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Scripps Oceanographer to be Honored
AGU to present James Swift with Ocean Sciences Award Scripps Institution of Oceanography/University of California, San Diego
James Swift, a research oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC
San Diego, will receive the 2011 Ocean Sciences Award from the American Geophysical
Union during the Dec. 6 Ocean Sciences Luncheon at its fall meeting.
Swift specializes in studying the circulation of the deep oceans and has played a
guiding role in some of the largest-scale ocean data collection series in history. Those include
the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) in the 1990s and the Climate Variability
and Predictability (CLIVAR) project, an international effort established in 1995 to
understand climate variability through models and the collection of high-quality
oceanographic data. Currently Swift directs the CLIVAR and Carbon Hydrographic Data
Office (CCHDO) based at Scripps. The office continues to collect fundamental
oceanographic data during research cruises in all the world’s ocean basins to further
understanding of climate, ocean processes and air-sea interaction.
The award honors scientists who demonstrate “selfless service to the ocean sciences
community around the world, a service remarkable for its quality, breadth, duration, and
influence,” according to the citation.
“I am amazed, honored, and humbled all at
once,” said Swift.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, on June 19, 1948,
Swift graduated from Case Western Reserve
University in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in
physics. He received a master’s degree in physical
oceanography in 1975 and a doctorate in physical
oceanography in 1980, both from the University of
Washington, Seattle. Following graduation, he
became a postdoctoral research oceanographer with
Professor Joseph Reid, Jr., in the Marine Life
Research Group at Scripps.
In 1981, Swift was appointed to the faculty
research series. In 1985, he left Scripps to become a
research associate professor with the School of
Oceanography at the University of Washington. The
James Swift gets in bassoon practice at the following year he returned to Scripps as associate
North Pole, 2005. SCRIPPS COMMUNICATIONS
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research oceanographer and director of the Oceanographic Data Facility. He became director
of the WOCE Hydrographic Program Office in 1996.
Swift has participated in 32 expeditions at sea, mostly in the polar regions (including
two trans-Arctic crossings), and has most recently been involved in measurement programs
related to ocean carbon and climate change and climate effects on Arctic ecology.
In addition to his scientific pursuits, Swift has been a second bassoonist with the La
Jolla Symphony and Chorus since 1994.
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About Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego, is one of the oldest,
largest and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. Now in its
second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological,
physical, chemical, geological, geophysical and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system.
Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today in 65
countries. The institution has a staff of about 1,400, and annual expenditures of approximately $170
million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates robotic networks, and one of the
largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for
worldwide exploration. Learn more at scripps.ucsd.edu.
About UC San Diego Fifty years ago, the founders of the University of California, San Diego, had one criterion for the campus: It must be distinctive. Since then, UC San Diego has achieved the extraordinary in education, research and innovation. Sixteen Nobel laureates have taught on campus; stellar faculty members have been awarded Fields Medals, Pulitzer Prizes, McArthur Fellowships and many other honors. UC San Diego—recognized as one of the top ten public universities by U.S. News & World Report and named by the Washington Monthly as number one in the nation in rankings measuring “what colleges are doing for the country”—is widely acknowledged for its local impact, national influence and global reach. UC San Diego is celebrating 50 years of visionaries, innovators and overachievers. www.50th.ucsd.edu