Support the Department of Oceanography at Florida State University

  • Author:
    n/a
  • Send To:
    FSU Administration
  • Sponsored By:
  • More Info at:
Are you the Author?
An open letter from foreign scientists to Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell, Provost Lawrence G. Abele, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Joseph Travis.

The Department of Oceanography at Florida State University recently appeared on a list of 21 academic programs proposed for closure over the next 3 years. The list was circulated as part of a draft budget document sent by FSU administrators to the Board of Trustees (http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/DraftBCC.12-3.pdf). The budget proposal is contingent upon the final decision of the Board and the next budgetary session of the state legislature. The inclusion of Oceanography on this list came as a shock to the members of the Department, and of many earth science Departments at the American level.

The present letter of support comes from Earth scientists working outside the USA: we, the undersigned, are feeling the need to underline the world-class quality of the research and teaching that is being done at Florida State University's Department of Oceanography, the scientific excellence of its faculty members, and its major contribution in training many highly skilled scientists over the last decades.

The present financial situation cannot justify the possible closure of this unanimously respected department at the international level. We firmly urge FSU administration to preserve the Department's identity and integrity, and to reconsider its possible closure in favor of an alternate solution.

322 Signatures

  • Thierry Penduff
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • France
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • CNRS researcher - Physical Oceanographer
  • BARNIER Bernard
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • France
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Directeur de Recherche at CNRS, Head of the Multiscale Ocean Modelling Group at LEGI, Universite Joseph Fourier, Grenoble. President elect of the EGU Ocean Science Division.
  • Annette Samuelsen
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Norway
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • NERSC, Scientist
  • Ingo Bethke
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Norway
  • Natalia Ivanova
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Norway
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center/ Post-Doc
  • Bertino
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Norway
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Deputy group leader
  • Alex Baker
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • United Kingdom
  • Crosnier laurence
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • france
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Mercator-Ocean, Toulouse
  • Mike Bell
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Head Ocean Forecasting R&D
  • Remi Tailleux
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • United Kingdom
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • University of Reading/Lecturer
  • Dr. Jan Even Шie Nilsen
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Norway
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Research Scientist
  • Bjorn Backeberg
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • South Africa
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Department of Oceanography, Univ. Cape Town / PhD
  • David Marshall
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • United Kingdom
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Professor of Physical Oceanography, University of Oxford; Professorial Fellow, St Hugh's College, University of Oxford
  • Kjetil Lygre
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Norway
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • NERSC
  • Colin de Verdiere
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • France
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Physical Oceanography Professor
  • Olivier Talagrand
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • France
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Directeur de Recherches CNRS, Laboratoire de Mйtйorologie Dynamique, Paris
  • Jan Kaiser
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • United Kingdom
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Atmospheric and Marine Chemistry
  • Cecilie Hansen
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Norway
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Post. Doc
  • volfango rupolo
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Italy
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • ENEA
  • Greg Holloway
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Canada
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Institute of Ocean Sciences / Senior Scientist
  • Henk Dijkstra
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Netherlands
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Professor of Physical Oceanogra[hy
  • Ingrid H. Ellingsen
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Norway
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • SINTEF, Research Scientist
  • Alberto R. Piola
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Argentina
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Senior Scientist and Professor
    • Comments
    • The Department of Oceanography at FUS is a world class research and academic institution, making key contributions to the understanding of global climate
  • Zhaomin Wang
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • British Antarctic Survey/Research Scientist
  • Loic Jullion
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Research Fellow
    • Comments
    • This department is one of the world-leading oceanography research institute in the world and it is outrageous that they even think about closing it!
  • Philippe Gaspar
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • France
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Scientific Coordinator, CLS Satellite Oceanography Division
  • Professor Ric Williams
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Professor in Ocean Dynamics and Biogeochemistry, Liverpool University, Liverpool L69 3GP
  • Dr. Marc Lucas
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • France
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Physical Oceanographer
  • Jesъs Dubert
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Portugal
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Researcher and Professor of Physical Oceanography
  • Courtois
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Great Britain
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Research Assistant - National Oceanography Centre
  • John Prytherch
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • NOCS PhD student
  • KOCH-LARROUY
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • France/United Kingdom
  • David Munday
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • United Kingdom
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • PDRA, AOPP, University of Oxford
  • Knut-Frode Dagestad
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Norway
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Post Doc.
  • Arne Biastoch
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Germany
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • IFM-GEOMAR scientist
  • Graham Quartly
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Physical oceanographer at NOCS
    • Comments
    • There are many researchers at FSU that I know from personal contact to be at the forefront of their fields
  • Xiaoming Zhai
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Postdoc, AOPP, University of Oxford
  • Boone Christine
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • France
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • CLS, Physical Oceanographer
  • Rodrigo
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Brazil
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Student
  • Neil Edwards
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Reader in Earth System Science
  • Takamasa Tsubouchi
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Japan
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton / posdoc
    • Comments
    • This department is one of the highest oceanographic department in the world and they should keep their activity
  • lakshmi srikanth
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • india
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • research scholar
  • Meric Srokosz
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Professor of Physical Oceanography, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
  • Amrita Shravat
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • U.K.
  • Margaret Yelland
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • research scientist, National Oceanography Centre
  • Rolf Kaese
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Germany
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Institute of Oceanography University of Hamburg / Professor
  • Raymond Pollard
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Emeritus Professor
  • Dr Alex Megann
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • UK
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Climate scientist/oceanographer, NOCS, UK
  • Dr. Herle Mercier
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • France
    • Affiliation / Position held
    • Directeur de Recherche CNRS, Laboratoire de Physique des Oceans, centre Ifremer Brest
  • Nidia Martinez
    • Dpt of Oceanography Alumni?
    • No
    • Country
    • Germany