Faculty Spotlight: Allan J. Clarke, Professor of Oceanography

Allan J. Clarke is the Adrian E. Gill Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, part of Florida State University’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Tell us a little about your background. When did you first become interested in oceanography, particularly El Niño and climate dynamics?

I am originally from Adelaide, Australia. At Adelaide University I studied mathematics but was unsure how a degree in mathematics would lead to employment. A course on water waves in the Applied Mathematics Department and a lecture on physical oceanography in a geology class fascinated me. I realized that I could apply the mathematics I had learned in a rigorous way to understand the ocean and atmosphere.

A professor in the Mathematics Department had done his Ph.D. in Cambridge, England, and suggested that I apply for a scholarship to study there. I was fortunate to be granted a graduate scholarship to Cambridge to pursue a Ph.D. in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, where I applied mathematics to understand the ocean.

I spent three wonderful years enjoying Cambridge and English life and working on my Ph.D. on the theory of how winds drive the currents on continental shelves and near the Equator. I came to the U.S. to do postdoctoral research at MIT (where I met my lovely wife, Colette), and my first faculty position was 100 percent soft-money research at the Department of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle.

At about that time there was a growing awareness of El Niño, and I was eager to try to understand it. But soon I recognized that doing research on an unfamiliar topic is best done at a university where part of the time during the academic year can be used to think freely about a new topic that is not tied to a grant or contract. I am so grateful to Florida State for employing me and giving me the chance to not only do research on El Niño but also to teach, work with bright young people, and investigate other puzzling oceanic and atmospheric phenomena.

What are your current research interests, and what makes you passionate about them?

1. Although we have learned a lot about El Niño, much is still unknown. One of El Niño’s puzzling features is that it’s easy to predict the climate state from July through to next February, but when it is February it is much more difficult to know what will happen next. Recently my former student, Dr. Xiaolin Zhang, and I think we have understood the physics of why this occurs, and why the volume of warm water in the equatorial Pacific can be used to predict the future state of El Niño. At FSU, Senior Research Associate Steve Van Gorder and I have been operationally predicting El Niño every month since 2002, and this research with Xiaolin should improve our El Niño predictions.
2. The shallow Bering Strait, the narrow ocean gap between Alaska and Siberia, is the only ocean pathway between the Pacific and the Arctic. It is a major conduit for nutrients, heat and fresh water, and likely plays a key role in the climate of the Earth. In the future, because of the disappearing Arctic ice, it will be the Pacific gateway to an Arctic ship route between the Pacific and Atlantic.

Although winds on average blow southward through the Bering Strait, the mean flow through the strait is northward! I am currently trying to understand why the flow is northward against the wind, and why the transport through the strait varies irregularly from year to year and decade to decade.

3. How did the oil in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill get from the site of the spill to the snow-white beaches of the Gulf of Mexico? Crucial to the movement of the oil spill are the ocean waves. Our research has shown that it’s not the ocean swell that transports the oil but rather the much smaller waves that are generated by the local wind. Consequently, it’s possible to relate the transport by the local waves to the wind forcing, and thereby predict the surface movement of debris by knowing the local wind. I was excited to learn that our results are consistent with Dr. David Griffin’s analysis of the wave and wind influence on the path of the debris of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, which mysteriously crashed into the Indian Ocean on March 8, 2014.

Who are your role models? Who has influenced you most in your life?

My major professor for my Ph.D. at Cambridge University was another Australian, Dr. Adrian Gill. Adrian Gill had the knack of finding simple, elegant solutions to apparently complex problems. Before he solved a problem, those working on it would often think it difficult and complicated, but others, who afterward learned of Adrian’s explanation, would think it “obvious.” To me, finding a clear explanation to what we observe is excellent science. By his example, Adrian taught me what my scientific goal should always be.

What is your favorite part of your job?

The favorite part of my job is the thrill of learning something new. This happens in both research and teaching. In research, it’s wonderful to understand something after sometimes years of work, and then try your best to make it as clear as possible to others. In teaching, it’s a joy to see students “get it” and be excited about some of the things that excite me.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Probably the most challenging part of my job is making sure I have research funding for my students and for Steve Van Gorder and Researcher Paula Jahromi, who have been working with me for many years. Funding rates these days are low, and when I have sat on National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration research review panels, I typically see much worthy research not funded.

How do you like to spend your free time?

My Christian faith and my family are very important to me. I also love all sports, but especially Australian rules football and tennis, and enjoy reading, movies and travel.

If your students only learned one thing from you (of course, hopefully they learn much more than that), what would you hope it to be?

Treating others as you would have them treat you, integrity and persistence. I know that this is more than one thing, but I think that these are all important.