Recognition of Professional Achievement

Four awards for exceptional contributions to oceanology were made on Wednesday morning of Oi08 in London (UK). These included: Lifetime Achievement Award, Business Person of the Year Award, Bob Barton Memorial Award and Alan Greg Memorial Award.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was made to Dr D. James Baker for his contribution to oceanography and marine science. Dr Baker was the longest-servein administrator in NOAA. Currently he is a science and management consultant working on global ocean issues for several non-profit making organisations, and is also interested in achieving reduction of CO2 emissions and alleviating poverty.

Ms. Versha Carter of Ocean Business was awarded Business Person of the Year by the Association of Marine Scientific Industries for the development of the Ocean Business event. Ms Carter commented later that the award should be for Business of the Year, nog just Business Person, as Ocean Business is very much a team. Ms Carter finds her work immensely rewarding.

The Bob Barton Memorial Award for Promising Young Journalist in Marine Science and Technology, decided by the Technical Committee of Oi, was made to Ewen Calloway. Currently an intern with Nature, Mr. Calloway could unfortunately not be present to accept his award. However, Dr Rayner read how Mr. Calloway came to write the award-winning article.

Dr Chris Graham was awarded the Alan Greig Memorial Prize for an Outstanding Contribution to Commercial Operational Oceanography. Through an career spanning more than 35 years, Dr Graham has worked for both Marex Ltd. and Shell. While working for Shell, Dr Graham's research added greatly to our understanding of how offshore operations are affected by the ocean environment, contributing to offshore safety. He hopes his award can be an inspiration to his students. Regarding Oi, Dr Graham describes the event as the perfect opportunity for providers of technology to network with actual users.