PAOC Spotlights

Fall 2011 sees the arrival of 24 new students: 6 joining the Atmospheric Sciences Program, 3 joining Climate Physics and Chemistry and 13 joining the MIT-WHOI Joint Program, with 9 studying Chemical and 4 studying Physical Oceanography. Two additional students, advised by PAOC faculty but persuing areas outside PAOC's core educational programs, complete the new class. It looks like we have a lot of closet cooks and guitar players, maybe even some new sport's talent? Read on to find out: Who only eats fish? Who used to be a journalist? Who is a roller-blading, Harry Potter, Brazil-o-phile? And more.

The Students:

Atmospheric Science

	John (Vince) Agard returns to MIT having completed his undergrad in Course 12 earlier this year. Originally from Gaithersburg, MD, Vince majored in EAPS (with a focus on Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate) and Physics. His Senior Project work was featured in a spotlight earlier this summer. John is a member of MIT's Weather Forecasting team. His advisor will be Kerry Emanuel. [more]
	Jimmy Gasore is from Kigali, Rwanda. For his undergraduate degree he majored in Physics at the National University of Rwanda. Jimmy's advisor will be Ron Prinn.[more]
	Andy Miller grew up in Saarbruecken, Germany. He got his Diploma (the German equivalent of a Masters degree) in meteorology from Hamburg this spring. He is particularly interested in large scale atmospheric dynamics and stratospheric circulation patterns.  He enjoys sports (both watching and participating), cooking and travelling. Andy's advisor will be Alan Plumb.[more]
	Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Dan Rothenberg graduated from Cornell with a B.S. in Atmospheric Science. He is interested in models of the atmosphere and in building models that simulate phenomena such as clouds better. He is also a classically trained musician. Dan's advisor will be Chien Wang.[more]
	Stacy (Anastasia) Maheras comes from Columbus, Ohio and did her undergrad at MIT in Course 12, graduating this year. Also featured in an earlier spotlight, she is particularly interested in science policy and has been on MIT's Weather Forecasting team. In her spare time she loves to watch movies and cook. Stacy's advisor will be Kerry Emanuel.[more]
	Shaojie Song comes from Hebei, China and gained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree both in Environmental Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University. He is particularly interested in atmospheric Mercury modeling with a GEOS-Chem mode. Shaojie's academic advisor will be Noelle Selin. [more]

Climate Physics & Chemistry 

	Keisuke Inomura comes from Warabi city, Japan. With a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Kyushu university his scientific goals include developing new and improved ocean carbon cycle models incorporating biogeochemical processes towards improved climate change forecasting. Among his hobbies Keisuke lists biking, yoga, and reading. His advisor will be Mick Follows.[more]
	Originally from Detroit, Michegin, Emily Zakem is a second Mick Follows' advisee. With a Masters in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado, scientific interests include the relationships between climate and global biogeochemical cycling. She likes reading, pancakes, and beer.[more]

Other Climate Physics and Chemistry students: Sarvesh Garimella (advisor Dan Cziczo)

Chemical Oceanography (MIT-WHOI Joint Program)

	James "Jamie" Collins is originally from Columbia County, New York. With a Masters from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, his scientific interests to date have centered around the fate and characterization of nutrients and organic matter in coastal ecosystems.  James plans to spend his first year at MIT, then move down to WHOI to work with Ben Van Mooy.[more]
	Evan Howard is from Seattle, Washington. He comes to PAOC from the University of Washington, where he obtained a B.S. in Oceanography and B.A.  in Chemistry. He is interested in the oceanic carbon and nitrogen cycles. Most notably, Evan has house rabbits. Evan (and his furry companions) will be primarily based at WHOI. Evan's advisor is Rachel Stanley, WHOI.[more]
	Cara Manning will also be advised by Rachel Stanley. Originally from Victoria, B.C., Canada, she has a B.Sc. majoring in chemistry, ocean and earth sciences from the University of Victoria. Her current scientific interests are gas and isotope biogeochemistry, and mass spectrometry method development. Cara will be based at WHOI.[more]
	Sarah Rosengard grew up in Queens, New York City and studied environmental science at Brown University, RI. She is particularly interested in the role of ocean chemistry in climate change. Among her hobbies Sarah likes experimental cookery, occasional roller-blading, Harry Potter, and all things Brazilian. She plans to be based in Cambridge this year. Her advisor is Phoebe Lam, WHOI.[more]
	David Wang is from Walnut, CA, and is interested in "exploring the links between biochemistry and the Earth sciences". He graduated from CSULA with a B.S. in biochemistry earlier this summer and plans to be based at MIT, at least for the first year or two. His advisors will be Mak Saito (WHOI), and Tanja Bosak & Shuhei Ono (EAPS).[more]
	Simone Moos grew up near Frankfurt, Germany. This summer Simone obtained her B.Sc. from Jacobs University Bremen in the field of Earth and Space Sciences. Being interested in the biogeochemical cycling of trace elements and their isotopes, she will work in Ed Boyle’s trace metal lab at MIT. Simone loves traveling, kayaking, tennis and listening to music.[more]

Other Chemical Oceanography Students: Sophie Chu (advisor: Chien Wang), Nicolas Hawco (advisor: Mak Saito, WHOI), Winifred Johnson (advisor: Elizabeth Kujawinski, WHOI)

Physical Oceanography (MIT-WHOI Joint Program)

Nb. In the Physical Oceanography Program advisors are assigned once students arrive at MIT.

	Alec Bogdanoff  was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, FL. and has Bachelor and Masters degrees in Meteorology from Florida State University. His particular scientific interests include small-scale ocean and atmospheric processes including upper ocean dynamics and air-sea interaction. Alec's advisors will be Drs. Lou St. Laurent and Carol Anne Clayson. He plans to be based at WHOI. [more]
	Jörn Callies was born in Hamburg, but spent most of his childhood/adolescence in Dannenberg, a small town in northern Germany. He did his 'Diplom' degree at Hamburg University during which he also spent two semesters as an exchange student at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.  Jörn expects to be based at MIT. His advisor is Raffaele Ferrari.[more]
	Isabela Le Bras is "Mexican and French but mainly from California and Vienna, Austria". A former physics major at U.C. Berkeley she is interested in ocean circulation. Isabella loves playing guitar, soccer and the ocean. She plans to be based at WHOI.[more]
	Anna Wargula comes from North East, Pennsylvania. Having completed a B.S. in mechanical engineering this May 2011, at Grove City College, PA, she is interested in mathematics and fluid mechanics. In her spare time she likes to bake. Anna plans to be based at WHOI.[more]

Students of PAOC Faculty in other Education Programs

Ross Hamilton Williams (Geology & Geochemistry, advisor Roger Summons)
Julien Georges Ann de Wit (Planetary Science, advisor Sara Seager)

If you are a new student and your picture and bio are absent above but you would like to have them added feel free to email material to webeditor@paoc.mit.edu. Otherwise we wish you a warm welcome to PAOC and an exciting and successful grad school experience.