Steering Group and the NASA Earth System Science Advisory Committee. She is an editor of the Journal of Physical Oceanography. She has served on several National Research Council committees and panels including the Climate Research Committee and the Global-Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Panel.

John M. Wallace is a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington. His research has improved our understanding of global climate and its year-to-year and decade-to-decade variations, through the use of observational data. He has been instrumental in identifying and understanding a number of atmospheric phenomena, such as the spatial patterns in month-to-month and year-to-year climate variability, including the one through which the El Niño phenomenon in the tropical Pacific influences climate over North America. Dr. Wallace is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has chaired several National Research Council panels including the Panel on Reconciling Temperature Observations, the Panel on Dynamic Extended Range Forecasting, and the Advisory Panel for the Tropical Ocean/Global Atmosphere (TOGA).

Alexandra Isern was a Program Officer with the Ocean Studies Board when this study began and served as Study Director for the activity. She received her Ph.D. in Marine Geology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 1993. Dr. Isern was a lecturer in Oceanography and Geology at the University of Sydney, Australia from 1994-1999. Her research focuses on the influences of paleoclimate and sea level variability on ancient reefs. Dr. Isern was co-chief scientist for Ocean Drilling Program Leg 194 that investigated the magnitudes of ancient sea level change. In July of 2001, Dr. Isern became a Program Director with the National Science Foundation.

John Dandelski is a Research Associate with the Ocean Studies Board and received his M.A. in Marine Affairs and Policy from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami. His research focused on commercial fisheries’ impacts to the benthic communities of Biscayne Bay. As a graduate research intern at the Congressional Research Service he worked on fisheries and ocean health issues. Mr. Dandelski served as the RSMAS Assistant Diving Safety Officer and was involved in fisheries, coral, underwater archaeology, and ocean exploration projects.

Chris Elfring is Director of the NRC’s Polar Research Board, where she