WHOI Physical Oceanographer Joe Pedlosky to Present Haurwitz Lecture at American Meteorological Society Meeting
January 12, 2009
Joseph Pedlosky, a physical oceanographer with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has been awarded the Bernhard Haurwitz Memorial Lectureship at the American Metrological Society’s 89th Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 14, 2009.
Bernhard Haurwitz Memorial Lecturer is selected in recognition of significant contributions to the understanding of atmospheric and oceanic fluid dynamics, the circulation of the middle atmosphere, or the dynamics of climate. Haurwitz was an accomplished researcher, professor and past president of the AMS. His principal scientific interests and accomplishments were in the area of dynamic meteorology, that is, the application of mathematics and fluid dynamics to all scales of atmospheric motions.
Pedlosky was selected by a five-person panel of the AMS “for contributions to the theory of baroclinic instability, the paradigm-shifting theory of the ventilated thermocline and for outstanding contributions as a teacher and textbook author.” His lecture, entitled “Kelvin’s Theorem, the Tunneling of Rossby Waves and the Circulation around Planetary Islands,” will be published in The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Pedlosky will be introduced by AMS President Walter F. Dabberdt.
“I am deeply honored,” remarked Pedlosky, “and look forward, as well, to reminding the Society of Bernhard Haurwitz’s contribution to oceanography and also to his relationship to WHOI during the period 1947-55.”
In January 2005, the AMS awarded Pedlosky the prestigious Sverdrup Gold Medal, given to researchers who make outstanding contributions to the knowledge of interactions between the oceans and the atmosphere.
Pedlosky’s research interests include baroclinic instability and general stability problems in fluid dynamics; nonlinear dynamics of finite amplitude waves; general circulation of the ocean, especially mid-latitude gyres; geophysical fluid dynamics; equatorial oceanic circulation; and abyssal ocean circulation.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the oceans’ role in the changing global environment.