Around the Pier Archives: 2007

December/January 2007

Birch Aquarium Meets its Match

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, has been awarded a challenge grant of $750,000 from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to support its multifaceted climate change exhibit and educational program, Feeling the Heat: The Climate Challenge. The first installment of the matching grant, to be paid over two years, has already been received and the heat is on for the aquarium to raise the remaining $375,000 to realize the total grant. Once raised, funds from the challenge will pay for the $1.5-million exhibit and its effort to communicate the issues surrounding global climate. (more...)

Gold Standard

Dean Roemmich, the leading force behind a revolutionary array of ocean-monitoring sensors called Argo, has won the 2007 Sverdrup Gold Medal awarded by the American Meteorological Society. (more...)

Name that Species

Several of the most important "libraries" in the world are housed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Known as the Scripps Oceanographic Collections, and referenced by scientists all over the world, these holdings of biological and geological marine specimens tell a unique and evolving story of life on Earth, and provide answers to questions about our planet's future. (more...)

November 2007

Major and Minor News for Undergrads

Scripps Oceanography celebrates earth sciences major and launches new marine science minor for undergraduate students (more...)

Best CASE Scenario

Scripps Institution of Oceanography's explorations e-magazine and the 2005-06 annual report have both won top prizes from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Announced as winners in the Outstanding Communications categories of Annual Reports and Honor Rolls, and E-mail Newsletters, the awards recognize design, writing, creativity, and overall effectiveness in conveying the story of the science done at Scripps. (more...)

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Offers Respite during Wildfires

As wildfires ravaged San Diego two weeks ago, Birch Aquarium at Scripps provided a much-welcomed respite for evacuees, families, and even firefighters needing a break from the tragedy. (more...)

October 2007

Shining STARS

Five visiting student "stars" polished their research skills at Scripps this summer as part of a UC San Diego-wide research academy that give underrepresented undergraduates a taste of graduate school life. (more...)

Celebrating Graduate Student Research

Christopher Ellison, a graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, has been selected as the winner of the 2007 Edward A. Frieman Prize, an annual recognition by Scripps of excellence in graduate student research. Ellison was honored at an award ceremony held Sept. 6 on the Scripps campus. (more...)

"Heat" Feels the Love from Design Magazine

Birch Aquarium at Scripps exhibit planners went right to the pros when faced with the challenge of creating a climate change exhibit. Earlier this year, they teamed up with Bowman Design Group and exhibit designer Ed Hackley to help translate the complexities and controversies of the topic into a new exhibit that visitors of all ages would find engaging and entertaining. (more...)

September 2007

Jellyfish: They're Out There

Warmer-than-usual summer waters have attracted a non-native breed of large jellyfish to San Diego beaches for only the sixth documented time in 100 years, and experts from Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, are being called upon to help explain the mysterious visitors. (more...)

Surfing Scientists

Competing in the 14th annual John and Rebecca Moores UCSD Cancer Center Luau and Longboard Invitational, members of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography surf team proved there's something to be said for having the home court, or beach, advantage. (more...)

Postdocs: Party of Four

Fulfilling his promise to strengthen Scripps Institution of Oceanography's academic ranks, Scripps Director Tony Haymet has initiated institutional funding for the recruitment of four new postdoctoral scholars each year. (more...)

July/August 2007

Beyond Our Imagination

On June 30, the UC San Diego marked the conclusion of The Campaign for UCSD: Imagine What's Next, exceeding by more than $30 million the ambitious $1 billion goal set in July 2000. (more...)

Earth to Kids

Like lots of other 13-year-olds, Alec Loorz of Ventura, Calif. loves playing the drums, working with computers, and surfing. But there's one thing that sets him apart from most kids his age. He also plans to save the world. (more...)

Exchange Student Studies Down Under

Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego's previous and current directors, Charles Kennel and Tony Haymet, have been honored with the launch of an innovative student exchange program with Australia. (more...)

June 2007

Gore: Roger Revelle Was My Inspiration

Former Vice President Al Gore visited La Jolla May 21 to pay homage to the half-century of contributions Scripps Institution of Oceanography has made toward furthering the understanding of climate change for the world. Gore's visit to Scripps and UC San Diego was especially significant because it connected his contemporary climate change platform to the original visionaries at Scripps who brought the issue to light more than 50 years ago. (more...)

Scripps Celebrates the Oceans

President George W. Bush has officially designated June 2007 as the first-ever National Oceans Month to encourage Americans to protect and to celebrate our oceans for the vital role they play in our country. (more...)

Sustaining a Legacy

The family of famed former Scripps Director Roger Revelle has made a $2.5 million gift to establish the Roger Revelle Chair in Environmental Science at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The endowed chair honors Revelle, one of the world's most highly regarded oceanographers and the founder of the University of California, San Diego. (more...)

Scripps Oceanographer Becomes a Gold Medalist

An award named for an early patron of oceanography will be presented to Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego physical oceanographer Russ Davis in July. (more...)

May 2007

High Fashion Meets High Tide

Sandwiched between stories about Hollywood eco-activists such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Redford, scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego were recognized as "Global Citizens" by the editors of Vanity Fair's May 2007 "Green Issue." (more...)

Scripps Helps 'Today' Lend a Hand

Call time was a cold and dark 5 a.m. on April 16. Floodlights illuminated a patch of grass at La Jolla Cove where hundreds of energetic fans and supporters crowded around famous "Today" show weatherman Al Roker, who was there to make San Diego the first stop on his annual "Lend a Hand Today" charity road trip. (more...)

Isn't He Swell?

Legendary Scripps alumnus and professor emeritus of geophysics Walter Munk was recently honored by the Groundswell Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the global surf riding community, for his research before and during World War II into the power of storms and the origins of waves. (more...)

Fish out of Water

Scripps Institution of Oceanography's Floating Instrument Platform (FLIP) was landlocked for about a week in early April when it went into dry dock at Point Loma's submarine base for some routine maintenance. (more...)

April 2007

Generosity from Within

Devendra Lal first visited Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego as a post-doc in 1958. Now, after nearly 50 years of contributing to basic research at Scripps, he's making a different kind of contribution to the institution - a donation of $500,000. (more...)

Crisis? What Crisis?

Is global warming a crisis? In a March 14 debate in New York City, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego climate scientist Richard Somerville was one of six participants who took on the question. (more...)

Top Spot for Postdocs

Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has been ranked eleventh best in North America and fourth best on the West Coast in ÒBest Places to Work for Postdocs" survey recently released by The Scientist magazine. (more...)

March 2007

Talking Global Warming to Global Students

Scripps climate scientist V. Ramanathan spoke about the science of global warming to more than 1,000 international students at a conference held at the United Nations headquarters in New York on March 2. (more...)

A Note from the Field

On Feb. 12, 2007, Scripps oceanographer and La Jolla Symphony second bassoonist Jim Swift wrote this letter offering a glimpse into the spectacular and commonplace occurrences that make up the life of a Scripps researcher at sea. Swift is the chief scientist aboard R/V Roger Revelle s current expedition to the Antarctic. (more...)

Scripps Explorer Recognized by National Geographic

Marine ecologist Enric Sala of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is one of eight young trailblazers recently named to the 2007 class of National Geographic Emerging Explorers. Other winners of the award bestowed annually by the magazine include a polar adventurer, a former Sudanese "lost boy," a primatologist, and a Congolese environmental hero. (more...)

February 2007

Old Friends to the Rescue

The foundation that provided the original pledge that made the Birch Aquarium at Scripps a reality and two funds that have supported Scripps Institution of Oceanography's aquarium for decades have given new gifts to modernize and restore aquarium components. (more...)

Hollywood Flair

Scripps Institution of Oceanography is adding some Hollywood flair to graduate student training to help the next generation of oceanographers communicate ocean and earth science issues to the public. (more...)

So Long, Farewell

There were as many stories as there are termites in the hallowed (and hollowed) walls of Surfside, but on Jan. 5, the building that was the social nerve center of Scripps for four decades saw its final chapter written with a sendoff from students past and present. (more...)