Scripps Oceanography
2023 Annual Impact Report
From the Director
Thank you to all of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography supporters, staff, students, postdoctoral scholars, researchers, faculty, and alumni who helped make 2023 an incredibly impactful year. Those impacts occurred at many levels. Scripps scientists’ research provided essential information for those managing risks associated with climate change, ocean and coastal hazards, as well as geological risks. This includes delivering information to policymakers working on legislation for our region, the State of California and the nation. We also contributed perspectives that influenced international agreements like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and activities like the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
As usual, our scientific discoveries had a major impact on our fields and understanding of our planet. Researcher emeritus Peter Bromirski made waves with his findings that the average heights of winter waves along the California coast have increased as climate change has heated up the planet. Polar scientists Tyler Pelle and Jamin Greenbaum found that meltwater flowing out to sea from beneath Antarctic glaciers is making them lose ice faster, a process not currently accounted for in sea-level rise projections.
Our research also helped improve lives and livelihoods. January 2023 on the West Coast started with a deluge of atmospheric rivers that had Scripps scientists working at full steam to deliver forecasts to the public and reservoir operators. The “AR Recon” program (more detail below) is a fantastic example of applying cutting-edge science to save lives, increase water resiliency in a changing climate, and reduce risk of storm hazards.
We also celebrated the inaugural cohort completing the SCUBA DIVERsity Fellowship Program. This program shows the impact our students and alumni can have — the fellowship was the brainchild of former PhD students Alyssa Griffin and Erica Ferrer, made a reality through perseverance and philanthropic support.
And we closed out the year at COP28 in Dubai, where Scripps helped put the ocean on the global stage at the Ocean Pavilion. Our amazing students, faculty and staff met with world leaders to increase attention on the necessity for expanded ocean observations, the potential for blue carbon solutions, and to illuminate the impact of climate change on our ocean.
From within our state to around the globe, I’m immensely proud of how our community continues to make an impact on understanding and protecting our planet.
Margaret Leinen
Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, UC San Diego
Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
DIRECTOR'S COUNCIL MEMBERS
Prakash Arunkundrum
Maxine Baker
Mary Ann Beyster
Paul Brooks
Julia Brown
Bernard David
Tim Gallaudet
Cynthia Glancy
Stuart Goode
Richard Gulley
Richard Hertzberg
James Jameson
Wayne Kennedy
Donna Lucas
Dennis McGinn
Michael Meredith
Chrysa Mineo
Elizabeth Oliver
Tom Page
John Patton
David Price
William Revelle
John Richardson
William Scripps Jr.
Michael Silah
Dixon Smith
Mike Stone
Steve Strachan
Joseph Tell
Craig Venter
Caroline Winn
Dawn Wright
Estuary Experiment Makes Waves… Pink Ones
Months before Barbiemania captivated global moviegoing audiences, an experiment led by coastal physical oceanographers at Scripps made waves worldwide for dyeing the ocean Barbie-hued pink. The experiment, led by Sarah Giddings and titled Plumes in Nearshore Conditions, or PiNC, took place in January and February 2023 with the goal of learning more about how small freshwater outflows from estuaries interact with the ocean’s surfzone.
To do this, scientists released an environmentally safe pink dye in the mouth of the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon, located within Torrey Pines State Beach and Natural Reserve in San Diego, Calif. The team then tracked the fluorescent pink dye from land, sea, and sky using a variety of instruments including drones, sensors affixed to poles in the sand in the river mouth and surfzone, jet skis, moorings and sensors deployed along the seafloor and more.
The experiment is providing the first-ever view of the buoyant plume/wave mixing dynamics at play in this particular location and will lead to an improved understanding of how other small estuaries interact with the waves at locations around the globe. This provides crucial data for quantifying the spread of sediment, pollutants, larvae, and other material in the nearshore environment.
Learn more about this National Science Foundation-supported experiment.
Ship Tracks
During the calendar year 2023, Scripps oceanographic research vessels carried 1,239 people to sea on 64 separate research missions, spending 669 operational days at sea conducting scientific research and instruction. Of the people who sailed aboard, 516 were from Scripps, and the remaining came from 119 different institutions.
GIVING IMPACT
Scripps Brings Ocean Science to COP28
The University of California is an observer organization accredited by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which for many years has enabled Scripps Oceanography to attend and participate in the world’s most influential climate change conference, known as Conference of Parties, or COP.
In 2023, UC San Diego sent a delegation of nearly 30 students, staff and faculty to COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For the second year, Scripps Oceanography co-organized the Ocean Pavilion, a space which brings together world leaders in ocean science, engineering, policy and philanthropy to highlight the ocean’s critical role in offering climate solutions, and raise awareness of the ocean’s influence on climate. The COP28 student delegation and Ocean Pavilion is generously supported by Logitech and others. Logitech is a global technology and design company committed to sustainable practices. This support ensures the Scripps Oceanography delegation is able to participate, inform and engage in these important global discussions.
Scripps and Ocean Pavilion co-organizers Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution also spearheaded the creation of the Dubai Ocean Declaration to emphasize the need for ocean science and call on climate negotiators to prioritize observations as critical for understanding ongoing global climate changes. The declaration was signed by more than 120 global organizations, including The Vatican.
Biomedical Automation Facility in Development
Advances in biomedical technology now make it possible for society to benefit from marine life without harming fragile ecosystems, utilizing the unique properties of marine compounds for pharmaceutical applications. Scripps Oceanography has played a pioneering role in developing drugs from the sea, resulting in the development of new therapeutics for treating many human diseases, including the brain cancer glioblastoma.
Now thanks to two significant contributions, Scripps is on its way to constructing a scientific facility that will level up the capacity to identify and develop new compounds for clinical testing. Genetic sequencing equipment donated in-kind by Illumina will provide the scientific horsepower for experimentation, while a generous philanthropic commitment kicks off fundraising for a remarkable facility to house this equipment and integrate scientific activities into a seamless, automated workflow.
The proposed Biomedical Automation Facility (BAF) is modeled on resources common in private industry, but rarely found in academia. Genetic sequencing equipment will be leveraged by robotic assemblies preparing and conveying samples rapidly, optimizing access and speeding up the discovery process and helping train the next generation.
For more information on the opportunity to support this groundbreaking new facility, please contact Jini Bernstein Archibald at jbarchibald@ucsd.edu or (858) 395-7799.
Thank you to our donors!
Individuals
$1,000,000+
Cynthia Walk and
Charles H. Wolfinger Jr.
Ellen J. Lehman, PhD and
Charles F. Kennel
Eric W. Wolfinger
$500,000+
Joan K. Jacobs and Irwin M. Jacobs
Walter C. Gutjahr*
$100,000+
April Minnich-Bucksbaum and
Glenn Bucksbaum
Brenda Bohn and
Jeffrey R. Bohn, PhD
Brooke M. and Jonathan L. Scripps
Cindy J. Glancy '77 and
John E. Glancy Sr.
Cythia and George Mitchell
Elizabeth H. and Dene Oliver
Gisela G. Hill
Kathy S. and Philip Froelich
Margaret B. Engel and
David Engel, PhD
Margaret K. and Eaton M. Scripps
Wendy and Eric E. Schmidt
$50,000+
Allison and Robert E.Price
Anonymous
Catherine B. and Matthew Hervey
Celeste and Wendell Birkhofer
Elizabeth M. Scripps
Elizabeth M. and Philip S. Hiestand
James F. Beyster
Kathy and William H. Scripps
Mary G. Jameson and
Larry W. Wangberg
Nancy E. Cooley and
Stuart M. Goode
Stephen M. Strachan
$25,000+
Eve S. and Osama Attal
Gail E. and John H. Eyler Jr.
Jeanne B. Sleeper
Jean W. Scripps
Kristin and Raymundo H. Granado Jr.
Linda U. Hervey
Mary Ann Beyster
Susan M. Engelhorn and
Sheldon C. Engelhorn '72
$10,000+
Alvina Harris
Amy L. and Charles H. Spielman
Anonymous
Betsy F. Mitchell and
Brian G. Mitchell, PhD
Bev Grant
Charles Ellman*
Charlotte Yarkoni
Cheryl L. and Donald L. Ward
Diane I. and Elliot Feuerstein
Donna A. Lee '82
Ellen C. and Colin Kennedy
Ellen Fales
Gina P. Rogers
Jamin S. Greenbaum, PhD
Jane P. Widroe '84 and Greg Widroe
Jordan Tapper
Joyce A. Haak-Brooks and
Paul Brooks
Karen F. and Jeffrey H. Silberman
Kathy and Charles T. Mitchell
Kristina and Semyon Kruglyak
Lesley A. and Michael J. Vines
Lynne D. Talley and
Jeffrey P. Severinghaus
Miranda Ko
Miriam Kastner
Randal D. Vosti
Wendy W. Kwok '99
* planned gift
Foundations
$1,000,000+
Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation
$500,000+
The National Philanthropic Trust
Vetlesen Foundation
$100,000+
Green Foundation for Earth Sciences
The Jewish Community Foundation
Mark Walk Wolfinger Foundation
Simons Foundation, Inc.
St. Baldrick's Foundation, Inc.
The Heising-Simons Foundation
The JEM Project
The San Diego Foundation
The Schmidt Family Foundation
Waitt Foundation
$50,000+
Dr. Seuss Foundation
Edna Bailey Sussman Fund
Gibbet Hill Foundation
Pincus Family Foundation
Maxwell Hanrahan Foundation
Nierenberg Foundation
The Mary Gard Jameson Foundation
$25,000+
Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation
Price Philanthropies Foundation
The Gordon and Betty Moore
Foundation
The Pacific Blue Foundation
Corporations
$1,000,000+
National Academy of Sciences
The Builders Initiative, Inc.
$500,000+
SDG&E
$100,000+
National Geographic Society
Revive & Restore
State Water Contractors
Sustainable Surf
$50,000+
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Hong Kong University of Science
and Technology
Nunatsiavut Government
$25,000+
Blue Ocean Barns Inc.
City of San Diego
Columbia University
Environmental Defense Fund
Illumina Corporate Foundation
JBS & Associates
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Newlight Technologies, Inc.
Oceans North
Orange County Community
Foundation
Orange County Water District
Salt River Project
San Diego County Water Authority
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Turlock Irrigation District
U.S. Bank Foundation
$10,000+
Arey Jones Educational Solutions
Bluewhite
City and County of San Francisco
City of Seattle
Devine Consulting
Douglas Products
East County Economic
Development Council
Hygeos
Irvine Ranch Water District
Kongsberg Underwater
Technology, Inc.
MathWorks, Inc.
Ocean Visions, Inc.
Qualcomm Inc.
Resilient Cities Catalyst
ResMed Foundation
The Ocean Cleanup
Tokyo Institute Of Technology
Statement of Activity
This section provides an overview of revenue and expenses, census and award info, and a list of sponsored research funding entities. Download Statement of Activity for 2022-2023
View our archive of previous Impact Reports.