Kate Moran

Last updated
Kathryn (Kate) Moran
Alma mater
Known forPaleoclimatology

Oceanography

Ocean Engineering
Scientific career
Institutions Ocean Networks Canada

Kathryn (Kate) Moran OC is an ocean engineer and Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Victoria. She is president and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada. [1]

Contents

Education

Kate Moran grew up in Pennsylvania, where she first became interested in the ocean. [2] Moran completed a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She spent some time working at Procter and Gamble before joining a new program in Ocean Engineering at the University of Rhode Island. [2] After receiving a job offer from the Atlantic Geoscience Centre, she moved to Nova Scotia. [3] She received her PhD in 1995 from Dalhousie University, under the supervision of Hans Uaziri and Geoff Meyerhoff. [3]

Research

Moran researches marine geotechnics and paleoclimatology and has led several oceanographic expeditions. In 2004 she was part of a team to extract 400 metres of sediment core from the Arctic sea floor, using it to understand the changing climate in the Arctic. [4] [5] The expedition was organised by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, who even threw a party for the scientists on the ice. [4] Her team identified the earthquake that was the cause of the 2004 Indian Tsunami. [6] She was described by Todd McLeish as knowing "more about the history of Arctic climate change than anyone". [7]

In 2008, Moran delivered testimony to the US Senate committee on Environmental and Public Works outlining the scientific evidence for climate change, and future predictions which resulted from the research. [8] Between 2009 - 2011 Moran was seconded to President Obama's White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. [9] Obama instructed the federal government to develop an ocean policy, which was released in 2012. [10] [11] Moran was involved with the government's response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. [2] Moran was selected to be on Secretary Steven Chu's team in that response. [3] Moran describes the efforts as "an incredible response, actually, by BP and the government". [2] She is a supporter of renewable energy, "when I first started to be seriously concerned about the fact we need to stop [creating] CO2, I got involved in the first offshore wind farm in the U.S". [2] [12] [13]

In 2012, Moran took over as president and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada, where she overseas Canada's advanced cabled ocean observatories, NEPTUNE, in the Northeast Pacific Ocean and VENUS. [1] [14] The cabled observatories are open-access: their data are provided free-of-charge to anyone in the world. [11] She is a board member of the Clear Seas Centre for Responsible Marine Shipping. [15]

In 2012, Moran delivered a TEDx talk in Vancouver, entitled "Connecting our Planet's Oceans... To the Internet". [16] Her observation systems provide 24 hour monitoring of ocean processes. [17] In 2015 she secured $5 million funding from the British Columbia government for early earthquake detection. [18] In 2017, Moran won a $2.4 million grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to build a new observatory to provide information on seismic and tsunami risks in British Columbia. [19] She is an "Expert on Priority Research Questions for Canadian Open Science". [20]

Moran was appointed to the Order of Canada in June 2023, with the rank of Officer. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1964 Alaska earthquake</span> Second most powerful earthquake in recorded history

The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 PM AKST on Good Friday, March 27. Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 131 deaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physical oceanography</span> Study of physical conditions and processes within the ocean

Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan de Fuca Plate</span> Tectonic plate in the eastern North Pacific

The Juan de Fuca Plate is a small tectonic plate (microplate) generated from the Juan de Fuca Ridge that is subducting beneath the northerly portion of the western side of the North American Plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. It is named after the explorer of the same name. One of the smallest of Earth's tectonic plates, the Juan de Fuca Plate is a remnant part of the once-vast Farallon Plate, which is now largely subducted underneath the North American Plate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1700 Cascadia earthquake</span> Megathrust earthquake in the North West Pacific region

The 1700 Cascadia earthquake occurred along the Cascadia subduction zone on January 26, 1700, with an estimated moment magnitude of 8.7–9.2. The megathrust earthquake involved the Juan de Fuca Plate from mid-Vancouver Island, south along the Pacific Northwest coast as far as northern California. The length of the fault rupture was about 1,000 kilometers, with an average slip of 20 meters (66 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascadia subduction zone</span> Convergent plate boundary that stretches from northern Vancouver Island to Northern California

The Cascadia subduction zone is a 960 km fault at a convergent plate boundary, about 112-160 km off the Pacific Shore, that stretches from northern Vancouver Island in Canada to Northern California in the United States. It is capable of producing 9.0+ magnitude earthquakes and tsunamis that could reach 30m. The Oregon Department of Emergency Management estimates shaking would last 5-7 minutes along the coast, with strength and intensity decreasing further from the epicenter. It is a very long, sloping subduction zone where the Explorer, Juan de Fuca, and Gorda plates move to the east and slide below the much larger mostly continental North American Plate. The zone varies in width and lies offshore beginning near Cape Mendocino, Northern California, passing through Oregon and Washington, and terminating at about Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

Megathrust earthquakes occur at convergent plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is forced underneath another. The earthquakes are caused by slip along the thrust fault that forms the contact between the two plates. These interplate earthquakes are the planet's most powerful, with moment magnitudes (Mw) that can exceed 9.0. Since 1900, all earthquakes of magnitude 9.0 or greater have been megathrust earthquakes.

The Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is the scientific research center of the Columbia Climate School, and a unit of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. It focuses on climate and earth sciences and is located on a 189-acre campus in Palisades, New York, 18 miles (29 km) north of Manhattan on the Hudson River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huu-ay-aht First Nations</span> First Nations band government in British Columbia, Canada

The Huu-ay-aht First Nations is a First Nations band government based on Pachena Bay about 300 km (190 mi) northwest of Victoria, British Columbia on the west coast of Vancouver Island, in Canada. The traditional territories of the Huu-ay-aht make up the watershed of the Sarita River. The Huu-ay-aht is a member of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and is a member of the Maa-nulth Treaty Society. It completed and ratified its community constitution and ratified the Maa-nulth Treaty on 28 July 2007. The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia passed the Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement Act on Wednesday, 21 November 2007 and celebrated with the member-nations of the Maa-nulth Treaty Society that evening.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azolla event</span> Hypothetical geoclimatic event

The Azolla event is a paleoclimatology scenario hypothesized to have occurred in the middle Eocene epoch, around 49 million years ago, when blooms of the carbon-fixing freshwater fern Azolla are thought to have happened in the Arctic Ocean. As the fern died and sank to the stagnant sea floor, they were incorporated into the sediment over a period of about 800,000 years; the resulting draw-down of carbon dioxide has been speculated to have helped reverse the planet from the "greenhouse Earth" state of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, when the planet was hot enough for turtles and palm trees to prosper at the poles, to the current icehouse Earth known as the Late Cenozoic Ice Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocean Observatories Initiative</span> Network of ocean observatories

The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Facility composed of a network of science-driven ocean observing platforms and sensors in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This networked infrastructure measures physical, chemical, geological, and biological variables from the seafloor to the sea surface and overlying atmosphere, providing an integrated data collection system on coastal, regional and global scales. OOI's goal is to deliver data and data products for a 25-year-plus time period, enabling a better understanding of ocean environments and critical ocean issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic Ocean</span> Ocean in the north polar region

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately 14,060,000 km2 (5,430,000 sq mi) and is known as one of the coldest of oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea. It has also been described as an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also seen as the northernmost part of the all-encompassing World Ocean.

The following are considered ocean essential climate variables (ECVs) by the Ocean Observations Panel for Climate (OOPC) that are currently feasible with current observational systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars ocean theory</span> Astronomical theory

The Mars ocean theory states that nearly a third of the surface of Mars was covered by an ocean of liquid water early in the planet's geologic history. This primordial ocean, dubbed Paleo-Ocean or Oceanus Borealis, would have filled the basin Vastitas Borealis in the northern hemisphere, a region which lies 4–5 km below the mean planetary elevation, at a time period of approximately 4.1–3.8 billion years ago. Evidence for this ocean includes geographic features resembling ancient shorelines, and the chemical properties of the Martian soil and atmosphere. Early Mars would have required a denser atmosphere and warmer climate to allow liquid water to remain at the surface.

Ocean Networks Canada is a world-leading research and ocean observing facility hosted and owned by the University of Victoria, and managed by the not-for profit ONC Society. ONC operates unparalleled observatories in the deep ocean and coastal waters of Canada’s three coasts–the Arctic, the Pacific and the Atlantic–gathering biological, chemical, geological and physical data to drive solutions for science, industry and society. ONC operates the NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled ocean observatories in the northeast Pacific Ocean and the Salish Sea. Additionally, Ocean Networks Canada operates smaller community-based observatories offshore from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut., Campbell River, Kitamaat Village and Digby Island. These observatories collect data on physical, chemical, biological, and geological aspects of the ocean over long time periods. As with other ocean observatories such as ESONET, Ocean Observatories Initiative, MACHO and DONET, scientific instruments connected to Ocean Networks Canada are operated remotely and provide continuous streams of freely available data to researchers and the public. Over 200 gigabytes of data are collected every day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JASCO Applied Sciences</span>

JASCO Applied Sciences provides scientific consulting services and equipment related to underwater acoustics. JASCO operates from 7 international locations and provides services to the oil and gas, marine construction, energy, renewable energy, fisheries, maritime transport and defence sectors. The head office is located in Halifax, NS Canada. JASCO employs acousticians, bioacousticians, physicists, marine mammal scientists, engineers, technologists, and project managers.

David George Barber, was a Canadian environmental scientist and academic known for his contributions to Arctic science, in particular the study of Arctic sea ice processes. He held the Canada Research Chair in Arctic-System Science at the University of Manitoba. He was an officer of the Order of Canada and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dr. Neil Trivett Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory</span> Observatory

The Dr. Neil Trivett Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory is an atmospheric baseline station operated by Environment and Climate Change Canada located about 6 km (3.7 mi) south south-west of Alert, Nunavut, on the north-eastern tip of Ellesmere Island, about 800 km (500 mi) south of the geographic North Pole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Wallace</span> American geophysicist

Laura Martin Wallace is a geodetic principal scientist who works between the University of Texas at Austin and GNS Science in New Zealand. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2018.

Pachena Bay is located 13 km (8.1 mi) south of Bamfield in Pacific Rim National Park at the southern end of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It was the location of a First Nation's village that was destroyed by a tsunami in 1700.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melania Guerra</span> Strategy scientist

Melania Guerra is a strategy scientist, connecting scientific knowledge and policy making. Guerra's background is in mechanical engineering, research, marine science, and advocating for climate change, ocean conservation and female empowerment.

References

  1. 1 2 "Leadership". oceannetworks.ca. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 David Lennam (2017-12-04). "Ocean Networks Canada's CEO Dr. Kate Moran Talks Climate Change, Acidification and Changing Coastlines". Douglas Magazine. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  3. 1 2 3 "Kate Moran (PhD '95)". Dalhousie University. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  4. 1 2 "Abstractions". Nature. 441 (7093): xi. 2006-05-31. doi: 10.1038/7093xib .
  5. ↑ Moran, Kathryn; Backman, Jan; Brinkhuis, Henk; Clemens, Steven C.; Cronin, Thomas; Dickens, Gerald R.; Eynaud, Frédérique; Gattacceca, Jérôme; Jakobsson, Martin (2006-06-01). "The Cenozoic palaeoenvironment of the Arctic Ocean". Nature. 441 (7093): 601–605. Bibcode:2006Natur.441..601M. doi:10.1038/nature04800. hdl: 2027.42/62499 . ISSN   1476-4687. PMID   16738653. S2CID   4424147.
  6. ↑ Emily Chung (December 27, 2014). "Deadliest tsunami in recorded history now helping save lives". CBC. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  7. ↑ Todd., McLeish (2013-06-18). Narwhals : arctic whales in a melting world (First paperback ed.). Seattle. ISBN   978-0295804699. OCLC   921916158. OL   27145128M.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ↑ "TESTIMONY : Kate Moran to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Field Briefing on The Implications of Global Warming for Narragansett Bay". whitehouse.senate.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  9. ↑ "ONC Staff Profile : Kate Moran". oceannetworks.ca. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  10. ↑ "National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan". The White House. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  11. 1 2 Kate Moran (2014-09-26). "An Interview With Dr. Kate Moran - Planet Experts". Planet Experts. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  12. ↑ "Globe 2016 Perspectives: Is Offshore Wind the Answer?" . Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  13. ↑ Peter B. Lord (July 30, 2010). "URI Helps Set Standards for Off-Shore Wind Farms". web.uri.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  14. ↑ Offshore WIND staff (January 16, 2012). "Oceanology International Presents Ocean Observation, Forecasting, Hydrography and Geophysics (UK)". Offshore Wind. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  15. ↑ "Clear Seas: Dr. Kate Moran, Board Chair, President & CEO of Ocean Networks Canada". Vimeo. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  16. ↑ TEDx Talks (2012-02-28), TEDxVancouver - Dr. Kate Moran - Connecting our Planet's Oceans... To the Internet , retrieved 2018-01-22
  17. ↑ "New Developments Underway at Ocean Networks Canada". Subsea World News. October 4, 2012. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  18. ↑ Megan Thomas (Jul 21, 2016). "First earthquake early warning sensor installed deep underwater off Vancouver Island". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  19. ↑ "UVic bags Innovation grant for two research projects". Tidal Energy Today. Archived from the original on 2018-01-23. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  20. ↑ "Kate Moran". Council of Canadian Academies. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  21. ↑ "Order of Canada appointees – June 2023". The Governor General of Canada. June 30, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.