MTS Names New Board Members

Two prestigious names have been added to the MTS Board of Directors at the Vice President level.

Dr. Jerry Miller to Serve as Vice President of Government and Public Affairs for the Marine Technology Society

The Marine Technology Society announced that its membership has elected Dr. Jerry Miller, President of Science for Decisions, to serve on its Board of Directors as the Vice President of Government and Public Affairs, from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022.

The MTS Vice President of Government and Public Affairs oversees policy and is responsible for building productive relationships with Federal Agencies, State, Local, Tribal governments, legislatures, and the media in the U.S. and internationally.

“Jerry has worked in many leadership roles in science, technology, and ocean policy and will be a great asset to the Society,” said MTS President Dr. Rick Spinrad.

Miller, who will be taking over the role of VP of Government and Public Affairs from Craig McLean, earned his B.S. in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina, his M.S. in Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, and his Ph.D. in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography from the University of Miami. He is the president of Science for Decisions, a consulting practice which he founded in 2013 to ensure that solid science is available to inform decisions that impact people and places around the globe.

Miller also served from 2015 through early 2017 as Director of the Science and Technology for Sustainability Program at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Previously, Miller held senior positions, including Assistant Director for Ocean Sciences at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he was instrumental in the creation of the United States’ first National Ocean Policy.

He has published widely in the peer-reviewed literature and made significant contributions to several major federal policy documents. His work has been recognized with awards both in the U.S. and abroad, including for the development of salinity remote sensing technology.

Dr. Josh Kohut to Serve as Vice President of Education for the Marine Technology Society

MTS also announced that its membership has elected Dr. Josh Kohut, a professor at Rutgers University at the Center for Ocean Observing Leadership, to serve on its Board of Directors as the Vice President of Education, from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022.

The Vice President of Education ensures that the Society develops and maintains positive and productive relationships with academic institutions, laboratories—both public and private—and research institutes and helps develop opportunities for students.

“Josh has a great record of working with students in our Marine Technology Camps and students sections, and he is experienced in leading research teams of graduate and undergraduate students in the field,” said MTS President Dr. Rick Spinrad. “He’ll be a great addition to the MTS Board of Directors.”

Kohut graduated cum laude in 1997 with a B.S. in physics from the College of Charleston and earned his Ph.D. in physical oceanography from Rutgers University in 2002. Kohut was an early adopter of HF Radar and underwater glider technologies and has remained at the forefront of their development, operation and use.

Perhaps the most scientifically significant of Josh’s technology applications was the glider he deployed ahead of Hurricane Irene. Josh’s glider was used to identify the previously unrecognized rapid mixing and extreme cooling response of the coastal ocean that then fed back on Irene’s intensity. The discovery was published in Nature Communications and was fundamental to establishing the US Hurricane Glider Sentinel Program in 2018.

Since 2010, Josh has been an author on nine peer-reviewed publications in the MTS Journal. He has been the faculty advisor to the Rutgers MTS student section since 2013 and is the founding Director of the MTS Glider Technology Camp at Rutgers.

Kohut will take over the position of VP of Education from Liesl Hotaling.