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Paul Leary

Paul Leary

PISCO Subtidal Technician

Followers of Paul Leary155 followers
location of Paul LearyPacific Grove, California, United States

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  • Timeline

  • About me

    Research Assistant Professor at Naval Postgraduate School

  • Education

    • Stanford University

      2011 - 2017
      Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), in progress Environmental Engineering, Biology

      Activities and Societies: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Hopkins Marine Station Graduate Student Organization (President 2014, Treasurer 2012-2013), American Academy of Underwater Scientists (AAUS) Scientific Diver, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) student member, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) student member A central discovery of my research is the existence of "internal tide pools", where internal waves (i.e., waves between warm and cold water layers) fill pockets in the reef that remain after the wave itself has relaxed, like the formation of classic tide pools. Often internal waves are hypoxic, and create pockets of low oxygen water in the rocky reef. I map internal tide pools, study how they form and drain, and predict their impact on local ecology. In order to achieve these goals I… Show more A central discovery of my research is the existence of "internal tide pools", where internal waves (i.e., waves between warm and cold water layers) fill pockets in the reef that remain after the wave itself has relaxed, like the formation of classic tide pools. Often internal waves are hypoxic, and create pockets of low oxygen water in the rocky reef. I map internal tide pools, study how they form and drain, and predict their impact on local ecology. In order to achieve these goals I designed and construct a number of innovative devices. These include the “Divining RO₂D”, a diver-operated oceanographic observing platform, used to map dissolved oxygen and temperature in 3 dimensions. I am developing an autonomous fluorescence-based oxygen sensor which measures fluorescence quenching using a phase-tracking lock-in amplifier circuit. I also built an oxygen controller for a 4-treatment aquarium system, to measure the effect of hypoxic exposure on fish escape-swimming. Show less

    • University of California, Santa Cruz

      2004 - 2008
      Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Marine Biology

  • Experience

    • UC Santa Cruz

      Jan 2008 - Jan 2008
      PISCO Subtidal Technician

      • SCUBA biodiversity surveys on temperate rocky reef ecosystems, Davenport to Santa Barbara.• Intensive teamwork boating and underwater, challenging environments and conditions• Extensive experience including multi-day trips at sea or remote locations.

    • Stanford University

      Aug 2009 - Jul 2017

      • Designed and built “the Divining RO₂D”, a diver operated mobile sensor for mapping oxygen and temperature fields underwater• Designed and built laboratory stand-alone oxygen and temperature control unit for behavioral experiments, for 4 treatment experimental aquaria• Designed and built autonomous dissolved oxygen logger, measuring fluorescence quenching through phase tracking and synchronous demodulation• Extensive experience in processing and analysis of large complex datasets, especially in time-series analysis of environmental data.• Extensive leadership experience managing and motivating teams and logistics in challenging fieldwork situations underwater and afloat• Built MATLAB scripts and GUIs to automatically track motions of fish in high speed video• Extensive independent research experience in coastal oceanography and ecologyUnderwater data gathering, instrument deployment and retrieval, ecological surveying, equipment maintenance and construction, search and salvage• Extensive experience with technical and non-technical public presentation and writing.• Designed and taught hands-on basic electronics course for Biologists: employing measurement and control system principles• Extensive science guest-teaching experience, high-school and college level Show less • Organized and led all field work including training, team diving and boating operations. • Designed methods and protocols for targeted research in ecology and oceanography• Programmed, constructed and deployed oceanographic instrumentation and moorings. • Designed and built housings and autonomous controllers for underwater video sampling. • Wrote and delivered training lectures on sampling protocols and species identification. • Created underwater habitat maps using ArcGIS to pinpoint survey locations. Show less

      • PhD Student

        Sept 2011 - Jul 2017

      • Research Technician

        Aug 2009 - Sept 2011

    • Naval Postgraduate School

      Jul 2017 - now

      I run the Undersea Sensing Systems Laboratory in the Department of Physics, where I design, test, implement and deploy underwater sensors and sensing platforms, primarily for research in applied ocean acoustics. Platforms include ocean-going autonomous vehicles, as well as moored packages and drifters. Engineering efforts include everything from simple integration of "off-the-shelf" sensors on existing vehicles/platforms, to "from scratch" design and fabrication of sensing hardware and vehicles. Applications of this work include passive acoustic surveillance, target tracking, underwater networking, autonomous navigation and many others. Show less

      • Research Assistant Professor

        Mar 2021 - now

      • Faculty Research Associate

        Jul 2017 - Mar 2021

  • Licenses & Certifications

    • Divemaster

      National Association of Underwater Instructors
      Jan 2008

    • Scientific Diver

      American Academy of Underwater Sciences
      Jan 2007

  • Honors & Awards

    • Awarded to Paul Leary
      Arthur C. Giese Annual Award for Original Experimental Work in Marine Biology Stanford University, Hopkins Marine Station 2015
    • Awarded to Paul Leary
      Myers Oceanographic and Marine Biology Trust Award Dr. Earl H. Myers and Ethel M. Myers Oceanographic and Marine Biology Trust 2014
    • Awarded to Paul Leary
      NSF Graduate Research Fellowship National Science Foundation Sep 2013

  • Volunteer Experience

    • Volunteer

      Issued by Watsonville High School on Jan 2012
      Watsonville High SchoolAssociated with Paul Leary

    • Volunteer

      Issued by Ocean Heroes on Jan 2010
      Ocean HeroesAssociated with Paul Leary

    • Volunteer Instructor

      Issued by Livermore High School on Jan 2012
      Livermore High SchoolAssociated with Paul Leary