Vice President of Education - Josh Kohut

Josh 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. Since then, he has been a central player in the Rutgers University Center for Ocean Observing Leadership serving in several capacities including Technical Director and now as a member of the Faculty Leadership. Using networks of ocean observing technologies, his research and extension programs focus on the physical ocean processes that structure marine ecosystems. To accomplish this, Josh was an early adopter of HF Radar and underwater glider technologies, and has remained at the forefront of their development, operation and use for over 2 decades. 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. Josh then adapted his Mid Atlantic HF Radar and glider technologies to the extreme and remote environment in the coastal seas surrounding Antarctica. He and his students have documented how ocean fronts and eddies focus the food web and drive penguin foraging ecology. By deploying marine technology within an integrated polar observatory, he and his team are able to map and track the mechanisms that structure these polar ecosystems.

Indicate one or two key goals that you hope to accomplish in this position over the next 3 years:
1. Increase the value of MTS membership to students and ECOPs through the introduction of new programs that enable them to build their marine technology network.
2. Extend the reach of MTS to attract all STEAM interested students and ECOPs to the great opportunities across the wide range of careers in Marine Technology.