People
The Float Group at WHOI is made up of a variety of scientists and engineers. Meet our talented team:
Principal Investigators:
Dr. Steven Jayne
Senior Scientist
Steve is a Senior Scientist who specializes in developing and deploying autonomous sensing systems to make persistent ocean observations. In addition to the Argo program, he works with air-deployed sensors to study air-sea interaction in hurricanes.
Dr. Jayne’s research interests include understanding and modeling the ocean’s dynamics and its role in the Earth’s climate; collecting and synthesizing the diverse set of global ocean observations to map and understand the ocean’s general circulation; studying the special role of western boundary currents in the general circulation and eddy-mean flow interactions within them; investigating air-sea interaction in tropical cyclones; and improving physical parameterizations in ocean circulation models.
Contact: sjayne@whoi.edu
Dr. Susan Wijffels
Senior Scientist
Susan aims to quantify and understand the role of the ocean in climate, key aspects of the large-scale ocean circulation and global ocean change. She also is recognised for her contributions to the design, implementation and exploitation of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). Susan received a B.Sc. Hons (First Class) from the Flinders University of South Australia, in 1986, and a PhD in 1993 from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography and Oceanographic Engineering. She was with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Marine Laboratory in Australia from 1994, becoming a principle senior researcher, before joining WHOI in July 2017.
Susan is a Senior Scientist who has interests in the dynamics of the general circulation, climate drivers of ocean change, and understanding the Indonesian Throughflow. She has worked on various elements of the global ocean observing system, helps lead the WHOI Argo effort and co-chairs the international Argo Steering Team.
Contact: swijffels@whoi.edu
Dr. Pelle Robbins
Research Specialist
Pelle is a Sr. Research Specialist with background in large-scale observational oceanography. Pelle manages operational tasks for Argo including data management, planning, analysis, and piloting the deployed fleet.
Contact: probbins@whoi.edu
Dr. Breck Owens
Emeritus Research Scholar
Breck is a Emeritus Research Scholar is the International Argo director, representing Argo in forums such as the Joint WMO/IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology - Observations Coordination Group.
His research focuses on the description of the general circulation and eddy variability in the world’s oceans; sea ice, ocean- atmosphere coupling dynamics; development of float technology and autonomous vehicles for ocean monitoring.
Contact: bowens@whoi.edu
Dr. David Nicholson
Associate Scientist
Dr. Nicholson's research uses autonomous platforms such as floats and gliders as well as numerical models to understand the interplay of physics and biology in the global cycling of carbon, oxygen and other elements. He has extensive experience studying dissolved gas dynamics in the ocean, ranging from greenhouse gas fluxes, to stable oxygen isotopic productivity tracers to passive noble gas tracers of air-sea exchange processes.
Contact: dnicholson@whoi.edu
Other scientists, engineers, and team members:
Deb West-Mack
Research Specialist
Deb is a Research Specialist conducting delayed-mode quality control for Argo temperature, salinity, and trajectory data. She also finds deployment opportunities for the floats.
Contact: dwest@whoi.edu
WHOI profile: Deb West-Mack
BILL DULLEA
Engineer II
Bill is a mechanical engineer and operations manager in the Argo Lab. His daily tasks include float check out/inspection and managing the Argo test equipment and facilities.
Contact: wdullea@whoi.edu
WHOI profile: Bill Dullea
Jessica Kozik
Senior Engineering Assistant I
Jessica is a Senior Engineering Assistant I. She is the Iridium modem account manager for the Argo Program, ALAMO program, and the GO-BGC project. She also assists in the initial and final processes for each float that the lab receives.
Contact: jkozik@whoi.edu
WHOI profile: Jessica Kozik
Alex Ekholm
Research Engineer
Alex's research and professional interests include applications of autonomous underwater robotic vehicles, cost-effective sensing solutions, and acquisition and distribution of high-value observations that contribute to our understanding of the world’s ocean, climate, and weather systems. His work primarily involves development, testing, and management of neutrally-buoyant profiling platforms and related sensor packages. Secondary activities include design, implementation, and maintenance of instrumentation and software utilities that support enhancements to the performance, data quality, and longevity of our scientific platforms. These efforts have resulted in improved reliability of deployed assets, enhanced contributions to global observing arrays, and overall reduction of per-observation costs.
Contact: aekholm@whoi.edu
WHOI profile: Alex Ekholm
Benjamin Greenwood
Engineer II
Benjamin Greenwood is an Engineer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Ben assists the Float Group by maintaining software which retrieves telemetered Argo messages, decodes the compressed binary messages, and distributes the raw data to DACs and other collaborators in real-time. His research projects include remote sensor telemetry, embedded systems, and dynamic website design.
Contact: bgreenwood@whoi.edu
WHOI profile: Benjamin Greenwood
Aidan Thayer
Engineer II
Aidan is an Engineer II working on the checkout procedures preparing Biogeochemical Argo Floats for deployment.
Contact: aidan.thayer@whoi.edu
WHOI profile: Aidan Thayer
Kat Parise
Research Associate II
Kat is a Research Associate II. She helps prepare biogeochemical Argo floats for deployment and monitors their real-time data stream.
Contact: katherine.parise@whoi.edu
WHOI profile: Katherine Parise
Lola (Sara) Pierson
Research Associate II
Lola is a Research Associate II conducting delayed-mode quality control for Argo temperature and salinity data.
Contact: sara.pierson@whoi.edu
WHOI profile: Lola Pierson