Volume 8, Number 2, Fall 2001
Cover: Marine Chemist Jeff Bada
Photograph by Marc Tule

Organic Origins
Searching Earth and Beyond for Molecular Clues
Click here for PDF version
By Robert Monroe
Scripps marine chemist Jeff Bada and his team of researchers at the Specialized Center for Research and Training in Exobiology are some of the pioneers of exobiology, the study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe. They hope to send an instrument to Mars in 2007 to analyze Martian dirt for amino acids, the molecules that join to form proteins and a key ingredient of life. This could be the first real evidence of life elsewhere in the universe.

Fighting Fire with Science
Computer Models Help Predict Wildfire Severity
Click here for PDF version
By Robert Monroe
Two Scripps climatologists, Anthony Westerling and John Roads, develop two different fire-forecasting models. Westerling’s statistical model combines data such as rainfall from previous years, soil moisture, and previous fire activity to produce a full-season forecast. Roads’ dynamical model predicts future weather data such as relative humidity and wind speed from current weather data and routinely creates updated forecasts days, weeks, months, or seasons in advance.

The New Oceanographers
Scripps Institution of Oceanography 1960 to 1970
Click here for PDF version
By Joe Hlebica
This feature is the sixth in a continuing series celebrating the100-year history of Scripps. In the period covered in this article, physicist William A. Nierenberg became the institution’s seventh director. Recognizing the rising costs resulting from advances in technology and the increased competition from oceanographic institutions worldwide, Nierenberg got the institution involved in multi-institutional projects, including the Naga Expedition, Carmarsel, and the Deep Sea Drilling Project. It was also during this time that Scripps obtained a marine facility for its growing fleet and computers were recognized as effective oceanographic tools.