Gerold Siedler

Gerold Siedler (born 16 August 1933) is a German physical oceanographer. He is professor emeritus at the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel and at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.

Early life Gerold Siedler was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). His movements during his childhood were influenced by the turmoil of World War II, until his family was finally reunited in 1946 in Plön, Schleswig-Holstein, West Germany. He attended schools in Liberec and Prague during the war, and Weimar after. He completed his secondary education (German: Abitur) in 1953 at the .

Professional positions and research

In 1953 Gerold Siedler started his studies in Physics, Mathematics and Geophysics at the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel. He earned a doctoral degree in Physics in 1960 working with the applied physicist . His dissertation in the field of acoustics led him to develop a vocoder and explore speech discrimination in a reduced speech signal environment. Under the mentorship of Günter Dietrich, he subsequently started his career as a physical oceanographer at the Institute of Marine Science (German: Institut für Meereskunde Kiel, now GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel), where he remained until retirement in 1998. He obtained his habilitation in oceanography and geophysics from the University of Kiel in 1966 for his work on the circulation and stratification at Bab-el-Mandeb, Red Sea. Director of the Institut für Meereskunde, 1976–1978 Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Kiel, 1991–1992 Emeritus Professor, since 1998 In addition, he was actively involved in the development of oceanographic instruments.

Siedler undertook 28 research expeditions, most of them as chief scientist. He spent time on the German vessel RV Meteor II (1964), and helped in the design of its successor, the RV Meteor III (1986). He played a fundamental role in designing the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) program including defining standards for oceanographic sampling, which were pivotal for the success of the program. At the culmination of the WOCE, he co-edited the first edition of the "Ocean Circulation and Climate: Observing and Modelling the Global Ocean" book published in 2001, and subsequently its second edition "Ocean Circulation and Climate: A 21st Century Perspective" in 2013.

Over the years, Siedler held several positions as visiting scientist in the USA, France, Spain and South Africa. Most notably, he collaborated with scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of Hawaii, the University of Miami and NOAA/AOML, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, IFREMER in Brest, , and the University of Cape Town. Committee for the German meteorological research aircraft, 1978 Oceanography and Physics of the atmosphere, Elected referee, 1980–1988

German federal ministry for science and technology (now Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung): Committee for Research Vessels and Underwater Systems, 1969–1971 Committee for Measurement Technology, 1970–1973 Committee for Permanent Buoy Stations in the North and Baltic Seas, 1974–1975 Commission for Marine Research and Ocean Technology, 1975–1978 German-Brazilian bilateral research programs in ocean science and technology Coordinator, 1983–1989 German World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) Committee Chair, 1986–1989

Technical and scientific advisory board, 1976–1981 Member, 1966–1974 Working Group 34 "Internal dynamics of the ocean" Member, 1976–1982 Working Group 43 "Oceanography related to the GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE)", Chair, 1972–1978 SCOR Vice-president, 1980–1983; President, 1983–1988, Past-President, 1988–1992

Programme National d'Etude de la Dynamique du Climat (PNEDC), France: Scientific committee member, 1988–1992

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, United States: Visiting Committee Member, 1992

Awards Dedicated special volume "New Views of the Atlantic: A Tribute to Gerold Siedler", Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 1999. Alexander von Humboldt - Research Award 2004/2005, National Research Foundation, South Africa.