Biography

Having an aptitude for mathematics and physics and a passion for sailing, it was natural for John Toole to go into the ocean sciences, specifically the discipline of Physical Oceanography.  John earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maine in spring 1975 after spending the previous summer as a WHOI Summer Student Fellow in the Physical Oceanography (PO) Department.  That experience motivated his application to the MIT/WHOI Joint Program that awarded him a Doctorate of Science degree in 1980.  After a 2-year National Research Council postdoctoral position at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, he returned to join the WHOI PO scientific staff where he advanced to Senior Scientist in 1996.   In addition to advising the occasional student, John maintains an eclectic research portfolio investigating ocean mixing processes and their influence on circulation, the mean global heat and fresh water budgets and the roles of water mass formation and ocean currents,  variability of the ocean's stratification and circulation at seasonal, interannual and decadal time scales and polar ocean processes,  leading instrument development efforts when the science need exists.