UH loses
oceanography
chairman

Ed Laws will leave the university
to lead LSU's ocean program

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University of Hawaii-Manoa oceanographer Ed Laws, who has been involved in a series of discoveries about the ocean ecosystem off Oahu, will join Louisiana State University on Jan. 1 as dean of the School of Coast and Environment.

"Our loss is their gain," said UH oceanographer Dave Karl. "Ed Laws is arguably one of the most distinguished marine scientists at UH today."

The two established a long-term study of the impact of climate variability on ecosystems. They and their colleagues have been investigating an open ocean site called Station Aloha about 60 miles north of Oahu with monthly trips since 1988.

Laws, chairman of the UH-Manoa oceanography department, was recently awarded a five-year federal grant of more than $1.3 million a year for research on how marine phenomena could harm or improve human health.

After 30 years on the UH faculty, he said, "It's not something you just walk away from." But he said the Louisiana School of Coast and Environment "seems like an exciting place to go" with a huge new building for faculty, a major investment in marine programs and a lot of interest in coastal and environmental issues.

The recent Ocean Commission report addressed problems related to the Gulf Coast and Mississippi River, Laws noted.

"LSU is nicely in a position to take advantage of what's coming through the pipe," he said.

Laws has been UH oceanography chairman three times, serving out the three-year assignment only once. He was interim vice chancellor for research and graduate education for about a year before Rolf-Peter Kudritzki's appointment.

Laws has been active on the Kailua Bay Advisory Council and has a federal Sea Grant for engineered ecosystems for remediation of aquaculture waste water on Coconut Island. He also is principal investigator for the Kumu Ola: Source of Knowledge Program funded by the National Science Foundation to stimulate interest in science and math among minorities.

Laws spent three years at Florida State University after earning a doctorate degree in physics, and applied for UH when a position opened up. He is the author of "Mathematical Models for Oceanographers: An Introduction," called a "must-read" text and reference book for oceanography students and professionals in marine and environmental sciences.

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