS Council advises the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other funding agencies on academic research ship activities, serves as a liaison between the ocean science community and the funding agencies, and promotes safety and management improvements of the academic fleet.  During the next three years, I believe that the Council will need to focus on three primary objectives.  The first is to continue to develop, in concert with the funding agencies, a fleet renewal plan that will meet the needs of the ocean science community over the next 30 years.  The second objective is to work with the ocean observing community to create a viable plan of ship support that is realistic, given the funding restrictions that are likely to exist.  The third objective is to continue to oversee fleet safety and management procedures to enhance the overall operation of the research vessels.  If elected for a second term, I will continue to work with the Council on these important objectives.

Biographical Sketch:

Dr. Marvin D. Lilley – University of Washington

Statement of Interest

I am honored to be nominated for a potential position on the UNOLS Council. I have been a seagoing scientist throughout my career and deeply appreciate the job UNOLS has done in developing and coordinating the academic fleet. The role UNOLS plays is vital to the continued development of our science.

My experience within the UNOLS system includes six years on the Deep Submergence Science Committee (DESSC). In addition, I have over 30 years of sea-going experience on all classes of UNOLS vessels including several as Chief Scientist. I would bring considerable deep submergence experience to UNOLS including over 20 manned submersible and six ROV cruises. I have also sailed as a shipboard scientist on a drilling leg on the JOIDES Resolution.

I have served on several national committees (DESSC, USSAC, RIDGE Steering Committee) and have co-convened or served as a group leader for numerous NSF planning workshops.

I am very interested in ship related issues and I believe that I would bring a useful perspective to the UNOLS Council.

Biographical Sketch:

UNOLS Chair

Peter Wiebe (WHOI), Chair-Elect, will transition to the position of the UNOLS Chair at the Annual Meeting.  He has provided a Statement of Interest to serve as the UNOLS Chair along with background notes.

Statement for UNOLS Chair Position

UNOLS is a unique organization within the marine community that is designed to “...coordinate and review the access to and utilization of facilities for academic oceanographic research, and the current match of facilities to the needs of academic oceanographic programs....”, to make “...appropriate recommendations of priorities for replacing, modifying or improving the numbers and mix of facilities for the community of users...”, and  “... to foster federal and other support for academic oceanography, thereby continuing and enhancing the excellence of this nation's oceanographic program. Emphasis is placed on ships and other seagoing facilities.” 

There are critical issues facing the oceanographic community, especially those of fleet renewal and the establishment of ocean observatories, that fall squarely into the UNOLS purview.  At the same time, the recommendations put forth by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy give rise to a sense of optimism that the support will be forthcoming to enable the improvements to the oceanographic infrastructure that are essential for future ocean research. UNOLS has a central role in providing the leadership and advice necessary to turn the promise into reality. Having participated in a number of UNOLS activities over the past 20 years and having now served nearly two years as the UNOLS Chair-elect, I feel that I have gained the insight and background to become the UNOLS Chair.  I intend to work closely with the council, the various UNOLS committees, and the UNOLS office to ensure that the goals and objectives of the organization are achieved and to provide effective communication with our associated Federal Agencies.

Background Notes:

I am a biological oceanographer.  My graduate training was at Scripps Institution of Oceanography from 1962-1968. I spent a year at the Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University (1968-1969) and was briefly a temporary Assistant Professor at Oregon State University (July-August, 1969) before joining the scientific staff at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1969 to present) where I am now a Senior Scientist. I have served as Director for the WHOI Center for Analysis of Marine Systems (January 1983-December 1986) and as Department Chairman for the WHOI Biology Department (1988-1992).  I am currently a member of the ICES Working Group on Zooplankton Ecology (since 1992), a U.S. representative to the ICES Oceanography Committee (since June 1999), and co-chair of the ICES Study Group on Marine Integrated Data (since 2002).  I have served as the Chairman of the U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank Program Executive Committee (since November 1993), am a member of the Southern Ocean GLOBEC Steering Committee (since June, 2000) and an ex-officio member of U.S. GLOBEC National Steering Committee. I am the lead PI for the U.S. GLOBEC data management office.

My research interests include: the quantitative population ecology of zooplankton with emphasis on zooplankton small-scale distribution and abundance, organic matter transport into the deep-sea, the biology of Gulf Stream Rings, zooplankton associated with deep-sea hydrothermal vents, dynamics of populations on Georges Bank and on the continental shelf region of the Western Antarctic Peninsula, and acoustical determination of zooplankton biomass, abundance, and size. I have also led the development of zooplankton sampling gear including the Multiple Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System (MOCNESS) and the Bio-Optical Multi-frequency Acoustic and Physical Environmental Recorder (BIOMAPER-II).  Since 1962, I have been on more than 100 oceanographic cruises to most of the worlds oceans aboard ships ranging in size from the global class research vessels (including the icebreaker N. B. Palmer) down to small coastal boats.