image: This image shows W. Steven Holbrook, University of Wyoming. view more
Credit: W. Steven Holbrook
Dr. Steve Holbrook has been selected as the 2013 recipient the Walter Munk Award for Distinguished Research in Oceanography Related to Sound and the Sea. Since 1993, The Oceanography Society, has presented this award to recognize:
- Significant original contributions to the understanding of physical ocean processes related to sound in the sea;
- Significant original contributions to the application of acoustic methods to that understanding; and/or
- Outstanding service that fosters research in ocean science and instrumentation contributing to the above.
Dr. Holbrook is Professor of Geophysics at the University of Wyoming, and Adjunct Scientist in the Physical Oceanography Department of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The citation for him reads as follows:
Steve Holbrook is honored as the father of the new field of "Seismic Oceanography." His use of low frequency seismic reflection profiling to image the water column has provided quantitative and novel insights into the structure and dynamics of internal waves, eddies and mixing processes. With his innate and relentless curiosity, he has provided unprecedented views of the internal workings of the ocean. His generous collegiality has also been a stimulus to the formation of an interdisciplinary seismic oceanography community.
The Munk Award is presented jointly by The Oceanography Society, the Office of Naval Research and the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy. Dr. Holbrook will receive the award during the 166th Meeting of Acoustical Society of America in San Francisco, CA (2-6 December 2013), and he will also be recognized during the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu, HI (23–28 February 2014). He will also give presentations at both meetings.
Dr. Holbrook joins the list of distinguished prior recipients of the Walter Munk Award:
- 2011: William Kuperman, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA
- 2009: James F. Lynch, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA
- 2006: Peter F. Worcester, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA
- 2003: H. Thomas Rossby, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, USA
- 2001: Robert C. Spindel, Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington, USA
- 1999: Robert Pinkel, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA
- 1997: Stephen A. Thorpe, Southampton Oceanography Centre, UK
- 1996: Leonid M. Brekhovskikh, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia
- 1994: David M. Farmer, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Canada
- 1993: Walter Munk, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA
The Oceanography Society was founded in 1988 to disseminate knowledge of oceanography and its application through research and education, to promote communication among oceanographers, and to provide a constituency for consensus-building across all the disciplines of the field.