Marine Science Award to Australian Oceanographer

Dr Stephen Rintoul is to receive an international oceanographic award for helping Australia become a leader in Southern Ocean research and enhancing our understanding of the ocean’s fundamental role in global climate. 

Science leader with the CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship climate theme, Dr Rintoul will receive the Georg Wüst Prize awarded by the German Society of Marine Research and the international Springer journal “Ocean Dynamics”.

“Fifteen years ago Australia carried out no large-scale oceanographic research in the Southern Ocean. Now, under Dr Rintoul’s direction, Australia has become a world leader in the field,” says Professor Jörg-Olaf Wolff, Society Vice-President and Chief-Editor of “Ocean Dynamics.”

In announcing Dr Rintoul as the inaugural Award recipient, Professor Wolff stated that Dr Rintoul’s research has contributed to a better understanding of the role the Southern Ocean plays in the Earth’s climate system.

"The hallmark of Dr Rintoul’s research is the innovative use of oceanographic observations to develop insights into the general circulation and dynamics of the ocean,” Professor Wolff continued.

“His work follows the tradition established by Georg Wüst a century earlier: careful analysis of observations to develop new insights into the dynamics and structure of the large-scale circulation of the ocean.”

According to Professor Wolff, Dr Rintoul is similar to Wüst, in that he is an active sea-going oceanographer, who has led major expeditions to the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Professor Wolff said Dr Rintoul is currently providing leadership in Southern Ocean research in Australia through scientific institutes including CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship with CSIRO Marine Research, the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre and internationally through multi-national research experiments and advisory panels.

Dr Rintoul acknowledged the work of colleagues and collaborators, and the renewed interest of Government in better understanding how Southern Ocean features such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current influence regional and global climate.

"The climate of Australia and the rest of the globe are influenced by the Southern Ocean. Given our location in the southern hemisphere, Australia has an opportunity and a responsibility to lead efforts to understand how the Southern Ocean influences climate today, and how climate may change in the future" he said.

Dr Rintoul will accept the award at the grand opening ceremony of the European Geophysical Union general assembly in Vienna in late April.

More information:

Evidence of Widespread Changes in the Southern Ocean

http://www.marine.csiro.au/media/05releases/17feb05.html

Southern Ocean - http://www.marine.csiro.au/LeafletsFolder/pdfsheets/62sthnocean.pdf

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The Wealth from Oceans Flagship is a CSIRO initiative and part of the National Research Flagships program that aims to deliver scientific solutions to advance Australia's most important national objectives. One of the largest scientific initiatives ever mounted in Australia, it aligns closely with the Federal Government's National Research Priorities. The initiative brings together our national research resources to deliver breakthroughs in fields ranging from healthcare to light metals and the environment.