Oceanography | June 2018
Oceanography | June 2018
FROM THE PRESIDENT
We celebrated The Oceanography Society’s thirtieth anniversary
at the February Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland, Oregon.
Among the week’s highlights (aside from the t-shirt giveaway)
was a gathering of past presidents (see photo) at the TOS break-
fast and a moving talk by Jim Baker about the Society’s founding
(available at https://youtu.be/rUzgpv9qilo).
As Jim noted in his remarks, the Society has matured over the
past three decades. Along with publishing Oceanography, TOS
gives awards, hosts meetings, connects people—all of the typical
things that societies do for their members. We need to acknowl-
edge that many founding members, ocean scientists who under-
stood 30 years ago that our field needed a society of its own,
are moving into retirement. This reality underscores the impor-
tance of the TOS initiative to grow our membership by attract-
ing young people—a diverse group of students and early career
scientists from academia, government agencies, and private
businesses around the world. Our forward trajectory is upward,
with youthful energy.
Along with our move to attract new members, we also need to
find creative ways to keep our senior-most members engaged in
TOS. These long-time members are an enormous storehouse of
wisdom and practical knowledge about how to build the field—
we depend upon many programs and research structures that
they created. Let’s find ways to transfer their wisdom to the new
generation of leaders who will take the wheel and steer the TOS
ship toward new waters.
How can we do this? The TOS Council is looking for ideas.
Would our senior members consider serving on an advisory
group that would mentor our younger members into leadership
positions? Or perhaps they could simply have a conversation
with our student members over coffee at meetings? Can they
help with our strategy of strengthening the ties between aca-
demic, government, and industry sectors—all important parts
of ocean sciences? Can they help to build international connec-
tions? Knowing how we got where we are today will benefit our
young generation of ocean scientists—who best to impart that
wisdom but our founding (and other long-term) members.
Senior TOS members, if any of these ideas resonate with you,
or you have others to share, please contact me and let’s talk.
Younger members—when you see our senior members at
meetings, introduce yourself, ask them questions. Soak up that
wisdom—and lead on.
Alan C. Mix, TOS President
of TOS and the Wisdom of Our Founders
The Oceanography Society presidents gathered at the TOS Breakfast, held February 13, 2018, included, from left, Ken Brink, Jim Baker, Margaret Leinen,
Jim Yoder, Martin Visbeck (president-elect), Alan Mix (president), Arnold Gordon, Mike Roman, Rick Spinrad.