Holly Given: Director, Ocean Observing

Tel: (202) 787-1611
Email: hgiven@oceanleadership.org

Holly Given grew up in the Chicago suburbs and knew from the age of 10 that she would become a scientist and live in California. She studied physics at the University of Illinois and received her Ph.D. in geophysics in 1986 from the California Institute of Technology. She spent the next 10 years at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, beginning as a post-doc developing seismic stations in the Soviet Union, and finishing as the Executive Director of Scripps’s IDA network, an element of the Global Seismographic Network, founded with contributions from philanthropists Cecil and Ida Green. During her time at Scripps, she expanded the IDA network into the South Pacific, Africa, and major Atlantic islands from Iceland to South Georgia.

In 1997, Holly joined the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna, Austria, where she established procedures to build and certify global stations used to monitor compliance with the Treaty. She returned to the United States in 2002 as a program manager with SAIC, a large science and technology corporation, and joined JOI in 2004. As Director, Science Development and Facilitation, Holly works with the science community to maximize the effect of JOI’s programs in advancing global understanding of the Earth. She also directs the U.S. Science Support Program associated with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.

Holly is married to fellow geophysicist Jeffrey Given, a senior scientist with SAIC. At home in McLean with their daughters ages 12 and 15, the Givens are weekend devotees to gardening, exploring vegan cuisine, and planning their next vacation. They retain a home in California.