Ocean Visions Biennial Summit 2023_Keynote Address from Dr. Peter De Menocal and Dr. Kate Moran

Peter B. de Menocal is the eleventh president and director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. A marine geologist and paleoclimatologist, de Menocal’s research uses deep-sea ocean sediments as archives of how and why Earth’s ocean and climate have changed in the past in order to predict how they may change in the future. Prior to assuming leadership of WHOI, de Menocal was the Thomas Alva Edison/Con Edison Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. He served as Columbia’s Dean of Science for the Faculty of Arts & Sciences and founded Columbia’s Center for Climate & Life, a climate solutions research accelerator. He has received numerous awards and distinctions, including Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, AGU Emiliani lecturer, a Columbia Lenfest Distinguished Faculty award, and a Distinguished Brooksian award. He earned a doctorate in geology from Columbia University and a master’s degree in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Lawrence University.

Dr. Kathryn (Kate) Moran joined the University of Victoria in September 2011 as a Professor in the Faculty of Sciences and as Director of NEPTUNE Canada. In 2012, she was promoted to the position of President & CEO, Ocean Networks Canada. Since then, she has led and grown the organization following the vision of enhancing life on Earth by providing knowledge and leadership that deliver solutions to science, society, and industry. Her previous appointment was Professor at the University of Rhode Island with a joint appointment in the Graduate School of Oceanography and the Department of Ocean Engineering. She also served as the Graduate School of Oceanography’s Associate Dean, Research and Administration. From 2009 to 2011, Moran was seconded to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she served as an Assistant Director and focused on Arctic, polar, ocean, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and climate policy issues. Moran co-led the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program’s Arctic Coring Expedition, which was the first deepwater drilling operation in the Arctic Ocean. This expedition successfully recovered the first paleoclimate record from the Arctic Ocean. She also led one of the first offshore expeditions to investigate the seafloor following the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Previously, Moran was a scientist at Canada’s Bedford Institute of Oceanography where one of her major research focus areas was the Arctic Ocean. She also served as the Director of the international Ocean Drilling Program in Washington DC; managed mission-specific drilling platform operations in the North Atlantic and Arctic; designed and developed oceanographic tools; participated in more than 40 offshore expeditions; and has served as Chair and member of national and international science and engineering advisory committees and panels. Professor Moran is active in public outreach (through public lectures, national panel discussions, and teacher training) on topics related to the Arctic, ocean drilling, and climate change. Moran has testified on climate change to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. At the University of Rhode Island, Moran spearheaded a research initiative on offshore renewable energy.