Woods Hole Research Center Grows

Adds Three Scientists to Staff of this Noted Environmental Center

By Walter Brooks

The Woods Hole Research Center http://www.whrc.org/ is pleased to announce the hiring of three new associate scientists. The hiring follows a long-term plan for the expansion of the Center.

Doctors Robert Max Holmes, Michael T. Coe and Josef Kellndorfer will join the Woods Hole Research Center within next two months.

Dr. Robert Max Holmes will join the Woods Hole Research Center on February 1, 2005. As an ecosystem scientist with broad interests in the responses and feedbacks of ecosystems to environmental and global change, most of his current research takes place in the Arctic (field sites are in Russia, Canada, and Alaska).

There he explores how climatic changes affects cycles of water and chemicals in the environment. Dr. Holmes has also studied desert streams in the southwestern United States, stream/riparian ecosystems in France, and estuaries in Massachusetts. He is strongly committed to integrating education and outreach into his research projects, and is particularly interested in exposing K-12 students to the excitement of scientific research.

The Woods Hole campus was once an old inn which has been turned into a "green building of note. It was selected as one of the top 10 green buildings in 2004 by the AIA.

Dr. Holmes earned his Ph.D. from Arizona State University, his M.S. from the University of Michigan, and his B.S. from the University of Texas. He comes to the Woods Hole Research Center from The Ecosystems Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory.

Dr. Michael T. Coe will join the Woods Hole Research Center on March 1, 2005. His current research interests focus on the development and application of numerical models and ground and satellite-based data to investigate the effect of climatic variability, land management and water use practices on regional and global water resources.

He has mentored Master’s and Doctoral level students in developing and completing research programs and served as a peer reviewer of research for the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Israel Science Foundation. Dr. Coe earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his B.A. from Miami University. He comes to the Woods Hole Research Center from the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment at the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Josef Kellndorfer will join the Woods Hole Research Center on April 1, 2005. His current research examines the use of remote sensing data from radar imagery for surveys for carbon stocks and fluxes regionally and even globally. He earned his Ph.D. from the College of Geosciences at the University of Munich and a diploma in physical geography with minors in computer science and remote sensing. He joins the Woods Hole Research Center from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, where he was an assistant research scientist.

 
 Dr. Josef Kellndorfer

The Woods Hole Research Center is dedicated to science, education and public policy for a habitable Earth, seeking to conserve and sustain forests, soils, water, and energy by demonstrating their value to human health and economic prosperity. Center programs focus on the global carbon cycle, forest function, landcover/land use, science in public affairs, and education, providing primary data on the changes in land use around the world and enabling better appraisals of the trends in forests that influence their role in the global carbon budget. Center staff work locally and regionally, assisting communities with resource management, and internationally, promoting policies that stabilize climate and protect the integrity of the global environment.

Founded in 1985 by George M. Woodwell, the Woods Hole Research Center http://www.whrc.org/ has approximately 40 staff members, consisting of scientists, international law and policy experts, researchers, and administrative staff. Funding is provided through government grants; corporate and foundation support; and individual donors. The internal review and strategic plan were conducted in early 2004. Outcomes target a series of priority areas, including long-term programmatic goals in global research and conservation and the addition of new programs and staff working with alternative energy issues, terrestrial water budgets, and global modeling scenarios. For more information, contact: Elizabeth Braun Associate Director of Communications ebraun@whrc.org 508.548.9375, x.109