Dr. David J. Kieber

04/20/2007

2007 Exemplary Researcher Award Recipient

We are very pleased to announce that Dr. David J. Kieber, Professor in the Department of Chemistry, was selected among several highly qualified candidates to receive the College's second Exemplary Researcher Award. Dr. Kieber will be recognized at the Spotlight on Student Research and Outreach, being held April 20, 2007, in Nifkin Alumni Lounge. This College-level award recognizes a successful, currently active researcher with exemplary research activity, publication record and graduate1 undergraduate student research program. Dr. Kieber's achievements in environmental chemistry, chemical oceanography, marine ecosystems and atmospheric and aquatic environments serve as an excellent example of accomplishment in research and development of a mentoring program for graduate students and post-doctoral scientists. Specific accomplishments and honors are highlighted below.

• Dr. Kieber's work at ESF began in 1990 as Assistant Professor in Chemistry and continues today as Professor. He has served as a Visiting Scientist at the University of Georgia, Sapelo Island, GA; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Beaufort, SC and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution at Woods Hole, MA. He was a Postdoctoral Investigator at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and a Research Assistant at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami.
• Dr. Kieber spends considerable time in the field. He has participated in twenty-seven oceanographic cruises, (434 sea days), and served as Chief Scientist on three cruises. Field labs include Bermuda Biological Station, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Sapelo Island Marine Lab.
• Dr. Kieber extensively utilizes undergraduates in his program. On each of his recent Antarctic and Eastern seaboard cruises, he brought along an undergraduate assistant. In most cases, these undergraduates were sufficiently energized by this "hands-on" research experience to consider graduate school in chemistry, and several are now enrolled at ESF.
• Creating synergy between research and outreach to a broader community is an important contribution toward fulfilling ESF's mission to its stakeholders. This is one of Dr. Kieber's great strengths. During the Fall of 2005, when Dr. Kieber and several students were aboard the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer in the Ross Sea of Antarctica, he maintained a site on the ESF web where he regularly updated his progress and communicated with students from Jamesville-Dewitt Middle School, including interviews with Emperor Penguins! This was one of the most visited web pages on the ESF web for the last quarter of 2005.
• Dr. Kieber has received the following honors: SUNY Chancellor's Award for Research and Excellence, 2003; Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 1991-1994; University of Miami Walton Smith Prize for best dissertation, 1989; Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, 1987.

The Exemplary Researcher Award at ESF, made annually, includes a calendar-year tuition scholarship and graduate assistantship at the PhD stipend level; and a $5,000 research account. Dr. Kieber will present a campus-wide research seminar highlighting his work in the coming academic year.

Congratulations to Dr. Kieber on this well-deserved honor!