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Monday, March 26, 2007 Scripps Oceanography Professor Honored for Antarctic Field Research Explorers Club of New York salutes Gerald Kooyman as part of tribute to polar explorers and the launch of the International Polar Year Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San Diego  Kooyman, a professor emeritus of biology and research physiology, is a distinguished scientist who has conducted research on marine birds and mammals for 45 years. Through extensive field research in Antarctica, he has become one of the world's foremost experts on emperor penguins and Weddell leopard seals.  Dr. Jerry Kooyman The Explorers Club awarded Kooyman its Finn Ronne Memorial Award for Polar Field Science and Exploration "for his innovative and groundbreaking research on the diving behavior and physiology of Weddell seals and emperor penguins and for scientific achievement during a lifetime of Antarctic field research," according to the award citation. The Explorers Club bestows the Finn Ronne Award, a memorial honoring the famed Norwegian-born U.S. polar explorer, to individuals "noted for accomplishments in polar field research that best typify the spirit of explorer Finn Ronne." Ronne was well known for his many years spent exploring and mapping Antarctica. Karen Ronne, Finn's daughter, presented the award to Kooyman. Also on stage was Edith "Jackie" Ronne, Finn's wife, the first woman to step on the Antarctic continent and one of two women who spent winter in Antarctica during the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition of 1947-1948. Kooyman, a member of the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine at Scripps, studies the anatomy and physiology of air-breathing vertebrates as well as the exercise physiology and diving behavior of aquatic vertebrates, marine birds and marine mammals. He was the first scientist to design and implement studies using a time-depth recorder to measure diving in free-diving seals.  Emperor Penguins In recent years, Kooyman has focused his research on diving and population studies in emperor penguins. During recent expeditions to Antarctica, Kooyman has documented climate-induced changes and their impacts on emperor penguin habitats. A member of the Explorers Club and several scientific societies, including the American Polar Society, Kooyman in 2005 was the first recipient of the Kenneth Norris Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Marine Mammalogy. About the Explorers Club: The Explorers Club was founded in 1904 by a group of the world's leading explorers of the time. It is a multidisciplinary, not for profit organization dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific research and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. With more than 3,000 members worldwide, the organization is headquartered in New York. For more information see http://explorers.org. # # # Note to broadcast and cable producers: University of California, San Diego provides an on-campus satellite uplink facility for live or pre-recorded television interviews. Please phone or e-mail the media contact listed above to arrange an interview. 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. The National Research Council has ranked Scripps first in faculty quality among oceanography programs nationwide 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 1,300, and annual expenditures of approximately $155 million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration. |
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