Robert Dickson

Robert Dickson joined the Lowestoft Laboratory (now less succinctly
called the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science)
in 1964. Throughout his career, he has maintained four main research
interests: He has contributed a wealth of direct current measurements
to better understand the deep ocean circulation. He has studied the
processes that drive variations in the North Atlantic, including the
ocean’s response to the North Atlantic Oscillation. He has investigated
how interannual to decadal changes in ocean circulation and climate
have affected the Atlantic ecosystem, from plankton to commercial fish
stocks. Most recently, he has chaired, cajoled, coordinated, and
contributed to a major international research effort aimed at
understanding the high-latitude ocean’s role in global change: the
Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Flux Study.

His efforts since 1986 to measure the cold, dense Denmark Strait
Overflow helped earn him the Albatross Laureate from the American
Miscellaneous Society, which, in its renowned tongue-in-cheek fashion,
cited him for “attempting to stem the flow through the Denmark Strait
with a weir of current meters.” More conventionally, he was appointed
Commander of the British Empire in January 2007 for his career-long
scientific contributions.

Outside of science, he writes children’s books and plays and has a
passion for antiquarian books, maintaining a collection of the early
folios of Ben Jonson.