B. de Young

Brad deYoung
Professor
Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography
Memorial University
St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
A1B 3X7



Office: Chemistry Physics 3000
Telephone: 709.864.8738
Fax: 709.864.8739
E-Mail: bdeyoung at mun dot ca



Teaching

Publications

Reports


Connectivity Project

Ocean Gliders

Ocean Observatory

Oceanography

Physics

Memorial

My research focuses on the circulation and wind forced response in the Northwest Atlantic. An interest in shelf problems has led to an exploration of the North Atlantic circulation and its influence upon the shelf. I take an approach involving experimental work at sea, interpreting data and numerical modelling. The opportunity for such ecclecticism is what I like most about oceanography. There is always a new idea to think, a new result to explain or a new approach to explore. I like numerical modelling because it enables us to integrate several different aspects of the work and leads to applications in ocean ecology.

Within ocean ecology, I study the dispersal of plankton. Small organisms that cannot swim are moved about by ocean currents. Sometimes this could be good, other times not. Planktonic drifters include zooplankton and the eggs and larvae of fish. I have worked on biological models on their own, for example population models, but am most interested in coupling biological models with physical models to simulate the influence of the physical environment on these planktonic organisms.

I am also interested in new technology for sampling the ocean. New ideas in oceanography have usually come from new observations. Spending more time at sea is not always the answer. We need new observational approaches and sensors. Presently I am working on using existing acoustic systems, such as Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs), to provide new data on zooplankton. I am also working on new platforms, such as gliders, to extend our reach into the ocean.

There are many different routes into oceanography, from physics, mathematics, biology, geophysics, engineering and others. My own background is a PhD from UBC, a few years ago now, but my undergraduate degree is in chemistry and physics. There are usually several students, researchers, research associates and technicians working with me. I am always interested in working with new people so if this work sounds interesting please contact me.

Teaching

I have developed several new courses over the past few years. I am interested in new ideas and integrating new computational approaches with teaching. I am teaching two courses this fall, Computational Mechanics and Field Oceanography.
  • Physics 2820 - Computational Mechanics is designed to integrate computational techniques that are used in physics with the development of students' knowledge of classical mechanics.
  • Physics 6314 - Field Oceanography introduces students to the techniques and instrumentation of field oceanography.
The old courses that I have taught include
  • Physics 3300 - Physical Oceanography covers the basic concepts and equations of ocean dynamics.
  • Physics 6316 - Ocean Data Analysis is about the collection and exploration of ocean data from the ocean.
  • Physics 6324 - Modelling in Ocean Ecology - I have taught this course a few times now and it changes depending on the students in the course and on my own interest at the time.

I have taught quite a few other courses, including P1050, P2054, P2055, P3820, P4205, P4300, P6302, P6310, P6321 and ES6001, but these two are the courses that I will be teaching this year.

Publications

Reports

WebContact - Brad deYoung Last updated - September 2010