Department of Physics & Physical Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada, A1B 3X7 Work phone: +1 709 864 8735 | Blog: vitalsgliders.blogspot.com | Email:
[email protected] Employment history Postdoctoral Fellow Memorial University of Newfoundland, NL, Canada -
Personal info 2014-present
Led extended deployments (weeks to months) of underwater gliders in Newfoundland and the Labrador Sea
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Obtained the first ever measurements of seawater carbon dioxide with a glider using a prototype CO2 sensor
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Developed a novel method of flying gliders, specifically for obtaining CO2 profiles
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Participated in iceberg surveying, filmed by a TV crew
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Blogging about fieldwork activities using photos, Google Earth maps and video
Climate change and energy policy researcher Department of Local Government and the Environment, Isle of Man Summer 2007, 2008 and 2009 -
Disseminated report on projected impacts of climate change for the Isle of Man to non-expert officers
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Identified and analyzed potential carbon reduction schemes
Research interests
Physical and Chemical Oceanography
Marine carbon cycle and ocean acidification
Sea surface temperature & salinity
Full name: John Brian Robin Matthews Languages: English (fluent) Online profiles
Skills Underwater gliders Maintenance, deployment and piloting of Slocum autonomous gliders Programming languages Matlab, Fortran, R, Python, LaTeX, Unix/Linux, HTML/CSS, JavaScript Software Ocean Data View, Adobe Illustrator, Google Earth, Navionics Boating, Xara Web Designer, Word, PowerPoint, Excel Logistics - Coordinating purchase, upgrade, shipping and receipt of equipment - Preparing packages for shipment Fieldwork - Nine weeks sea time across vessels from small fishing boats to research ships - Experience working in remote locations in the north Atlantic and tropical Pacific
Education PhD (Physical and Chemical Oceanography) - 4.25 years
2009-2014
Supervisor: Prof Andrew Weaver University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada -
Constructed gridded seasonal climatologies for sea surface pH and aragonite saturation state to provide a baseline for global monitoring of ocean acidification
BSc (Geophysical Sciences) with a Year in N. America* - 4 years University of East Anglia, Norwich, England *University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada SEA Semester: Ocean Exploration - 12 weeks Sea Education Association, Falmouth, MA, USA -
2005-2009 2007-2008 March-June 2008
Sailed from Tahiti to Hawaii in the tropical Pacific on a five-week research cruise aboard a tall ship Compared modern and historical methods of sea surface temperature measurement
Publications Published journal articles J.B.R. Matthews (2013): Comparing historical and modern methods of sea surface temperature measurement – Part 1: Review of methods, field comparisons and dataset adjustments, Ocean Science: doi:10.5194/os-9683-2013. [Link] J.B.R. Matthews and J.B. Matthews (2013): Comparing historical and modern methods of sea surface temperature measurement – Part 2: Field comparison in the central tropical Pacific, Ocean Science, doi:10.5194/os-9-695-2013. [Link] Data reports – in preparation J.B.R. Matthews, M. Downey, J. Foley, T. Howatt, and B. deYoung (2016): Data Report: Physical and biogeochemical sampling with underwater gliders in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland (Fall 2014 and 2015). J.B.R. Matthews, M. Downey, and B. deYoung (2016): Data Report: Physical and biogeochemical sampling with an underwater glider in the Labrador Sea (Winter 2015). PhD Thesis J.B.R. Matthews (2014): Seasonal variability of sea surface carbonate chemistry and temperature, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada. [Link]
Projects Ventilation, Interactions and Transports Across the Labrador Sea (VITALS) 2014-present - Studying seasonal dynamics of heat, carbon and oxygen in the Labrador Sea - Collaboration between 11 Canadian universities and DFO - Involves integrated ocean observing using moorings, gliders and floats. Presentations Talk: Measuring seawater pCO2 with a Slocum glider Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, The Netherlands Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany
April 2016 April 2016
Poster: Measuring seawater pCO2 with a Slocum glider EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria
April 2016
Talk: Gliders in the Central Labrador Sea: Challenges and Opportunities Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Memorial University VITALS Science meeting, Halifax, Canada
Nov 2015 Oct 2015
Talk: Iceberg Science Autonomous Ocean Systems Lab, Memorial University
June 2015
Talk: Comparison of seasonal variability and long-term trends across subtropical and subpolar carbonate chemistry time-series AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii
Feb 2014
Talk: Sea surface pH: Just how variable is it? School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria
Oct 2012
Talk: Comparing historical and modern methods of Sea Surface Temperature measurement Graduate Climate Conference, Pack Forest, WA, USA
Oct 2012
Talk: Slapdash sailors and the case of the chucked bucket: Comparing historical methods of Sea Surface Temperature measurement School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria
Feb 2012
Poster: Observational datasets for ocean acidification modelling SOLAS/IMBER/IOCCP Carbon Synthesis Meeting, UNESCO HQ, Paris, France
Sep 2011
Talk: Observationally-based datasets for ocean acidification modelling CMOS Congress, Victoria, Canada
June 2011
Workshop: Hands-on learning: Climate CMOS Congress, Victoria, Canada - Organised a training session for educators on hands-on climate change demos
June 2011 -
Talk: Observationally-based datasets for ocean acidification modelling School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria
April 2011
Poster: Observational datasets for ocean acidification modelling EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria
April 2011
Fieldwork Glider deployment: Dead Islands, Labrador - 3 days Small fishing vessel (Little Bubbles)
Nov 2015
Glider deployment: Trinity Bay, Newfoundland - day-trips Medium-size fishing vessels (Belle of the Bay, Gracie’s Adventure) - Testing of a prototype CO2 sensor - Testing of a prototype thruster
Fall 2015 & Fall 2014 -
Iceberg surveying: Conception Bay, Newfoundland - day-trips Vessels of the Marine Institute of MUN - Navigation of a glider around an iceberg while measuring underwater shape - Measurement of iceberg width and height with a sextant
June 2015 & May 2014 -
Glider recovery: Outer Labrador shelf - 3 days Medium-size fishing vessel (Estrela Dumar)
August 2014
Cruise: HUD2014-017 - Gulf of St. Lawrence & Labrador Sea - 3 weeks Canadian Coast Guard Ship Hudson - Deployment of three Slocum gliders - Sample collection and analysis (by Winkler titration) for dissolved oxygen
June-July 2014
Cruise: S217 - Tahiti to Hawaii via the Marquesas Islands - 5 weeks SSV Robert C. Seamans (Tall Ship), Sea Education Association, Woods Hole, MA, USA - Deployment of CTD/rosette and biological sampling nets; zooplankton counting - Collection of bucket temperatures and weather observations - Command of deck and science operations on two watches each - Sail handling; Celestial & Polynesian navigation
May-June 2008 -
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Professional development Course: Using the MicroRider on gliders (Rockland Scientific, BC) April 2015 Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada - Theoretical and practical training with the MicroRider microstructure instrument Course: Slocum glider training (Teledyne Webb Research, MA) Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St. George’s, Bermuda - Official glider training course run by the manufacturer of Slocum gliders
May 2014
Course: Working with the media on environmental issues Talk Action, London, England
May 2009
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Certifications Marine: Marine Safety Training (MED A1) Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University, Holyrood & Foxtrap, NL
April 2014
Scuba: PADI Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver University of British Columbia Aqua Society, Vancouver, BC
April 2014
Experience with oceanographic methods and sensors Bottle sampling - Dissolved Inorganic Carbon/Total Alkalinity, Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter, nutrients (trained by DFO - NWAFC, St. John’s) - pH (trained by DFO - IOS, Sidney) - Dissolved Oxygen (trained by DFO - BIO, Dartmouth) Analyses - pH by Spectrophotometry (trained by DFO - IOS, Sidney) - DO by Winkler Titration (trained by DFO - BIO, Dartmouth) Sensors - Aanderaa CO2 and oxygen optodes (trained by Dalhousie University) - Sea-Bird CTDs - WET Labs FLBBCD Experience with data products, modelling and statistics Data products: External - World Ocean Database & Atlas (WOD, WOA) - Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) - GLobal Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP) - International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) - Gridded output from global and regional ocean models (CMIP5, UVic ESCM, NEMO) - Time-series from open ocean monitoring programs (e.g. Station P) Modelling: Global climate models - Creation of input files for the UVic Earth System Climate Model (surface winds; aerosols; greenhouse gas, solar and volcanic forcings) Statistics - Univariate and multivariate linear regression - Time-series analysis, spline fitting - Monte Carlo error propagation analysis Experience with data processing -
Automated processing of glider data as it comes in by satellite (Iridium) Adjustment of glider data to account for time-lags and independent calibration data Partitioning glider data based on flight behavior (upcast, downcast, hover) and assignment of geographic location
Oceanographic institutions visited -
Canada: Bedford Institute, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre UK: National Oceanography Center – Southampton, British Antarctic Survey US: Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Germany: GEOMAR, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht The Netherlands: Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research -Texel Bermuda: Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences
Teaching Glider instruction & assistance - Training personnel in glider ballasting, maintenance and piloting (Tara Howatt at UBC; Mark Downey at MUN) - Providing assistance with piloting (troubleshooting, glider terminal setup) Teaching Assistant: EOS110: Oceans and Atmosphere School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria
Spring 2012 Spring 2010
TV appearances BBC: Press Packer Report for CBBC Newsround (BBC One, UK) - Presented short report on basking sharks in Isle of Man waters - Involved underwater filming and snorkelling
2001 -
Outreach
Hands-on activity sessions (K-12 and adults) Weather and climate change demos (Grades 4-5) 2009-2014 Climate Modelling Lab, University of Victoria - Organised hands-on activities for lab visits by local elementary school children - Oversaw purchase of new demo equipment, including the tank used in this video The other CO2 problem: ocean acidification (Adults) Ocean Science Symposium, University of Victoria
April 2013
Weather and climate change (Adults) 50th Anniversary Festival, University of Victoria
Sep 2012
Clouds and rain (Kindergarten) Arbutus Grove Children's Centre, Victoria
June 2012
Climate change: Local challenges from a global problem (Grade 10) École Victor-Brodeur (French immersion school), Victoria
April 2012
The other CO2 problem: ocean acidification (Adults) Ocean Science Symposium, University of Victoria
March 2012
Sea level rise and ocean acidification (Adults) Gowlland Tod Provincial Park, BC
Sep 2011
