James Churgin

Last updated

James Churgin (born September 3, 1928) is a geologist and oceanographer. He is the son of Fannie and Philip Churgin, immigrants from Russia. He studied at New York City College [1] before receiving his master's degree in Geology from West Virginia University. [2]

Career

He was drafted into the Army during the Korean War, where he worked analyzing petroleum samples and taught map reading. After being discharged, he began working for Vitro Minerals in Salt Lake City, where he met and married Irene Rothstein. Later the couple moved back east where he worked for the Navy Hydrographic Office, the predecessor of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with Churgin as the head of its BT processing section. He was instrumental in establishing the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) - World Data Center “A” in Washington D.C. and eventually became its head.

Other significant achievements are the joint US-UK-Soviet studies of the Gulf Stream currents, known as the Mid-Ocean Dynamic Experiment (MODE), [3] occasionally acting as chief scientist. Churgin, Frank Wang, George Saxton and Michael Loughridge led the first American oceanographic delegation to China [4] [ failed verification ] and helped engineer a ground breaking data exchange agreement between the two countries.

Churgin participated in developing an early e-mail system to connect National Oceanographic Data Centers around the world, based on the (DARPA) system which later became the Internet. He also worked with Ferris Webster and James Crease in accumulating data for the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) study which is used today to help scientists understand the ocean's effects on climate.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Challenger Deep</span> Deepest-known point of Earths seabed

The Challenger Deep is the deepest known point of the seabed of Earth, located in the western Pacific Ocean at the southern end of the Mariana Trench, in the ocean territory of the Federated States of Micronesia. According to the GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names the depression's depth is 10,920 ± 10 m (35,827 ± 33 ft) at 11°22.4′N142°35.5′E, although its exact geodetic location remains inconclusive and its depth has been measured at 10,902–10,929 m (35,768–35,856 ft) by deep-diving submersibles, remotely operated underwater vehicles, benthic landers, and sonar bathymetry. The differences in depth estimates and their geodetic positions are scientifically explainable by the difficulty of researching such deep locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanography</span> Study of physical, chemical, and biological processes in the ocean

Oceanography, also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and seabed geology; and fluxes of various chemical substances and physical properties within the ocean and across its boundaries. These diverse topics reflect multiple disciplines that oceanographers utilize to glean further knowledge of the world ocean, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, geography, geology, hydrology, meteorology and physics. Paleoceanography studies the history of the oceans in the geologic past. An oceanographer is a person who studies many matters concerned with oceans, including marine geology, physics, chemistry, and biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Geophysical Year</span> 18-month collaboration in Earth sciences (1957–1958)

The International Geophysical Year, also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific interchange between East and West had been seriously interrupted. Sixty-seven countries participated in IGY projects, although one notable exception was the mainland People's Republic of China, which was protesting against the participation of the Republic of China (Taiwan). East and West agreed to nominate the Belgian Marcel Nicolet as secretary general of the associated international organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</span> Private, nonprofit research and education facility

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Fontaine Maury</span> American oceanographer and naval officer (1806–1873)

Matthew Fontaine Maury was an American oceanographer and naval officer, serving the United States and then joining the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

USNS <i>Kingsport</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164) was built as SS Kingsport Victory, a United States Maritime Commission VC2-S-AP3 (Victory) type cargo ship. During the closing days of World War II the ship was operated by the American Hawaiian Steamship Company under an agreement with the War Shipping Administration. After a period of layup the ship was operated as USAT Kingsport Victory by the Army under bareboat charter effective 8 July 1948. When Army transports were transferred to the Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service the ship continued as USNS Kingsport Victory (T-AK-239), a cargo transport. On 14 November 1961, after conversion into the first satellite communication ship, the ship was renamed Kingsport, reclassified as a general auxiliary, and operated as USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164).

The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) was one of the national environmental data centers operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The main NODC facility was located in Silver Spring, Maryland, and consisted of five divisions. The NODC also had field offices collocated with major government or academic oceanographic laboratories in Stennis Space Center, MS; Miami, FL; La Jolla, San Diego, California; Seattle, WA; Austin, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Norfolk, Virginia; and Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2015, NODC was merged with the National Climatic Data Center and the National Geophysical Data Center into the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jule Gregory Charney</span> US meteorologist

Jule Gregory Charney was an American meteorologist who played an important role in developing numerical weather prediction and increasing understanding of the general circulation of the atmosphere by devising a series of increasingly sophisticated mathematical models of the atmosphere. His work was the driving force behind many national and international weather initiatives and programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Institute of Oceanography, India</span> Facility in Panaji, India

The National Institute of Oceanography, founded on 1 January 1966 as one of 38 constituent laboratories of the CSIR, is a self-governing research organisation in India that conducts scientific research and studies on the unique oceanographic features of the northern Indian Ocean. It is headquartered in Goa and has regional offices in Kochi, Mumbai, and Visakhapatnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory</span> U.S. Government research laboratory

The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), a federal research laboratory, is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), located in Miami in the United States. AOML's research spans tropical cyclone and hurricanes, coastal ecosystems, oceans and human health, climate studies, global carbon systems, and ocean observations. It is one of seven NOAA Research Laboratories (RLs).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Tharp</span> American oceanographer and cartographer

Marie Tharp was an American geologist and oceanographic cartographer. In the 1950s, she collaborated with geologist Bruce Heezen to produce the first scientific map of the Atlantic Ocean floor. Her cartography revealed a more detailed topography and multi-dimensional geographical landscape of the ocean bottom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Revelle</span> American scientist (1909–1991)

Roger Randall Dougan Revelle was a scientist and scholar who was instrumental in the formative years of the University of California, San Diego and was among the early scientists to study anthropogenic global warming, as well as the movement of Earth's tectonic plates. UC San Diego's first college is named Revelle College in his honor.

The Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is the Earth Science research center of 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">Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences</span> Non-profit marine science institute

The ASU Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences is a non-profit marine science and education institute located in Ferry Reach, St. George's, Bermuda and affiliated with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University. The institute, founded in 1903 as the Bermuda Biological Station, hosts a full-time faculty of oceanographers, biologists, and environmental scientists, graduate and undergraduate students, K-12 groups, and Road Scholar groups. ASU BIOS's strategic mid-Atlantic Ocean location has at its doorstep a diverse marine environment, with close proximity to deep ocean as well as coral reef and near shore habitats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jagadish Shukla</span> Indian meteorologist

Jagadish Shukla is an Indian meteorologist and Distinguished University Professor at George Mason University in the United States.

Aquatic science is the study of the various bodies of water that make up our planet including oceanic and freshwater environments. Aquatic scientists study the movement of water, the chemistry of water, aquatic organisms, aquatic ecosystems, the movement of materials in and out of aquatic ecosystems, and the use of water by humans, among other things. Aquatic scientists examine current processes as well as historic processes, and the water bodies that they study can range from tiny areas measured in millimeters to full oceans. Moreover, aquatic scientists work in Interdisciplinary groups. For example, a physical oceanographer might work with a biological oceanographer to understand how physical processes, such as tropical cyclones or rip currents, affect organisms in the Atlantic Ocean. Chemists and biologists, on the other hand, might work together to see how the chemical makeup of a certain body of water affects the plants and animals that reside there. Aquatic scientists can work to tackle global problems such as global oceanic change and local problems, such as trying to understand why a drinking water supply in a certain area is polluted.

NOAAS <i>Researcher</i>

NOAAS Researcher, was an American oceanographic research vessel in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 1996. She had been delivered to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1970 as USC&GS Researcher, but did not enter commission until after her transfer to NOAA later that year. In 1988, Researcher was renamed NOAAS Malcolm Baldrige.

Gerold Siedler is a German physical oceanographer. He is professor emeritus at the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel and at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.

NOAAS <i>George B. Kelez</i> American research vessel

NOAAS George B. Kelez, previously NOAAS George B. Kelez, was an American research vessel in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fleet from 1972 to 1980. Prior to her NOAA career, she operated under the United States Fish and Wildlife Service′s Bureau of Commercial Fisheries from 1962 to 1970 as US FWS George B. Kelez and the National Marine Fisheries Service from 1970 to 1972 as NOAAS George B. Kelez.

David Michael Karl is an American microbial biologist and oceanographer. He is the Victor and Peggy Brandstrom Pavel Professor of Microbial Oceanography at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the Director of the University Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education.

References

  1. New York City College Alumni (1950)
  2. Churgin, J. (1954). Paleontology of Pocono Rocks of North Central West Virginia. West Virginia University. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  3. Guide to the Records of the Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment, 1970-1976
  4. "Full text of "Oceanus" – The Structure of Oceanography in China". archive.org. Retrieved 2020-12-23.