Postdoctoral Scholars

With the aim of fostering interdisciplinary research addressing critical ocean climate change issues, fellowships are available to support research associated with the Ocean and Climate Change Institute (OCCI) themes. These eighteen-month Postdoctoral Scholar awards are offered to recipients of new or recent doctorates in the fields of chemistry, engineering, geology, geophysics, mathematics, meteorology, physics, and biology as well as oceanography. The competitive awards are designed to further the education and training of the applicant with primary emphasis placed on the individual's research promise.

The OCCI is interested in evaluating the role of the Atlantic Ocean in climate change through observational, theoretical and modeling studies, the development of new technology, and workshops.

Successful applicants of awards can initiate their study and research period at the Institution any time after notification and before December 1st of the year the award is given. Recipients of the 2005-2006 awards will receive a stipend of $51,000 per year for an 18 month appointment, plus a relocation allowance. All appointees are eligible for group health insurance. In addition, limited support is available for travel expenses, equipment, supplies and special services. These awards carry special recognition at the Institution. Each recipient is encouraged to pursue his or her own research interests in association with an Ocean and Climate Change Institute Advisory Committee member or Senior Technical Staff. Each awardee is provided with office and laboratory space in close proximity to the resident staff acting as sponsor and general advisor throughout the award period. Communication with potential WHOI advisors prior to submitting an application is encouraged. We will make sure that any staff member you mention as a potential sponsor has an opportunity to review your application. The best way to obtain more information about ongoing OCCI research is via the OCCI Institute web site. For more information on application procedures for Postdoctoral Scholars please link to WHOI's Educational Department.

OCCI Postdoctoral Scholars

Peter Kimball

Peter Kimball, from Stanford University, joined the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department in September of 2011. As a Postdoctoral Scholar, his research focuses on the use of robotic aircraft and submarine systems for data acquisition in remote environments.

Donglai Gong

Donglai Gong, from Rutgers University, joined the Physical Oceanography Department in November of 2010. As a Postdoc Scholar his research focuses primarily on one of the main transport pathways: the swift Alaska Coastal Current (ACC) in the eastern Chukchi Sea. The Chukchi Sea, a shallow and wide shelf sea just north of the Bering Strait, is a key part of the transport pathway that delivers heat and freshwater from the Pacific Ocean into the western Arctic Ocean.

Sean Bryan

Sean Bryan, from the University of Colorado, joined the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department in November of 2010. As a Postdoctoral Scholar he is interested in using the geochemistry of marine carbonates (primarily foraminifera and corals) to increase our understanding of past climatic and environmental variability beyond the instrumental record.

Emily Shroyer

Emily Shoyer, from Oregon State University, joined the Department of Physical Oceanography in October 2009 as a Postdoctoral Scholar to investigate the wind-driven response of the Alaskan Coastal Current

Magdalena Andres

Magdalena Andres, from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, joined the Department of Physical Oceanography in September 2009 as a Postdoctoral Scholar to investigate the variability in Kuroshio current transport as it passes through the the East China Sea

Elizabeth Douglass

Elizabeth Douglass, from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, joined the Physical Oceanography Department in September of 2008. Her research interests are large scale observational oceanography, interannual variability, model-data comparisons, and data assimilation.

JongJim Park

JongJin Park, from The Seoul National University, joined the Department of Physical Oceanography in October 2007 as a Postdoctoral Scholar to investigate the contribution of wind-driven internal wave on global upper ocean mixing.

Justin Ries

Justin Ries, from The Johns Hopkins University, joined the Department of Geology and Geophysics in December 2006 as a Postdoctoral Scholar to investigate the relationship between changing ocean chemistry and the evolution of calcifying marine organisms.

July 6, 2007

Theodore S. Durland

Ted Durland, from the University of Hawaii, joined the Department of Physical Oceanography in April 2006 as a Postdoctoral Scholar to study the dynamics of straits and their role in modulating large-scale climate patterns.

William Thompson

William Thompson, from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, joined the Department of Geology & Geophysics in December 2004 as a Postdoctoral Scholar to assess rapid climate change during the Last Interglacial using a new approach for sea level reconstruction.

Dierdre Toole

Dierdre Toole, from the University of California, Santa Barbara, joined the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry department in December of 2003 as a Postdoctoral Scholar to study climate responses and potential feedbacks from the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur in the upper water column. Dierdre is supported by the OCCI.

Mahdi Ben Jelloul

Mahdi Ben Jelloul, from the University of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, has joined the Department of Physical Oceanography in the spring of 2003 as a Postdoctoral Fellow to study the intrinsic modes of low-frequency variability in the oceans. Mahdi will be supported by the Ocean and Climate Change Institute.