MBARI - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Secretary / Partner, Finch Montgomery Wright LLP

Job Titles:

• Research Technician
• Member of Ken Johnson 's Chemical Sensor

Ben is a member of Ken Johnson's Chemical Sensor team. He holds a Master's degree in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography where he focused on sensor integration on mobile platforms, and received his Bachelor's in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In addition to testing the physical limitations of ocean instruments, Ben likes to test his abilities free diving and students' knowledge as an educator, and honed in those skills while working at the Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI). If you ever see Ben, you can create a strong bond by telling him your favorite trivial knowledge, or just mention how disappointing the Sacramento Kings are.

Job Titles:

• Senior Software Engineer
• Software Engineer

Brian is a Software Engineer at MBARI working in the Information Engineering group of the Research and Development division. He has a bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Maryland, College Park and a master's degree in Marine Science/Physical Oceanography from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Brian has developed software systems supporting science at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, the Naval Post-graduate School and at MBARI. Employed at MBARI since 1998, he has worked on numerous projects involving video and image analysis, video annotation, numerical analysis, user-interface development, and data-management systems. Schlining, B., 1999. Seasonal intrusions of equatorial waters in Monterey Bay and their effects on mesopelagic animal distributions (Master's thesis, California State University, Stanislaus).

Krolicka, A., C. Boccadoro, M.M. Nilsen, E. Demir-Hilton, J. Birch, C. Preston, C. Scholin, and T. Baussant. 2019. Identification of microbial key-indicators of oil contamination at sea through tracking of oil biotransformation: An Arctic field and laboratory study. Science of the Total Environment, 696: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133715

Scholin, C.A. 2003. Molecular Biological Technologies Applicable to Autonomous and Lagrangian Platforms (invited white paper presented at the Autonomous and Lagrangian Platforms and Sensors (ALPS) workshop, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, March '03). Scholin, C. 2010. What are "ecogenomic sensors?" A review and thoughts for the future. Rhodes, L., C. Scholin, J. Tyrrell, J. Adamson , and K. Todd. 2002. The integration of DNA probes into New Zealand's routine phytoplankton monitoring programmes. Harmful Algal Blooms 2000: 429-432. Scholin, C.A. 2000. Application of DNA probes for detection of harmful algae. Journal of Shellfish Research, 19: 637. Scholin, C., G. Massion, E. Mellinger, M. Brown, D.K. Wright, and D. Cline. 1998. The development and application of molecular probes and novel instrumentation for detection of harmful algae. Ocean community conference '98, MTS, 1: 367-370. Scholin, C.A., K.R. Buck, T. Britschgi, G. Cangelosi, and F.P. Chavez. 1996. Identification of Pseudo-nitzschia australis (Bacillariophyceae) using rRNA-targeted probes in whole cell and sandwich hybridization formats. Phycologia, 35: 190-197. Scholin, C.A., and D.M. Anderson. 1996. Identification of Alexandrium species and strains using RFLP analysis of PCR-amplified LSU rDNA. Harmful and toxic algal blooms: 451-454.

Searcy, R.T., A.B. Boehm, C. Weinstock, C.M. Preston, S. Jensen, B. Roman, J.M. Birch, C.A. Scholin, K.S. Van Houtan, J.D. Kiernan, and K.M. Yamahara. 2022. High-frequency and long-term observations of eDNA from imperiled salmonids in a coastal stream: Temporal dynamics, relationships with environmental factors, and comparisons with conventional observations. Environmental DNA, 4(4): 776-789. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.293

Job Titles:

• Senior Scientist

Charlie is a marine geologist who moved from a professorship in the Geology Department at UNC-Chapel Hill to become a Senior Scientist at MBARI in 1999. Sickmann, Z., C.K. Paull, and S.A. Graham. 2016. Detrital-zircon mixing and partitioning in fluvial to deep marine systems, central California, U.S.A.. Journal of Sedimentary Research (SEPM), 86: 1298-1307. http://dx.doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2016.78 Talling, P.J., C.K. Paull, and D.J.W. Piper. 2013. How are subaqueous sediment density flows triggered, what is their internal structure and how does it evolve? Direct observations from monitoring of active flows. Earth-Science Reviews, 125: 244-287. National Research Council (C.K. Paull was a member of the committee and co-author of the report). Realizing the energy potential of methane hydrate for the United States. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press: 2010. https://doi.org/10.17226/12831 Paull, C.K., W. Ussler III, W.R. Normark, and R. Keaten. Tracking the dispersal of DDT residue-bearing sediments onto the floor of Santa Monica Basin. In Progress in Pesticides Research, edited by C.M. Kanzantzakis, 397-413. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2009. Moore, W.S., W. Ussler III, and C.K. Paull. 2008. Short-lived radium isotopes in the Hawaiian margin: Evidence for large fluxes through the Puna Ridge. Marine Chemistry, 109: 421-430. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2007.09.010 Paull, C.K., W. Ussler III, W.R. Normark, and R. Keaten. 2008. Tracking the dispersal of DDT residue-bearing sediments onto the floor of the Santa Monica Basin. Progress in Pesticide Research: 17. Ussler III, W., and C.K. Paull. 2008. Rates of anaerobic oxidation of methane and authigenic carbonate mineralization in methane-rich deep-sea sediments inferred from models and geochemical profiles. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 266: 271-287. Paull, C.K., W. Ussler III, S. Dallimore, S. Blasco, T. Lorenson, H. Melling, F. McLaughlin, and F.M. Nixon. 2007. Origin of pingo-like features on the Beaufort Sea shelf and their possible relationship to decomposing methane gas hydrates. Geophysical Research Letters, 34: 1-5. Paull, C.K., W. Ussler III, T. Lorenson, W. Winters, and J. Dougherty. 2005. Geochemical constraints on the distribution of gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico. Geo-Marine Letters, 25: 273-280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00367-005-0001-3 Ussler III, W., C.K. Paull, S. Hallam, T. Lorenson, Y. Chen, and R. Matsumoto. 2005. Microbially-mediated diagenesis of methane carbon across the sulfate-methane interface in a methane-rich core from the Gulf of Mexico. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Gas Hydrates, V.3, Exploration, Resources and Environment: 1056-1062. Lorenson, T.D., J.A. Dougherty, W. Ussler III, and C.K. Paull. 2003. Cruise summary for P-1-02-SC; acoustic imaging of natural oil and gas seeps and measurement of dissolved methane concentrations in coastal waters near Pt. Conception, California. USGS Open-File Report OF 03-0122. Orphan, V.O., W. Ussler III., T.H. Naehr, C.H. House, K.U. Hinrichs, and C.K. Paull. 2003. Geological, geochemical, and microbiological heterogeneity of the seafloor around methane vents in the eel river basin, offshore california. Chemical Geology: 265-289. Brewer, P.G., C.K. Paull, E.T. Peltzer, W. Ussler, III, G. Rehder, and G.E. Friederich. 2002. Measurements of the fate of gas hydrates during transit through the ocean water column. Geophysical Research Letters, 29: 38-1-38-4. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2002GL014727 Land, L.A., and C.K. Paull. 2001. Thermal gradients as a tool for estimating groundwater advective rates in a coastal estuary: White Oak River, North Carolina, USA. Journal of Hydrology, 248: 198-215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(01)00405-X Dickens, G.R., P.J. Wallace, C.K. Paull, and W.S. Borowski. 2000. Detection of methane gas hydrate in the pressure core sampler (PCS): Volume-pressure-time relations during controlled degassing experiments. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, 164: 113-126. Land, L.A., and C.K. Paull. 2000. Submarine karst belt rimming the continental slope in the Straits of Florida. Geo-Marine Letters, 20: 123-132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s003670000041

Job Titles:

• Research Technician

Chloe Weinstock is a research technician on the ecogenomic sensors team in MBARI's SURF Center.

Job Titles:

• Research Specialist

Christina Preston joined MBARI in November, 1999 as a Research Technician. She will carry out oceanographic research and development in support of Ed DeLong's marine microbiology science program. Her main research interests at MBARI are in using innovative techniques to investigate the role of marine microbes.

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive Officer
• Member of the Board of Directors
• President

Chris Scholin is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. He received a B.A. in Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1984, and a M.A. in Molecular Biology and Immunology from Duke University in 1986. After working for a short time as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina at Columbia, Chris entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (MIT/WHOI) Joint Program in Biological Oceanography with the objective of combining molecular biology and ecology in an ocean setting. Chris earned his Ph.D. from MIT/WHOI in 1992 and came to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute later that year to focus on building molecular probes to detect waterborne microbes, in particular toxic and harmful algae. Working collaboratively with a team of engineers, his group pioneered the development of the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP), an instrument that collects water samples autonomously, concentrates microorganisms, and automates the application of molecular probes to detect particular species and substances they produce. In 2009, 17 years after joining the institute as a Postdoctoral Fellow, Chris was selected to serve as President and CEO of MBARI. In addition to leading MBARI, Chris maintains an active research program that focuses on the development and application of ecogenomic sensors in coastal, open ocean, and deep-sea environments. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. In 2021, Chris was awarded the Lockheed Martin Award for Ocean Science and Engineering from the Marine Technology Society. Chavez, F.P., P.G. Brewer, and C.A. Scholin. 2017. Celebrating 30 years of ocean science technology at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Oceanography, 30: 18-25. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2017.420 Seegers, B.N., J.M. Birch, R. Marin, C.A. Scholin, D.A. Caron, E.L. Seubert, M.D.A. Howard, G.L. Robertson, and B.H. Jones. 2015. Subsurface seeding of surface harmful algal blooms observed through the integration of autonomous gliders, moored environmental sample processors, and satellite remote sensing in southern California. Limnology and Oceanography, 60: 754-764. Greenfield, D.I., R. Marin III, S. Jensen, E. Massion, B. Roman, J. Feldman, and C.A. Scholin. 2006. Application of the environmental sample processor (ESP) methodology for quantifying Pseudo-nitzschia australis using ribosomal RNA-targeted probes in sandwich and fluorescent in situ hybridization formats. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, 4: 426-435. Lundholm, N., Ø. Moestrup, Y. Kotaki, C.A. Scholin, and P. Miller. 2006. Inter- and intraspecific variation of the Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima-complex (Bacillariophyceae) illustrated by rRNA probes, morphological data and phylogenetic analyses identification of P. decipiens and P. dolorosa. Journal of Phycology, 42: 464-481. Ayers, K., L. Rhodes, J. Tyrrell, M. Gladstone, and C.A. Scholin. 2005. International accreditation of sandwich hybridisation assay format DNA probes for micro-algae. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 39: 1225-1231. LaGier, M.J., C.A. Scholin, J.W. Fell, J. Wang, and K.D. Goodwin. 2005. An electrochemical RNA hybridization assay for detection of the fecal indicator bacterium Escherichia coli. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 50: 1251-1261. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.04.034 Tyrrell, J.V., P.R. Bergquist, P.L. Bergquist, and C.A. Scholin. 2001. Detection and enumeration of Heterosigma akashiwo and Fibrocapsa japonica (Raphidophyceae) using rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes. Phycologia, 40: 457-467. http://dx.doi.org/10.2216/i0031-8884-40-5-457.1

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors

Job Titles:

• Professor Emeritus, Department of Oceanography / Naval Postgraduate School

Scholin, C.A., D.M. Anderson and M. Sogin (1993). The existence of two distinct small-subunit rRNA genes in the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense. Journal of Phycol ogy 29: 209-216. Scholin, C.A., and D.M. Anderson. 1994. Identification of group- and strain-specific genetic markers for globally distributed Alexandrium (Dinophyceae). I. RFLP analysis of SSU rRNA genes. Journal of Phycology, 30: 744-754.

Brothers, D.S., J.E. Conrad, K.L. Maier, C.K. Paull, M. McGann, and D.W. Caress. 2015. The Palos Verdes Fault offshore Southern California: Late Pleistocene to present tectonic geomorphology, seascape evolution, and slip rate estimate based on AUV and ROV surveys. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 120: 4734-4758. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2015jb011938 Paduan, J., D.W. Caress, D.A. Clague, C.K. Paull, and H. Thomas. 2009. High-resolution mapping of mass wasting, tectonic, and volcanic hazards using the MBARI mapping AUV. Proceedings of the International Conference on Seafloor Mapping and Geohazards Assessment.

Job Titles:

• Electrical Engineer
• in 2003 As a Research Specialist

Denis Klimov joined MBARI in 2003 as a Research Specialist in a research engineering group; in 2009 he moved to the instrument development group as an Electrical Engineer. Denis is involved in instrument development for research programs at MBARI on all stages, from concept and development, to implementation and testing; field operations, data validity analysis, documenting procedures to optimize reliability; costs calculation, outsourcing to the outside vendors; test fit and integration analysis. Denis Klimov holds a Bachelor degree in Engineering Physics and Master degree in Laser Physics from Moscow State University (MSU), Moscow, Russian Federation.

Job Titles:

• Associate Director for Computation Emeritus

Sumner, E.J., and C.K. Paull. 2014. Swept away by a turbidity current in Mendocino submarine canyon, California. Geophysical Research Letters, 41: 7611-7618. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2014GL061863

Job Titles:

• Associate Director of Research ( Retired ) Naval Research

Job Titles:

• Mechanical Engineer

François has been a mechanical engineer at MBARI since 2010. He has been working on a wide range of oceanographic equipment including AUVs, ROVs, camera systems, and a wave energy converter. He is involved in all phases of product development, from concept to deployment in the field. Using 3D modeling software, finite element analysis and other engineering tools, François designs mechanical components and assemblies. He supervises the fabrication of these systems, in collaboration with MBARI's machinists and fabricators, or outside vendors. François spends a lot of time assembling and integrating new systems and testing them first in the lab, then at sea. François is a certified scientific diver and regularly dives for MBARI, either to deploy instruments or to perform maintenance on them. François holds a Master's degree in industrial engineering and a Master's degree in marine science.

Job Titles:

• Dean Emeritus, College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences / Professor Emeritus, School of Oceanography

Job Titles:

• Associate Director / David and Lucile

Job Titles:

• Principal Engineer

Giancarlo Troni is a Principal Engineer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Previously he was an Associate Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. His research has focused on the estimation and control of marine robotics systems. He holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. In addition, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan and MBARI, working on underwater robotics. Giancarlo leads the CoMPAS lab, focusing on developing better tools and methods for quantitative ocean exploration with cost-effective and scalable autonomous machines. Oceans are primarily unexplored even though the current technology has been able to get to the deepest parts of them. The challenge is to scale our observation systems to allow scientists to get quality field data on large temporal and spatial scales.

Job Titles:

• V.L. Trainer

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Senior Vice - President, Research and Development Director, HP Laboratories ( Retired )

Job Titles:

• Chief Data Scientist

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Chairman / Executive Director, Monterey Bay Aquarium

Job Titles:

• Executive Director / Schmidt Ocean Institute

Job Titles:

• Director of Education and Outreach / UC Museum of Paleontology / University of California, Berkeley

Job Titles:

• Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors

Ryan, H.F., J.E. Conrad, C.K. Paull, and M. McGann. 2012. Slip rate on the San Diego Trough Fault Zone, inner California Borderland, and the 1986 Oceanside earthquake swarm revisited. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 102: 2300-2312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1785/0120110317

Job Titles:

• Honorary Trustee Emeritus / the David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Chairman, President, CEO, Agilent Technologies ( Retired )

Harvey, J.B.J., J.P. Ryan, R. Marin III, C.M. Preston, N. Alvarado, C.A. Scholin, and R.C. Vrijenhoek. 2012. Robotic sampling, in situ monitoring and molecular detection of marine zooplankton. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 413: 60-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2011.11.022 Jones, W.J., C.M. Preston, R. Marin III, C.A. Scholin, and R.C. Vrijenhoek. 2008. A robotic molecular method for in situ detection of marine invertebrate larvae. Molecular Ecology Resources, 8: 540-550. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-8286.2007.02021.x

Job Titles:

• Executive Director ( Retired ) California Council

Winters, W., T. Lorenson, C.K. Paull, and Y. Balut. 2006. Coring and gas hydrate related operations during the IMAGES VIII/PAGE 127 gas hydrate and paleoclimate cruise on the R/V Marion Dufresne in the Gulf of Mexico, 2-18 July 2002; Chapter 3. Initial Report of the IMAGES/PAGE 127 Gas Hydrate and Paleoclimate Cruise on the R/V Marion Dufresne in the Gulf of Mexico, 2-18 July 2002, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2004-1358.

Paull, C.K., D.W. Caress, W. Ussler III, E. Lundsten, and M. Meiner-Johnson 2011. High-resolution bathymetry of the axial channels within Monterey and Soquel submarine canyons, offshore central California. Geosphere, 7: 1077-1101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/GES00636.1 McGann, M., R.C. Vrijenhoek, S. Johnson, J. Harvey, C.K. Paull, W. Ussler III, and L. Lundsten. 2010. Foraminiferal response to whale falls in the northeastern Pacific ocean. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Foraminifera, Bonn, Germany, 5-10 September 2010. Paull, C.K., W. Ussler III, E.T. Peltzer, P.G. Brewer, R. Keaten, P. Mitts, J. Nealon, J. Greinert, J.C. Herguera, and E. Perez. 2007. Authigenic carbon entombed in methane-soaked sediments from the northeastern transform margin of the Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California. Deep-Sea Research Part II, 54: 1240-1267. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.04.009 Ussler III, W., and C.K. Paull. 2006. Pore water gradients in giant piston cores from the northern Gulf of Mexico; Chapter 8. Initial Report of the IMAGES VIII/PAGE 127 Gas Hydrates and Paleoclimate Cruise on the R/V Marion Dufresne in the Gulf of Mexico, 2-18 July 2002, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2004-1358. Mitts, P., C.K. Paull, W. Ussler III, G.R. Dickens, and K.L. Perry. 2004. Pore water sulfate, chloride, and methane concentrations in sediment gravity cores from the Fairway and New Caledonia Basins. Geology of the Fairway and New Caledonia Basins in the Tasman Sea from Franklin Cruise FR9/01: Sediment, pore water, diapirs and bottom simulating reflectors, Geoscience Australia: 14. Ussler III, W., C.K. Paull, P. McGill, D. Schroeder, and D. Ferrell. 2002. Estimating in situ sediment gas concentrations in ODP boreholes by continuously monitoring temperature during core recovery. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Gas Hydrate, 1: 210-215. Paull, C.K., and W. Ussler III. 2001. History and significance of gas sampling during DSDP and ODP drilling associated with gas hydrates. Natural gas hydrates: Occurrence, distribution, and detection, 124: 53-65. Wallace, P.J., G.R. Dickens, C.K. Paull, and W. Ussler III. 2000. Effects of core retrieval and degassing on the carbon isotope composition of methane in gas hydrate- and free gas-bearing sediments from the Blake Ridge. Proceeding of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, 164: 101-112. Borowski, W.S., C.K. Paull, and W. Ussler III. 1999. Global and local variations of interstitial sulfate gradients in deep-water, continental margin sediments: Sensitivity to underlying methane and gas hydrates. Marine Geology, 159: 131-154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(99)00004-3 Land, L.A., C.K. Paull, and F.N. Spiess. 1999. Abyssal erosion and scarp retreat: Deep tow observations of the Blake Escarpment and Blake Spur. Marine Geology, 160: 63-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(99)00012-2 Paull, C.K., W. Ussler III, and W.S. Borowski. 1999. Freshwater ice rafting: an additional mechanism for the formation of some high-latitude submarine pockmarks. Geo-Marine Letters, 19: 164-168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s003670050104

Dickens, G.R., Borowski, W.S., Wehner, H., Paull, C.K., and ODP Leg 164 Scientific Party. 2000. Data report: Additional shipboard information for the pressure core sampler (PCS) at sites 994, 995, 996, and 997, Data Report. Proceeding of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, 164: 439-443.