2006 UNOLS Council Slate
<A copy of the Slate document can be downloaded as a pdf <slate06.pdf>

Elections will be held at the UNOLS Annual Meeting on 6 October to fill expiring Council terms. UNOLS Nominating Committee members Tim Cowles (Chair), Margo Edwards, and Wilf Gardner 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 October 2004. The slate is included below. Statements of Interest and biographical sketches for each candidate follow.

 

CHAIR-ELECT (2 year term) - individual affiliated with any UNOLS Member Institution:

                        Dr. Vernon L. Asper, University of Southern Mississippi

                        Dr. George A. Maul, Florida Institute of Technology

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

Dr. Robert W. Collier, Oregon State University

Dr. Christopher I. Measures, University of Hawaii

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

Dr. Douglas E. Hammond, University of Southern California

Dr. Mary Jane Perry, University of Maine

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

Dr. John Diebold, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Dr. William W. Sager, Texas A&M University

 


UNOLS Chair and Immediate Past Chair

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

·         Chair – Dr. Marcia McNutt (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), Chair-Elect, becomes the new UNOLS Chair. 

·         Immediate Past Chair - Dr. Peter Wiebe (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), UNOLS Chair, becomes the Immediate Past Chair.



 Statements of Interest and Biographical Sketches

 

UNOLS Chair-Elect Position

Dr. Vernon L. Asper, University of Southern Mississippi

Statement of Interest for Chair-Elect Position

The challenges facing our ocean research community and our fleet are complicated and daunting, including shrinking budgets, increasing global unrest, and the implementation of IOOS.  In spite of advances in satellite observational capabilities and autonomous vehicles, our research vessels remain the mainstay of our research platform capacity and it is increasingly important that we work diligently to maintain and improve our capabilities.

When the University of Southern Mississippi joined UNOLS years ago, I was selected as our representative, and I have served on ARVOC, the Antarctic Research Vessel Oversight Committee, helping to manage the icebreakers operated by NSF.  I have spent more than 900 days at sea on 30 vessels and 2 submersibles from 10 countries, operating all over the world.  This experience and exposure to different configurations and philosophies will be helpful in making decisions regarding the research vessel fleet in the coming years.  In addition to this experience, I have served as the Associate Director/Dean of our Institute of Marine Sciences and recently as Dean of our College of Marine Sciences, and this administrative experience should be useful as well.

 

Brief Biography

·         Recent Professional Experience:

-          07/97 - Present        Professor, The University of Southern Mississippi

-          07/02 – 07/03          Dean of the College of Marine Sciences, (USM)

-          04/00 – 07/02          Associate Dean for Research and Sponsored Programs of the College of Marine       

      Science, The University of Southern Mississippi

·         Education:  Ph.D. MG&G, Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1986; M.S., University of Hawaii, 1981; B.A., Messiah College, 1978.

·         Current Research:  Interannual Variability in the Antarctic-Ross Sea (IVARS): Nutrients and Seasonal Production.  Research focuses on investigations of particle dynamics in the ocean including their formation, settling characteristics, decomposition, remineralization, and eventual fate. Other research includes the Palmer Station (PRIMO) project, which will develop a remote underwater observatory.  Since 1986, grants totaling nearly $10 million have been acquired from Federal sources.

·         Seagoing Experience:  From 1972 to 2006: 935 days at sea on 30 different vessels and two submersibles for work in 17 different geographic locations.

·         Current Committee Memberships & Professional Service:

07/94 – Present:   Member, appointed, Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources.  Currently serving third non-consecutive term as Chair

10/04 – Present:   Member, appointed, Ecosystem Scientific and Statistical Committee of the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council.

07/02 – Present:   Member appointed, South Universities Research Association (SURA) Board of Oceans and Atmosphere (BOA)

07/02 – Present:   Member, appointed, Board of Directors for the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR).

07/04 – Present:   Member appointed by NSF, Palmer Area Users Committee (PAUC)

10/04 – Present:   Member, elected, The Oceanographic Society (TOS) Council.


 

Dr. George A. Maul, Florida Institute of Technology

Statement of Interest for Chair-Elect Position

Smaller dispersed universities and research communities need UNOLS representation particularly when considering the logistics that will be required as the Coastal Ocean Observing System becomes implemented.  Part of my experience includes being on the ship construction and commissioning staff of two 300' research ships for ESSA (USC&GSS Oceanographer and USC&GSS Discoverer), 30+ years as a USCG licensed merchant marine officer (BS graduate of SUNY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler), nine years as a USC&GS Commissioned Officer serving as ship's Operations Officer and Executive Officer, 25 years as a NOAA supervisory oceanographer, PhD graduate of the University of Miami / RSMAS in physical oceanography, and for the last 12 years - professor of oceanography and marine department head at FIT (Florida Institute of Technology - operator of the RV Delphinus, a 65' teaching and research coastal boat).  I also serve as the FIT representative to the (State of) Florida Institute of Oceanography, the Southeastern Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA), the Florida Ocean Alliance (a PAC), the SURA (Southeastern Universities Research Association) Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction program (SCOOP), among others.  My interests are broad and I appreciate the specialized requirements of our disparate community - polar to tropical, surface to bottom, private to governmental, local to international, survey to exotic.  Most of all, I think that UNOLS needs to remember our students - teaching the next generation of ocean scientists, engineers, and managers.

 

Biographical Sketch – George Maul

·         Professional Experience: 

-          Present:  Professor of Oceanography and Head of the Department of Marine and Environmental Systems, College of Engineering, Florida Institute of Technology. 

-          1960 – 1969: Commissioned Officer Corps, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey

-          1969 – 1984: Research Oceanographer, NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory

-          1984 – 1994: Supervisory Oceanographer, NOAA AOML

·         Education:  Ph.D., Physical Oceanography, University of Miami, RSMAS, 1974; B.S. (with honors), Marine Transportation State University of New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler and was granted a U.S. Merchant Marine Officer's license in 1960

·         Current Research:  Funded research includes Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary coral reef temperatures, and Numerical Modeling of Atlantic Tsunami Runup

·         Seagoing Experience:  Chief Scientist on numerous oceanographic cruises.

·         Memberships & Professional Service (recent):

-          Member of the American Geophysical Union

-          Omicron Delta Kappa (National Leadership Honor Society)

-          Sigma Xi (Scientific Research Society)

-          The Florida Academy of Sciences.

-          1989-1995: Two terms as Vice Chairman of the Subcommission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO

-          Founding Chairman of the IOCARIBE Group of Experts on Ocean Processes and Climate,

-          Chaired the United Nations Environment Programme / Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Joint Task Team on Climatic Changes in the Wider Caribbean Region

-          Is on the editorial boards of Marine Geodesy, Remote Sensing of Environment, and the Journal of Earth System Science Education.

-          2003:  Elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. 

-          1999:  Elected a Fellow of the Marine Technology Society

-          1998:  Received the Faculty Senate Excellence Award for university teaching

-          1997:  Florida Tech Student Government named him College of Engineering Teacher of the Year

·         Publications:  Over 120 refereed articles and book chapters on oceanography and meteorology, 9 editorials, 35 technical reports, 70 abstracts, and 7 books.



Operator Representative

Dr. Robert W. Collier, Oregon State University

Statement of Interest:

I would like to express my interest in joining the UNOLS Council, filling an operator's position.  I also bring a marine biogeochemistry background to the Council discipline mix. 

Statement:    I recognize many challenges for UNOLS and the research fleet which I am particularly interested in, and able to working towards resolving:

1) The short-term support for science operations (how do agency fiscal issues and fleet management impact our science?)

2) The evolving fleet renewal needs and opportunities (essential replacement platforms, new opportunities/needs such as HOV/ROV/AUVs and new propulsion/energy systems such as fuel cells). 

3) The character of new facility use over the upcoming decades (e.g. observatory science and infrastructure support).

There are many more issues, to be sure, and I am happy to learn from, and work with the other UNOLS Council members, operators, and funding agencies to help assure that access for research in the oceans thrives.

Background:    Through previous committee work, I have helped guide NSF on the operation and development of critical community infrastructure enabling our research. These include the UNOLS, Deep Submergence Steering Committee (5 years) and the CORE-DEOS committee (4 years) which helped lay the groundwork for the ORION program. 

At the University and College level, I have contributed extensively to committee work which impacts UNOLS operations.  I have been on the University Radiation Safety Committee for over 16 years (including 2 years as its chair).  In this capacity, I have consistently worked with the Radiation Safety office to facilitate the critical research needs for handling of radioactive materials on ships for all users of the WECOMA and other ships visiting OSU facilities in Newport.  The unique regulatory status of marine work (NRC vs. state licenses) is most effectively approached by cooperating with other institutional users, operators, and regulators. Recently, I conducted a review of our program with radiation users from outside of OSU.   A typical comment emphasizes the significance of this approach to the users:  "Of the institutions I've dealt with recently, Oregon State and U. Hawaii are by far the most helpful and easiest to work with, particularly in helping to deal with shipping and waste disposal, which has become increasingly burdensome with the added levels of bureaucracy instituted over the last few years at the national level." 

I have participated in other developments that are significant for ongoing and potential future interests of marine operations:  

~ I have worked with colleagues to develop a significant education outreach program providing professional development to the Adult Basic Education community.  Our project, The Ocean Sciences and Math Collaborative program, has operated for two years in Oregon and has received funding from a variety of state and national sources.  The program has included a successful "teacher-at-sea" component (http://literacyworks.org/ocean/).  This represents a model that could be effectively transferred to other scientists and ship operators. 

~ I've worked with staff at OSU to produce an instructional DVD covering Piston Coring and Mooring Deployment from the Research Icebreaker Healy.

~ As a member of the OSU Provost's Sustainability Council, I have spoken with Jack Bash about potential future interests in developing more sustainable propulsion and/or power generation systems on the research fleet.  There may be a future leadership role through NSF or industry (and a funding opportunity) for designers to consider providing at least the hotel generation load by new technologies built around fuel cells. 

 

Biographical Sketch:

·         Recent Professional Experience:

-          July 2006 – present:  Professor, College of Oceanography, OSU                                           

-          1992 – 2006: Associate Professor, College of Oceanography, OSU                                       

-          Oct. 1986-June 1992: Assistant Professor, College of Oceanography, OSU                            

 

·         Education:  Ph.D., Chemical Oceanography, M.I.T.-Woods Hole Joint Program, 1981; M.Sc., Environmental Science and Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1975; B.Sc., Civil Engineering/Water Resources, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1974.

 

·         Research Interests:  Trace element geochemistry of dissolved and particulate materials in the marine environment; processes controlling elemental fluxes at major marine interfaces/estuaries; surface waters; sediments; suspended particles; ridgecrest hydrothermal systems; nutrient and trace metal cycles in fresh water environments.

 

 

·         Professional Service & Memberships:

-          1996 – present: Associate Editor, Marine Chemistry (Elsevier). 

-          Member of NSF National Steering Committees including: NSF RIDGE Steering Committee (1991-94); UNOLS Deep Submergence Steering Committee (1994-99); CORE DEOS Steering Committee (2000-2004).  

-          Active in developing programs and guiding graduate students through the COAS Interdisciplinary and Resource Management degree programs.   

-          Design and offer professional development programs for Adult Basic Skills Development teachers at Oregon community colleges as part of a collaborative program.

-          UNOLS DEep Submergence Science Committee member (1993-1996)

 


 


Dr. Christopher I. Measures, University of Hawaii

Statement of Interest:

I have been a sea-going oceanographer since the beginning of my graduate student days at the University of Southampton, UK.  Over the subsequent 32 years I have participated in approximately 44 cruises spending about 3 years at sea (over 200 days since 2004). These cruises have been in all of the World’s ocean basins and have been on the ships of 5 different countries including most of the UNOLS operators.  I believe that this experience has given me a good insight into the workings of the Oceanographic fleet and a strong inclination….. I think it is vital that scientists take an active role in supporting and shaping the UNOLS fleet as the ships are our most vital research tool.  I served on the UNOLS Fleet Improvement Committee between 1998 and 2004, and helped draught the reports on the Biennial Review of sea going oceanographic facilities and the input and replies that this committee produced to the FOFC fleet renewal plans.  As a member of that committee I also participated in the workshop that helped to define the future needs of the UNOLS fleet.

 

Biographical Sketch:

·         Recent Professional Experience:

-          July 1996 – Present: Professor of Oceanography, Dept of Oceanography, University of Hawaii

-          July 2001-June 2003: Chair, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii

 

 

·         Research Interests:  Development and implementation of novel techniques for underway determination of trace elements on board ship using flow injection analysis.   Use of these and other land-based techniques to develop large-scale surface water trace element distributions to identify and quantify dust deposition to the surface oceans and its biogeochemical consequences.   Use of trace elements to identify and trace biogeochemical and physical pathways in the oceans.  Development of a complete understanding of the geochemical cycles of key trace elements by determination of their abundance in other natural materials e.g. rivers, rain, hydrothermal fluids and the aqueous digests of rocks etc. 

 

·         Seagoing Experience:  44 cruises aboard UNOLS, as well as, foreign vessels since 1974. Over 200 days at sea since 2004. Participation as a diving scientist on the research submersible Alvin on four cruises.

 

·         Memberships & Professional Service:

-          American Geophysical Union - member

-          Geochemical Society - member

-          Invited speaker, GEOTRACES session, TOS meeting Paris, June 2005

-          Associate member of the SCOR working group to write the GEOTRACES Science Plan

-          Invited participant (associate member) SCOR GEOTRACES Working Group, Oxford, UK June 2004

-          Invited speaker US GEOTRACES planning workshop, LDEO, May 22-25 2004.

-          Invited speaker Caltech seminar series April 14th, 2004.

-          Member of the Polar Research Vessel Science Steering Committee (design phase) 12/2003-present.

-          Invited speaker GEOSECS II international conference, Toulouse, France, to launch new geochemical oceanographic initiative.

-          Member of NSF Chemical Oceanography panel 11/02.

-          Co-author of report "Marine Science in the Arctic:  A Strategy" prepared for the Office of Polar Programs of the NSF, March 1999.

-          Member of NSF panel for shipboard technical support Jan 2000.

-          Co-author of the UNOLS FIC Biennial Review of sea going oceanographic facilities.

-          Member of the UNOLS Fleet Improvement Committee, September 1998-2004.

 

·         Publications:  66 Publications in refereed journals since 1978.

 



Non-Operator Representative

Dr. Douglas E. Hammond, University of Southern California

Statement of Interest:

Most oceanographers realize that the diversity of tools needed by our community to pursue intellectually exciting and socially relevant research projects continues to grow.  At the same time, the rising cost of operating research platforms, coupled with limited funding resources, often leads to difficult choices in managing facilities. These choices must be made by considering both present needs and trying to predict what facilities must be available a decade from now.  UNOLS has a distinguished track record as an effective organization that has provided open discussion about these choices and made thoughtful recommendations.  In addition to providing advice to funding agencies about important facilities, UNOLS must also continue to articulate the value of these shared facilities to both funding agencies and our colleagues.  The availability of research platforms whose operations are coordinated by UNOLS is essential to making new discoveries about the dynamics of the ocean, its ecosystems, and global change.  During my career, I have had the opportunity to participate in a number of interdisciplinary efforts, collaborating with biologists, marine geologists, physical oceanographers, and other marine chemists.  My excitement about oceanography has been kindled and sustained by the opportunities I have had to sail on UNOLS vessels during my career, with cruises on 14 different UNOLS vessels, so far, that total more years than I wish to compute.  This includes sea-going participation in large programs, including GEOSECS and JGOFS, as well as many smaller, individual or multi-PI programs.  If elected to the Counc