Technology: Earth - A new webinar series from Triple Ring Technologies. May 3, 2023 - Enabling Accessible Ocean Data, by Triple Ring Technologies

Technology: Earth – Enabling Accessible Ocean Data

Date: Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023

Time: 12noon-1:15pm (Pacific)

Moderator:

• Dr. Sheila Hemami, Senior Director Growth Initiatives, Triple Ring Technologies

Speakers:

• Kristen Yarincik, Executive Director·Integrated Ocean Observing Systems Association

• Dr. Brian Glazer, CEO & Founder·Hohonu

• Dr. Y. Meriah Arias-Thode, Chief Scientist·Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific

About the Webinar:

Natural resource management can be most effective and efficient when driven by accurate and reliably obtained data. Large-scale ocean observing systems have provided information on the state of the ocean for decades. Government programs such as DARPA’s Ocean-of-Things along with advances in remote power, integrated measurement systems, and communication have accelerated the development and deployment of a variety of privately funded ocean data systems. Ensuring the future health of the ocean and those who rely upon it directly and indirectly, as well as the safety of coastal communities in the face of climate change requires the use of both existing ocean data and new data enabled by new technologies.

In this Technology:Earth webinar, we will learn about the current state of large-scale ocean data collection and two enabling technologies to support lower-cost data collection. Kristen Yarincik, Executive Director, IOOS Association will describe the current state of what ocean data is collected and by whom, how it is used, and “wish lists” for data enabling technologies. Dr. Brian Glazer, Founder and CEO, Hohonu, will describe his company’s solution and platform for low-cost tide gauges to support coastal resilience. Dr. Y. Meriah Arias-Thode, Chief Scientist, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, will share an enabling technology for next-generation widespread ocean sensing and data gathering - energy harvesting from the seafloor for fixed-point monitoring.

Enabling a healthy planet with technologies for humans and the environment is Triple Ring Technologies’ mission. Our Technology:Earth webinar series convenes world experts and technologists working on a variety of environmental challenges to frame the problems and the challenges of scale-up, and to discuss viable solutions. Our goal is to connect individuals working in these problem spaces with the innovation ecosystem.

About the Speakers:

Dr. Sheila Hemami, Senior Director Growth Initiatives, Triple Ring Technologies

Dr. Sheila Hemami has over 25 years of experience in research and development in the academic and private sectors, with an emphasis on identifying early-stage technologies to address unmet needs and accelerating technology transfer.  She currently heads East Coast operations and directs the environmental and sustainability portfolio at Triple Ring Technologies (Boston and Silicon Valley).  Prior to joining Triple Ring, Dr. Hemami was with the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA, where she directed internal research and development and created a new business unit dedicated to addressing unmet technical needs for underserved medical populations and for the environment. Dr. Hemami started her technical career at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, and was a professor of electrical engineering and academic leader for 22 years (Cornell University for 20 years; Northeastern University for 3 years).  She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Dr. Y. Meriah Arias-Thode, Chief Scientist·Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific

Dr. Y. Meriah Arias-Thode is a Senior Environmental Microbiologist with the US Navy at the Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific. She holds a PhD in Marine Biology from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She leads the BEACONS (Benthic Enabled Autonomous Collaborative Operations Notifications System) Team that focuses on extracting energy from sediments and trickle-charging sensors for marine microbial fuel cell research projects. She has also studied toxicity in benthic estuarine communities and microbial forensics. She has consulted on chemical and biological defense projects and is currently an SME for DARPA’s Cornucopia program. She has served on the scientific advisory board for the Association of Environmental Health and Science for 15 years. She was a Medical Laboratory Technician (E6) and a Research Microbiologist (CPT) in the US Army Reserves for 22 years; and was called back to duty to aid the Army during COVID.

Kristen Yarincik, Executive Director·Integrated Ocean Observing Systems Association

Kristen Yarincik joined the IOOS Association as Executive Director in October 2022, a non-profit deliver sustained information about our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes to support decision making related to climate and coastal resilience, health and safety, maritime commerce, and resource management. Prior to that, Kristen served as VP and Director of Research and Education at the nonprofit Consortium for Ocean Leadership. Kristen has over 20 years of experience leading community building and convening efforts around topics including ocean observation, ocean exploration, marine biodiversity, ocean education and workforce development; Kristen holds a master's degree in Earth science from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in Geoscience from Boston College.

Dr. Brian Glazer, CEO & Founder·Hohonu

Dr. Brian Glazer has been a professor of oceanography at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa for 19 years. His research focuses on the intersection of ocean chemistry, physics, and biology, in extreme environments like deep-sea underwater volcanoes, but also throughout coastal watersheds. He is a hard-core “tinkerer”, and has always worked closely with engineers to build new solutions to better understand the environment. He served on the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observing Initiative Facility Board and its Cyberinfrastructure & Data Dissemination sub-committee, gaining appreciation for challenges and opportunities within large-scale observing networks. In 2014, with initial funding from NOAA Sea Grant, NSF, and Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, he launched a program to democratize access to ocean observing. He launched Hohonu in 2019 as a public-private startup to provide turn-key monitoring solutions for communities threatened by climate change.