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The Float Group at WHOI is made up of a variety of scientists and engineers. Meet our talented team:

Principal Investigators:

DrStevenJayne

Dr. Steven Jayne

Senior Scientist

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

WHOI profile: Steven Jayne

DrSusanWijffles

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’s work at WHOI focuses on her long term interests in the variability of the Indonesian Throughflow and its role in climate, the global Argo project and the evolution of its design (she is co-chair of the International Argo Steering Team), quantifying global ocean change over the past 50 years, including the anatomy and drivers of ocean warming, how changes in the earth’s hydrological cycle are expressed in large scale changes to the ocean salinity field and if and how climate models exhibit these behaviours.

Contact: swijffels@whoi.edu

WHOI profile: Susan Wijffels

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Dr. Pelle Robbins

Research Specialist

Dr. Robbins has been coordinating the operations of the WHOI Argo effort for many years, as well as overseeing the quality control of the project's data stream. She has a background in large-scale ocean and biogeochemical processes.

Contact: probbins@whoi.edu

WHOI profile: Pelle Robbins

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Dr. Breck Owens

Emeritus Research Scholar

Dr. Owens is the Director of the international Argo program. 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

WHOI profile: Breck Owens

Other Scientists and Engineers:

Bill_Dullea

Bill Dullea

Engineer II

 

Contact: wdullea@whoi.edu

WHOI profile: Bill Dullea

AlexEkholm

ALEX EKHOLM

Research Engineer 

 

Contact: aekholm@whoi.edu

WHOI profile: Alex Akholm

 

BenGreenwood

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

 

CoraHersh

Cora Hersh

MIT/WHOI Joint Program Graduate Student

After earning her B.S. in physics at Haverford College, Cora completed a post-baccalaureate science communications fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. She worked with the Float Group as a research assistant for a year, supporting communications activities, developing Argo data visualizations, and evaluating the quality of the Argo dataset. Now a student in the MIT/WHOI Joint Program, she is advised by both Dr. Susan Wijffels and Dr. Jake Gebbie.

Contact: chersh@whoi.edu

WHOI profile: Cora Hersh

JessicaKozik

Jessica Kozik

Research Assistant III

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

AidanThayer

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

DebWestMack

Deb West-Mack

Research Associate III

Processing and quality control of Argo float data.  Automation of hydrographic data processing and data visualization.

Contact: dwest@whoi.edu

WHOI profile: Deb West-Mack

KatParise

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

LolaPierson

Lola 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

DrSachikoYoshida

Dr. Sachiko Yoshida

Research Specialist

 

Contact: syoshida@whoi.edu

WHOI profile: Sachiko Yoshida

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Edie Salzig

Engineering Assistant II

 

Contact: eden.salzig@whoi.edu

WHOI profile: