A Global Atlas of Atolls

Author Biography

Walter M. Goldberg graduated from the American University, Washington DC with a Batchelor of Science degree and was awarded a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography by the University of Miami’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Florida International University in Miami where he was a faculty member for 40 years and the youngest in the Department of Biological Sciences to begin his career there at the age of 27. While on the faculty he taught a variety of courses ranging from Electron Microscopy for graduate students to Marine Science for non-majors. In addition to teaching and research, Walter served as department chair at a time when Biological Sciences at FIU was half the size it is now. He is the author of more than 50 professional papers, mostly on the formation, structure, and biochemistry of coral skeletons. After retirement, he taught Scientific Writing at FIU for an additional decade. He now lives in Stuart, FL with his wife Rosalie whom he met when she was a freshman at AU. They have two boys and two granddaughters. Walter has always been involved in sports. At AU he was captain of the wrestling team and was conference champion at 123 lbs. He played racquetball and squash for 25 years and now is an avid pickleball player. His nom du sport is Walt, not Walter. Eugene C. Rankey is Professor of Geology at the University of Kansas, where he has taught since 2008. A geologist by formal training, Gene’s research program focuses on understanding geological, chemical, physical, and biological aspects of the oceans, how they shape the seascapes of tropical marine and coastal systems, and expression of comparable processes in the ancient rock record. In addition to remote-sensing analyses from around the globe, field efforts have ranged from the South Pacific (including in the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and Kiribati), Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean, and included numerical modeling of dynamics of shoreline and atoll systems. Gene graduated with a B.S. degree from Augustana College (IL), a M.S. from University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. from University of Kansas; he worked at Exxon Production Research Company, Iowa State University, and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Miami before returning to Kansas. He has written more than 60 nerdy scientific papers, edited several volumes, and served as editor and/or associate editor for five journals. He lives in Paola, Kansas, near the geographic center of the U.S., and far from the ocean, where he claims to be a soccer (football) star in the city’s adult league, straightens headstones in the church cemetery, and lifts modest weights. His four kids are grown and scattered across the globe, but his dogs miss him when he travels to see his island friends.