Paul Goodman – Biogeochemical Dynamics Laboratory

I was born in New York City, and grew up in the suburbs. I went to the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY and graduated with a B.A. in Mathematics and a philosophy minor in 1988. A friend and I worked in NY for about a year, saving money, and then set off on a 73-day, 7500-mile trek across the US, camping and hiking and occasionally bathing along the way. We ended up in Seattle, WA in June of 1989, where we put down the last of our money on an apartment and found jobs. I worked for a plumbing wholesale company in the credit department for three years, and spent my free time hiking and camping throughout the Cascades in Washington.

In 1992, I decided it was time to get on with my life, and I began my graduate work in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington, studying the global thermohaline circulation. Working at the Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean, I got my M.S. in 1996 and my Ph.D. in 2000. It was here that I met my wife, Joellen Russell, and we were married at the UW Faculty Club in March, 2000. Between 2000 and 2003, I had a post-doctoral position at Columbia University in NY studying the tropical Pacific, while Joellen was a Research Fellow at JISAO. We commuted across the country for over two years (thank you, Jet Blue). In the fall of 2002, Joellen started work at Princeton University at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and we finally got to live together. In 2003, I began a second post-doc at Rutgers University where I worked on coastal issues. I am currently a numerical modeler, working in the Biogeochemical Dynamics Laboratory.

I am happy to be back west of the Rockies, am loving Tucson, and whenever possible, I dote on my wife and our two fat kitties.