A.G. Huntsman Award for Excellence in Marine SciencePast Recipient, Dr. Christopher J.R. Garrett(1982) |
||||||
| Home | ||||||
| • About the Bedford Institute of Oceanography • The A. G. Huntsman Foundation • Brief Biography of A. G. Huntsman |
|
| Last Modified: 2009-09-18
|
|
||
Dr. Christopher J.R.
Garrett, the fifth recipient of the A.G.
HUNTSMAN Award, is an expert in the
subject of ocean mixing. Dr. Garrett, who
teaches physical oceanography at
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova
Scotia, studies the complicated physical
behaviour of the ocean, how it moves and
mixes horizontally and vertically in
scales ranging from one millimeter to
10,000 kilometres, in such diverse places
as continental shelves and mid-ocean
deeps. He brings to the task the tools of
the mathematician, the physicist, and the
chemist, and he believes that earlier,
simplistic views of the ocean have given
way to a "hopeful confusion"
that will move scientists closer to a
realistic appreciation of the seas. Ocean
mixing studies are closely linked to the
forecast of short- and medium-range
weather trends, the capacity of the ocean
to accept waste, including low-level
radioactive waste, the security of
offshore gas and oil rigs, production
platforms, and underwater pipelines, the
feasibility of tidal power, and the
management of fish stocks. Dr. Garrett, a
native of Bude, England, is a graduate of
University of Cambridge (B.A.
mathematics, 1965; Ph.D., geophysical
fluid dynamics, 1968). Before joining
Dalhousie University in 1971, he served
various research capacities at Trinity
College, Cambridge, the University of
British Columbia Institute of
Oceanography, and the Institute of
Geophysics and Planetary Physics, La
Jolla, California. He was elected to the
Royal Society of Canada in 1977. Although
at the forefront of his research field,
he is also an &ldquoexcellent
supervisor of students.