Joint Program alumni/ae, as an External Review Committee noted in 1998, include "many of the scentific leaders of oceanography." They have forged their own paths in industry, academia, and the government.

As they have moved on, many alumni/ae have retained close links to the Joint Program. Dozens have made themselves available as mentors or sounding boards for current Joint Program students.

Here are a few recent bios:

• Michael S. Connor: Biology; current position: Executive Director, San Francisco Estuary Institute
• Peggy Delaney: Chemical Oceanography; current position: Professor and Chair at Ocean Sciences and Editor, Paleoceanography
• John Peirce: Geology & Geophysics; current position: Managing Partner, GEDCO (Geophysical Exploration & Development Corporation)
• Hanumant Singh: Oceanographic Engineering; current position: Assistant Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Ari Epstein: Physical Oceanography; current position: Editor, Scientific American Explorations

Michael S. Connor

BS 1974, Stanford University; Ph.D. 1980, MIT/WHOI Biological Oceanography

My interest coming into WHOI and since, has been the interplay between environmental science and policy. I've worked for government agencies at the federal (EPA), state (MWRA), and local levels as an employee and a consultant (Battelle Ocean Sciences in Duxbury). I've also worked with non-profit groups advocating on environmental policy issues (Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Amity Foundation, and New Alchemy Institute) or educating around those issues (New England Aquarium). The biggest help to my career path was a post-doc at the Harvard School of Public Health in environmental policy. Many people who have gone that route have also benefited from NOAA Sea Grant fellowships or AAAS fellowships. Over the years, I have found sense of fulfillment I've gotten from a job has depended significantly on my boss—sort of an extension of the WHOI apprenticeship experience.

Margaret L. ("Peggy") Delaney

Professor and Chair - University of California/Santa Cruz
BS 1977, Yale University; Ph.D. 1983, MIT/WHOI, Chemical Oceanography

I am a faculty member in the Ocean Sciences Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I took this position upon graduating from the Joint Program in Oceanography in 1983, spending just under a year in a research position at Scripps Institution of Oceanography on my way to UCSC. My research interests focus on the field of paleoceanography and marine geochemistry, especially the nutrient history of the oceans. I teach courses in marine geology, paleoceanography, and global biogeochemical cycles. I have been active in service to the scientific community, including having served as Editor of Paleoceanography (1996-1999) and as Chair of the United States Science Advisory Committee (USSAC; 1999-2002).

John W. Peirce

Managing Partner - Geophysical Exploration and Development Corporation
AB 1968, Dartmouth College; Ph.D. 1977 MIT/WHOI, Geology and Geophysics

John Peirce graduated from the Joint Program in 1976 in Marine Geophysics. His first stop on the job merry go-round was Dalhousie, where he taught geology and geophysics for two years and ran the paleomagnetics lab. From there he was recruited by Petro Canada to start up a group in gravity and magnetics interpretation. He and Nancy arrived in Calgary in 1978 on a five-year plan to get to the West Coast - and they are still there. However, they have recently bought land on the B.C. Coast, so they are finally headed in the right direction again.

The crash of oil prices in 1986 provided the chance for John to change into International (still with Petro Canada), where he ran their Basin Analysis and New Ventures groups. During this time, John took a six-month sabbatical to be Co-Chief Scientist on ODP Leg 121, drilling on Broken Ridge and the Ninetyeast Ridge (his thesis area 12 years earlier) in the Indian Ocean.

GEDCO has grown to be one of the two largest geophysical interpretation companies in Calgary (18-20 staff), with projects around the world and a particular marketing focus in Latin America. They have three divisions: 1. SIS software - The OMNI 3D design software (PC) and VISTA 2D/3D seismic processing software (PC), both sold around the world; 2. Interpretation services, both geological and geophysical; and 3. Potential Field Data Services, specializing in High Resolution Airborne Magnetics (HRAM) and Airborne Gravity. GEDCO also teaches courses worldwide and gives papers regularly at International conferences. They also do research related to all areas of their work, and have one book and two patents relating to 3D design to their credit.

They welcome applications from students wanting a work term in geophysics - 3D seismic and/or potential field methods. Fluency in Spanish would be an asset. Permission to work in Canada makes the paperwork easier, but we have arranged research positions at the University of Calgary where the individual is seconded to and paid by GEDCO.

Hanumant Singh

Assistant Scientist - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
B.S. 1989, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, George Mason University; Ph.D. 1995, MIT/WHOI, Oceanographic Engineering

I was born and brought up in India. After completing one year (as a Mechanical Engineering major) at the Panjab Engineering College, I transferred to George Mason University in Northern Virginia where I earned BS degree in Electrical Engineering and in Computer Science. I was just a few credits short of a degree in Philosophy, but decided to spend a summer back home in India rather than get another piece of paper! In between my junior and senior years, I spent a summer at WHOI. This career changing experience made me forget all about being a computer architect and instead I enrolled in the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in 1989. I completed my doctorate in 1995, post-doc'ed for a year and a half and then accepted an Assistant Scientist's position at the Deep Submergence Lab here at WHOI.

Ari W. Epstein

AB 1984, Harvard University; Ph.D. 1995, MIT/WHOI Physical Oceanography

In the Joint Program I studied Physical Oceanography, specializing on ways in which small-scale physical phenomena affect the abundance and distribution of plankton, especially near Georges Bank. Since then I've lived a kind of double life: I've been teaching in the Physics Department at Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, ME, and also helping to design exhibits at the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA. In January,

I'll be taking over as Editor of Scientific American Explorations, a new magazine for the parents of 6- to 12-year-olds. Our goal is to give parents the tools and information they need to help keep their kids excited about science.

MIT/WHOI Alumni/ae Association