Schofield

Oscar Schofield is a Professor of Biological Oceanography at Rutgers University interested in how plankton dynamics structure marine food webs and feed back on the ocean’s biogeochemistry.  His research focus has combined genetics and biochemistry with the development of new ocean observing technologies (satellites, radars, and autonomous underwater vehicles).  He is co-Director and co-Founder of the Coastal Ocean Observation Laboratory (COOL), which has become a technology and research group of 5 faculty and a team of over twenty technicians and students.  The COOL group has been awarded and managed over fifty million dollars in competitive awards from NOAA, Office of Naval Research, Department of Homeland Security, NASA and the National Science Foundation over the last 20 years.  Dr. Schofield’s research efforts have focused on polar and temperate waters with extensive efforts in the Southern Ocean, with ongoing research along the West Antarctic Peninsula and the Ross and Amundsen Seas. The group has also focused on integrating the research into innovative education and outreach efforts spanning K-12 to undergraduate students and the general public.

Dr. Schofield is a co-PI, along with Emmanuel Boss, on a NASA-funded project to supply SOCCOM floats with bio-optical sensors to provide additional information on biological processes in the water column.