Ellen S. Kappel

Ellen Sue Kappel Berman is a science communicator in the area of oceanography. After earning her Ph.D. in marine geology and geophysics, Kappel worked as program manager for the Ocean Drilling Program and later established a company helping to make the case for funding of geoscience programs. She has been the head editor of Oceanography since 2004.

Early life and education

Ellen Kappel grew up in New York City.

She received a bachelor's degree in geology from Cornell University in 1980. Her undergraduate thesis was on seismicity in the Sunda Arc. Kappel's Ph.D. thesis, Evidence for volcanic episodicity and a non-steady state rift valley, focused on volcanic episodicity of the ocean's crust along the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Ryan describes the impact of her work: "More than 20 years after the publication of her thesis, Kappel's interpretation that volcanic construction of the ocean's crust along mid-ocean ridge spreading centers occurs in episodic pulses is still widely cited."

In 2004 the council of The Oceanography Society asked Kappel to serve as the editor of Oceanography, a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal.

She is a member of the Advisory Council for Cornell University's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Kappel is also a member of the EV Nautilus team.