National Science Foundation
Office of Polar Programs
OPP Bulletin No. 05-2
August 31, 2005
SUBJECT: Interim Appointment of OPP Arctic Sciences Section
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Van Woert, Executive Officer
in the NSF Office of Polar Programs (OPP), has agreed to serve as the
interim head of the OPP Arctic Sciences Section following Tom Pyle's
retirement. A national search is underway to recruit Tom's successor.
Mike will continue to serve as Executive Officer during this period, as
well.
Dr. Van Woert came to OPP last year from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) where he served as the Chief Scientist
of the National Ice Center and managed a group of scientists and
engineers focused on improving operational sea ice products. These
products provide aids to safe navigation for both commercial and U.S.
government ships in ice covered waters, and have been used by the
scientific community to support various scientific studies.
Dr. Van Woert joined NASA in 1993 to manage the Physical Oceanography
program where he was responsible for science programs associated with
the TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetry and NASA scatterometry missions. During
this time he also initiated the development of new microwave technology
for environmental remote sensing that led to the development and launch
of the Navy WINDSAT/CORIOLIS space mission. He had previously worked in
industry for 10 years.
In 1994 he moved to the Office of Naval Research where he managed the
High Latitude Dynamics (Arctic Program). There he was responsible for
managing the Navy Science Submarine (SICEX) cruise program and, in
collaboration with OPP, the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA)
experiment.
Dr. Van Woert graduated from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1984
and has published numerous papers on various topics of polar science. He
twice received the Department of Commerce Bronze medal for his work at
the National Ice Center.
Karl A. Erb
Director