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Mike Coffin

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Professor; Executive Director, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania

Prof Mike Coffin is a marine geophysicist, with research expertise encompassing massive volcanism on the seafloor, environmental effects of massive volcanism, plate tectonics, and rifted continental margins. Educated at Dartmouth College (AB) and Columbia University (MA, MPhil, PhD) in the United States, he has pursued an international career that reflects the boundless nature of the global ocean. Following university studies, he has worked at Geoscience Australia (1985-1989), the University of Texas at Austin (1990-2001), the University of Tokyo (2001-2007), the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (2002-2003), the UK’s University of Southampton and National Oceanography Centre (2007-2010), and the University of Tasmania (2011-). He has also held visiting positions Dartmouth College (1982), the University of Oslo (1992, 1996), Geoscience Australia (2000), France’s University of Strasbourg (2001), and the University of Hawaii (2002). From 2003-2005, he served as the inaugural chair of the Science Planning Committee of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, not only the largest international program in the earth and ocean sciences, but also among the largest in any scientific discipline. Prof Coffin has lead or participated in 29 research expeditions at sea, focusing mainly in the Southern, Pacific, and Indian oceans. His 100+ publications in the peer-reviewed literature have garnered 5000+ citations.

Experience

  • 2011–present
    Professor and Executive Director, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania
  • 2008–2010
    Professor, University of Southampton
  • 2001–2007
    Professor, University of Tokyo
  • 1999–2001
    Senior Research Scientist, University of Texas at Austin
  • 1990–1999
    Research Scientist, University of Texas at Austin
  • 1985–1989
    Research Scientist, Geoscience Australia (formerly Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology & Geophysics

Education

  • 1985 
    Columbia University, PhD
  • 1982 
    Columbia University, MPhil
  • 1981 
    Columbia University, MA
  • 1978 
    Dartmouth College, AB

Research Areas

  • Geophysics (0404)
  • Geodynamics (040402)
  • Marine Geoscience (040305)
  • Oceanography (0405)
  • Geology (0403)