Teresa Chereskin

Physical Oceanographer

During her pursuit of an education in oceanography, Teresa Chereskin, a research scientist in the Physical Oceanography Research Division, traveled from the midwest, to the east coast, across the Atlantic Ocean to England, and finally to the west coast.

At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics-not her original plan.

"I had the intention of being a French major, but I did enjoy doing math and it was pointed out to me that math was a language as well, and I found it more satisfying in terms of what I'd do long term."

Her French education did prove useful when she traveled to a laboratory in France to conduct her thesis experiments.

After Madison, Chereskin completed a Ph.D. in physical oceanography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and went on to Cambridge University in England for her postdoctoral research. Then followed three years of research at Oregon State University, after which she joined Scripps as a research scientist in 1987.

Chereskin's research focuses on ocean currents, and has taken her to sea for extensive data collection and observation.

"I am interested in the dynamics of the upper ocean, the way momentum gets transferred from the atmosphere into the ocean, which happens at the surface, and then from the surface, how it gets to the deep ocean. Primarily I study the upper ocean by making direct velocity measurements."

To take these measurements, time must be spent on research vessels in various regions of the ocean. In 1993 she spent 63 days at sea, and has 80 days scheduled for 1995. One of the projects taking her away from land is the World Ocean Circulation Experiment, a 10-year project involving scientists from 40 nations converging on the oceans to study their physical and chemical properties. Chereskin will travel to the Indian Ocean for work on this project.

When on a research vessel, scientists rely on the ship's crew to navigate, but one of Chereskin's favorite past-times away from the ocean involves her own navigation skills on land. She participates in orienteering, the sport of running cross-country using a map and compass to follow an established course.