Summary of 6-mo committee meeting
November 27, 2001, Scott Veirs

Attending meeting 1 (Nov 27): Jeff Parsons, Will Wilcock, Susan Hautala, Bill Lavelle
Attending meeting 2 (Dec 3): Russ McDuff, Glenn Cannon

Summary:

At the second meeting of my supervisory committee, I used a recent poster to summarize (in ~15 min) the progress I have made in the last 6 months. I provided my advisors with a written synopsis of what past goals I have accomplished (attached). We then spent about 0.5 hr discussing a written outline of my goals for the upcoming 6+ months (attached). While Jeff and Russ had to leave, the remaining members asked questions and offered recommendations during the final 0.5 hr.

Over all, I emphasized that I have been focused on research, rather than teaching, and plan to continue in this fashion, aiming to take my final exam at the end of summer quarter, 2002. I suggested that I had made the most progress in processing my field observations and understanding them through the development of an advection-diffussion model. In contrast, I explained that I had made little progress in the implementation of a related lab experiment. A major adjustment I have made to my plan is to submit 3 articles prior to my general exam, rather than resolving to see them through to publication before completing my thesis.

Some of my committee recommendations were general while others addressed specific questions that I posed.

Committee recommendations:

  1. General
    1. Be realistic about the time elapsed between submittal and publication; some reviews can take ~1 yr.
    2. Be realistic about the time it will take to conduct a worthwhile lab experiment; budget 6 months of concerted effort, not 2.
    3. Why not plan to publish some of your work after submitting your completed thesis?
  2. How to verify the assumption of spatial coherence?
    1. Bill: Visit him for confirmation of calculations of coh and phase.
    2. Susan: Contact Irene/Matt for MAVS records that might supplement Tivey's
    3. Will: Establish definitively the metadata for Tivey's deployments
    4. Susan: Stay tuned for ADCP insights into how flow varies across axis.
    5. Glenn: Work with Rick Thomson to understand how well coherence is understood within axial valley and what records he has archived that would help verify the assumption.
    6. Susan: Consider taking some questions to Charlie Eriksen.
    7. Glenn: Explain why mean flow N of MEF is 2-4X the mean flow S of the MEF.
    8. Glenn: Ask Rick whether past current meter arrays also show that velocity increases towards the bottom within the axial valley.
  3. How to best utilize "puff" model, especially with respect to available observations?
    1. Bill: Explore nature of variability by running models throughout a parameter space: "oscillatory amplitude" vs "displacement by mean flow"
    2. Jeff: Consider whether there are straightforward analytical expressions ("spatial geostatistics") of the expected variability.
    3. Will: Do you actually see streaming/pooling in field observations?
    4. Consider using longer records (moorings?) to characterize variability.
  4. How to scale the lab experiment legitimately?
    1. Jeff: Visit to discuss scaling and experimental design.
  5. How to write efficiently (with co-authors)?
    1. Write whenever you can, if only to clarify your thoughts.
    2. Write first draft, then solicit input from others.

Note: I resolve to ask more pointed questions of individual advisors (and thereby receive constructive advice) prior to upcoming meetings. I did not have substantive meetings with Susan or Will in the last 6 months.

Signatures:

Scott Veirs



-----------------------------

Russ McDuff, Committee Chair



-----------------------------