Al
Hermann
NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

I grew up skiing in western Massachusetts, the son of an electrical engineer, and always enjoyed tinkering with circuits. I began my undergraduate life at Cornell University as a biologist, eventually focusing on ecosystem modeling. This was followed by a masters program in systems ecology at the University of Florida, then two years at Horn Point Environmental Lab, modeling the seagrasses of Chesapeake Bay.

During the 80s I studied physical oceanography with Drs. Barbara Hickey and Peter Rhines at the University of Washington, with a postdoc at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. I was ultimately hired by Two Crow and Jim Overland into the ECO-FOCI program.

My formal designation these days is Affiliate Associate Professor of Oceanography at the University of Washington, working at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory through JISAO. I collaborate with other physical oceanographers and biologists on models of circulation, plankton and fish dynamics in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, as part of BEST-BSIERP, GLOBEC,FATE, and other programs. I'm a big fan of immersive 3D visualization using virtual reality hardware – so happily I still get to play with wires, as well as the “circuitry” of physical and biological models!