Education

B.Sc. Carnegie-Mellon University, Physics
Ph.D. University of Rhode Island, Physical Oceanography

Research Interests

Ocean mixing and microstructure; double-diffusive convection; relationships between small scale mixing processes and large-scale temperature and salinity distributions; the thermohaline circulation of the ocean; development of microprofiling instrumentation. Oceanic freshwater budget, autonomous profiling floats, the salinity distribution and its measurement. Terestrial rainfall prediction using ocean salinity. Seismic Oceanography (See Science Article)

Research Statement

Google Scholar Citations:         > 7,100,       h-index = 41
ISI/Web of Science Citations:   > 4,500,       h-index = 35

Video and Radio Interviews

Predicting Terrestrial Rainfall using Ocean Salinities, WCAI Living Lab, June 13, 2016. http://capeandislands.org/post/ocean-salinity-can-predict-rainfall-continent-away

Regarding expanding Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic, (Vice News, July 26, 2014):
http://www.vice.com/vice-news/the-lake-that-burned-down-a-forest-full-512

On IPCC AR5 Report ("The Takeaway", September 27, 2013)
http://www.thetakeaway.org/story/the-takeaway-2013-09-27/

Salinity and Climate ("The Point", July, 2013):
http://www.capeandislands.org/post/climate-changes-impact-ocean-chemistry-has-far-reaching-effects

Extreme Weather ("The Point", May, 2012):
http://www.wgbh.org/programs/The-Point-298/episodes/Extreme-Weather-38667

Climate Change ("The Point", February, 2007):
http://streams.wgbh.org/online/play.php?xml=cape/ThePoint/point_020707.xml&template=cainan

Webinar on Salinity and Climate Change for SPURS: http://cosee.umaine.edu/coseeos/spurs/webinars_02.htm

"Predicting Minnesota Rainfall with North Atlantic Salniities"  Slide presentation at AMS Fluid Dynamics Meeting, June15, 2015. https://ams.confex.com/ams/20Fluid/videogateway.cgi/id/30528?recordingid=30528

Press Release on Predicting Rainfall on Land from Ocean Salinity: http://www.whoi.edu/news-release/sahel-rainfall

Affiliations

Ocean Studies Board, National Academy of Sciences, 2005-2007.
Panel on Advancing the Science of Climate Change, America's Climate Choices, National Academy of Sciences, 2009-2010.
Marine Hydrokinetic Energy Assessment Committee, National Academy of Sciences, 2011-2012.
NASA Salinity Science Team leader, 2011- present
NASA Advisory Council Earth Science Subcommittee 2014-2017

Awards

J. S. Guggenheim Fellow, 1997-1998.
Fellow, American Geophysical Union
Van Allen Clark Sr. Chair for Excellence in Oceanography