Kate Moran

Kathryn (Kate) Moran is an ocean engineer and Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Victoria. She is President and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada.[1]

Kathryn (Kate) Moran
Alma mater
Known forPaleoclimatology

Oceanography

Ocean Engineering
Scientific career
InstitutionsOcean Networks Canada

Education

Kate Moran grew up in Pennsylvania, where she first became interested in the ocean.[2] Moran completed a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She spent some time working at Procter and Gamble before joining a new program in Ocean Engineering at the University of Rhode Island.[2] After receiving a job offer from the Atlantic Geoscience Centre, she moved to Nova Scotia.[3] She received her PhD in 1995 from Dalhousie University, under the supervision of Hans Uaziri and Geoff Meyerhoff.[3]

Research

Moran researches marine geotechnics and paleoclimatology and has led several oceanographic expeditions. In 2004 she was part of a team to extract 400 metres of sediment core from the Arctic sea floor, using it to understand the changing climate in the Arctic.[4][5] The expedition was organised by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, who even threw a party for the scientists on the ice.[4] Her team identified the earthquake that was the cause of the 2004 Indian Tsunami.[6] She was described by Todd McLeish as knowing "more about the history of Arctic climate change than anyone".[7]

In 2008, Moran delivered testimony to the US Senate committee on Environmental and Public Works outlining the scientific evidence for climate change, and future predictions which resulted from the research.[8] Between 2009 - 2011 Moran was seconded to President Obama's White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.[9] Obama instructed the federal government to develop an ocean policy, which was released in 2012.[10][11] Moran was involved with the government's response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.[2] Moran was selected to be on Secretary Steven Chu's team in that response.[3] Moran describes the efforts as "an incredible response, actually, by BP and the government".[2] She is a supporter of renewable energy, "when I first started to be seriously concerned about the fact we need to stop [creating] CO2, I got involved in the first offshore wind farm in the U.S".[2][12][13]

In 2012, Moran took over as President and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada, where she overseas Canada's advanced cabled ocean observatories, NEPTUNE, in the Northeast Pacific Ocean and VENUS.[1][14] The cabled observatories are open-access: their data are provided free-of-charge to anyone in the world.[11] She is a Board member of the Clear Seas Centre for Responsible Marine Shipping.[15]

In 2012, Moran delivered a TEDx talk in Vancouver, entitled "Connecting our Planet's Oceans... To the Internet".[16] Her observation systems provide 24 hour monitoring of ocean processes.[17] In 2015 she secured $5 million funding from the British Columbia government for early earthquake detection.[18] In 2017, Moran won a $2.4 million grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to build a new observatory to provide information on seismic and tsunami risks in British Columbia.[19] She is an "Expert on Priority Research Questions for Canadian Open Science".[20]

References
  1. "Leadership". oceannetworks.ca. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  2. David Lennam (2017-12-04). "Ocean Networks Canada's CEO Dr. Kate Moran Talks Climate Change, Acidification and Changing Coastlines". Douglas Magazine. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  3. "Kate Moran (PhD '95)". Dalhousie University. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  4. "Abstractions". Nature. 441 (7093): xi. 2006-05-31. doi:10.1038/7093xib.
  5. Moran, Kathryn; Backman, Jan; Brinkhuis, Henk; Clemens, Steven C.; Cronin, Thomas; Dickens, Gerald R.; Eynaud, Frédérique; Gattacceca, Jérôme; Jakobsson, Martin (2006-06-01). "The Cenozoic palaeoenvironment of the Arctic Ocean". Nature. 441 (7093): 601–605. Bibcode:2006Natur.441..601M. doi:10.1038/nature04800. hdl:2027.42/62499. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 16738653.
  6. Emily Chung (December 27, 2014). "Deadliest tsunami in recorded history now helping save lives". CBC. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  7. Todd., McLeish (2013-06-18). Narwhals : arctic whales in a melting world (First paperback ed.). Seattle. ISBN 978-0295804699. OCLC 921916158. OL 27145128M.
  8. "TESTIMONY : Kate Moran to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Field Briefing on The Implications of Global Warming for Narragansett Bay". whitehouse.senate.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  9. "ONC Staff Profile : Kate Moran". oceannetworks.ca. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  10. "National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan". The White House. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  11. Kate Moran (2014-09-26). "An Interview With Dr. Kate Moran - Planet Experts". Planet Experts. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  12. "Globe 2016 Perspectives: Is Offshore Wind the Answer?". Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  13. Peter B. Lord (July 30, 2010). "URI Helps Set Standards for Off-Shore Wind Farms". web.uri.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  14. Offshore WIND staff (January 16, 2012). "Oceanology International Presents Ocean Observation, Forecasting, Hydrography and Geophysics (UK)". Offshore Wind. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  15. "Clear Seas: Dr. Kate Moran, Board Chair, President & CEO of Ocean Networks Canada". Vimeo. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  16. TEDx Talks (2012-02-28), TEDxVancouver - Dr. Kate Moran - Connecting our Planet's Oceans... To the Internet, retrieved 2018-01-22
  17. "New Developments Underway at Ocean Networks Canada". Subsea World News. October 4, 2012. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  18. Megan Thomas (Jul 21, 2016). "First earthquake early warning sensor installed deep underwater off Vancouver Island". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  19. "UVic bags Innovation grant for two research projects". Tidal Energy Today. Archived from the original on 2018-01-23. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  20. "Kate Moran". Council of Canadian Academies. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
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