Trevor McDougall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Trevor McDougall
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Trevor John McDougall
1 July 1952 Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
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| Education | Unley High School |
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| Institutions | University of New South Wales |
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Trevor John McDougall is an Australian scientist who studies the ocean. He is a physical oceanographer, which means he focuses on how the ocean moves and mixes. He is especially interested in how seawater mixes and its temperature changes.
Professor McDougall is a top expert in Ocean Physics at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He also used to be the head of a big international group called the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO).
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Trevor McDougall's Education
Trevor McDougall went to Unley High School in Adelaide, South Australia. After high school, he studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Adelaide. He finished his first degree in 1973.
Later, he earned his PhD (a very high university degree) from the University of Cambridge in 1978.
His Work and Research
Trevor McDougall did his PhD studies at the University of Cambridge in England. His teachers were Professors Stewart Turner and Paul Linden.
In 1978, he came back to Australia. He worked at the Australian National University (ANU) for five years. After that, he joined CSIRO in Hobart, where he became a physical oceanographer.
Since 2012, he has been a special professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He teaches and researches Ocean Physics there.
Why Ocean Mixing Matters
Professor McDougall's research helps us understand how seawater mixes. This is very important for understanding climate change.
The ocean and the air work together to move heat from warm areas near the equator to cooler areas near the North and South Poles. Professor McDougall's work helps us see how the ocean helps spread this heat. This process helps keep Earth at a temperature that allows life to thrive.
Understanding Ocean Currents
Professor McDougall is famous for creating a special way to define "neutral density surfaces" with another scientist, David Jackett. Imagine these surfaces as layers in the ocean.
Giant swirling ocean currents, called eddies, mix along these layers. These eddies can be huge, from 10 to 500 kilometers wide, and can last for many months.
Mixing happens much more easily along these "density" layers than across them. It's like stirring paint in a bowl – it mixes easily side-to-side, but it's harder to mix it up and down.
Knowing how these layers work helps scientists create better computer models of the ocean. These models are key to predicting how the ocean affects our climate. Professor McDougall has also helped add ideas about mixing and heat into these ocean models.
International Leadership
From 2019 to 2023, Professor McDougall was the president of the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO). This group is part of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics.
He also led a team that created new international rules for describing seawater, humid air, and ice. These rules are called TEOS-10 (Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater - 2010). The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission officially adopted these rules in 2009.
Awards and Honours
Professor McDougall has received many important awards for his work. Here are some of them:
- He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2012. This is a very old and respected science group in the UK.
- He is also a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (1997) and the American Geophysical Union (2018).
- In 2023, he was named the NSW Scientist of the Year by the Premier of New South Wales, Australia.
- In 2022, he won the Prime Minister's Prize for Science. He received this award for finding four new ways the ocean mixes and for his work on seawater properties.
- In 2018, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. This is a very high honour in Australia. He received it for his great work in science and education, especially in ocean thermodynamics.
- He won the John Conrad Jaeger Medal in 2015 from the Australian Academy of Science.
- In 2011, he received the Prince Albert I Medal from IAPSO. This was for his amazing contributions to ocean science.
- He was awarded the Anton Bruun Medal in 2009 by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
- In 2001, he received the Centenary Medal for his service to Australian science.
- He won the Humboldt Prize in 1997 from Germany.
Images for kids
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The Companion of the Order of Australia medal.
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The Centenary Medal ribbon.
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