For nearly 40 years, Dr. Ellen Kappel has provided extraordinary and unselfish service to the international geoscience community. In an endeavor where cooperation is essential, no one else has better combined deep scientific knowledge with considerable talent for strategic planning, communication, enhancing career development and diversity, and successfully bringing people together.

Through her work on hundreds of reports, science plans, brochures and other materials, it is widely thought that Ellen has helped secure more funding from government sponsors for the international ocean and Earth science communities than perhaps any other individual.

After completing a Ph.D. at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in marine geology and geophysics and working there as a postdoctoral research scientist, she moved to Washington, D.C. For the next dozen years, she held successively higher positions at Joint Oceanographic Institutions Inc., managing the operations of the international Ocean Drilling Program and the associated U.S. Science Support Program supported by the National Science Foundation. She was widely praised by her colleagues for her program management skills, her understanding and appreciation of science, and her efforts to advance cooperation, communication and outreach.

In 1999, she founded Geosciences Professional Services Inc. (Geo Prose), which promotes the geosciences through writing, editing, document and web design, and project management.

Geo Prose projects have included decadal and strategic plans for major geoscience programs such as EarthScope, IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) seismological facilities, scientific ocean drilling, U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and Ocean Networks Canada. They have also included reports for U.S. agencies and academic nonprofit consortia on subjects including federal oceanographic fleet status, national ocean research priorities, autonomous oceanographic instrumentation, high-performance computing, mineral physics, research in tectonics, Earth science literacy principles, broadening participation in the geoscience workforce, Antarctic logistics, and Arctic research.

Since 2004, Ellen has also served as director of publications and editor of Oceanography. Noteworthy issues include two volumes of “Women in Oceanography” that have inspired a new generation of women oceanographers.

Dr. Kappel is one of the most effective and impactful leaders in our profession. Her unique role within our community defies description by a familiar “label.” And as a female scientist, in what has been a historically male-dominated field, she should be celebrated as a pioneer and a role model, as we all work toward greater diversity and inclusivity.

— John Farrell
U.S. Arctic Research Commission
Arlington, Virginia

My career in the geosciences began and flourished because countless people opened doors. While I was an undergraduate at Cornell, generous professors went the extra mile to provide field and research experiences, from the American West to the Swiss Alps, and encouraged me to attend graduate school. While I pursued my Ph.D. at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, mentors sent me out to sea again and again to learn how to collect data and lead a team, all at a time when women on research vessels faced daunting obstacles. The wonderful scientists who furnished those opportunities continuously challenged me while never once setting me up for failure. They taught me what it means to be a good mentor. After graduate school, I took a job at Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), helping to manage the Ocean Drilling Program. I benefited greatly from generous colleagues at JOI and the National Science Foundation who showed me what effective program managers can accomplish. During nearly 12 years at JOI, I also learned a tremendous amount from the scientists, engineers and professional staff who dedicated themselves to this remarkable program. Through my work at JOI, I learned that advocating for the community could be as fulfilling a career as doing research. The connections I made and the management skills I gained at JOI would serve me well when, quite accidentally, I became an entrepreneur and set up Geo Prose. Importantly, during my time at JOI desktop publishing emerged as a tool for in-house production of brochures and newsletters. Thanks to this new software, I began a long partnership with a talented graphic designer who has been critical to Geo Prose’s success. It's now more than 20 years since I established my company. I am grateful to the many scientists and managers who have trusted me to help shape and polish their science plans. I am grateful for the chance to contribute to documents involving such a wide variety of science and to learn continuously through my work. I am grateful for the friendships I have made through the projects and publications I’ve touched. But most of all, I am grateful to all the people, over so many years, who have opened the doors I’ve walked through. — Ellen Kappel   Geosciences Professional Services Inc. Bethesda, Maryland