Robin Bell

Dr. Robin E. Bell is the Director of the ADVANCE program at the Earth Institute. She is also a Doherty Senior Research Scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where she directs major research programs on the Hudson River and Antartica. Presently she is chair of the National Academy of the Sciences Polar Research Board and Vice Chair of the International Planning Group for the International Polar Year.

Donna Blackman

Dr. Donna Blackman is a senior lecturer at the University of California, San Diego and the current chair of RIDGE 2000. She has an extensive background in seagoing geology and geophysics which she put to use as co-chief scientist on four investigations of the Atlantis Massif over the past ten years, with the most recent being IODP Expeditions 304/305.  With a Ph.D from Brown University, Blackman has shared also her knowledge as an Ocean Leadership Distinguished Lecturer.

Brad Clement

Dr. Brad Clement, professor of geology and chairman at Florida International University, is an long-time participant in ocean drilling.  Clement has sailed on four legs of the ODP and DSDP, acted as associate director of NSF's Ocean Drilling Program, and currently serves as a member and future chair of USAC.  His research focuses on the polarity reversals of the Earth's magnetic field, as well as Caribbean tectonics and magnetic properties of ferromagnetic minerals at high pressure.

Cindy Ebinger

Dr. Cindy Ebinger is a professor at both the University of Rochester and the Royal Holloway, University of London. Her primary expertise is in the linkage between structural geology and applied geophysics, including seismicity, plate flexure, and geodetic data and has interests in the process of continental rifting leading to rupture and the formation of new oceanic lithosphere.

Marcia McNutt

Dr. Marcia McNutt is currently president and CEO of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and a professor of geophysics at the Stanford University. McNutt’s research ranges from studies of ocean island volcanism in French Polynesia to continental break-up in the Western U.S. to uplift of the Tibet Plateau. She has participated in 15 major oceanographic expeditions, and served as chief scientist on more than half of those voyages. She has published 90 peer-reviewed scientific articles. 

Catherine O'Riordan

Dr. Catherine O'Riordan was recently named the Vice President of Physics Resources at the American Institute of Phyics. She has served as Director of the U.S. Science Support Program and as a manager of various society programs at the American Geophysical Union.  O'Riordan's research interests are in physical/biological interactions in the marine environment.