Ocean Color Time-Series Project:   GES DISC Biographies

Steve Kempler:

received a B.A. in Geography from SUNY, Cortland in 1976, and a M.A. in Physical Geography (Atmospheric Science) from Ohio State University in 1979. In 1980, he joined Computer Sciences Corporation in1980 as a Software Engineer, working on a variety of NASA/GSFC projects over the next four years, including Nimbus 7, CZCS, Dynamics Explorer and Acquisition Data Facility (ADF). Upon becoming a NASA/GSFC employee, he worked as a Computer Scientist/Software Engineer in the Laboratory of Extraterrestrial Physics tasked to the Voyager, COBE, Mars Observer missions (1984-1991). In 1991, he was named development manager of the EOSDIS Product Generation System (PGS) and Science Data Processing (SDP) Toolkit, major components of the EOSDIS Core System (ECS). In addition, he took on managing EOSDIS Science Software Engineering activities. In 1998, he became Manager of the GSFC Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC), continuously seeking and implementing innovative technologies to improve science data access, and services, for the ultimate purpose of enhancing the use and usefulness of science data by scientists.

Gregory Leptoukh:

completed B.S. studies in physics at Tbilisi State University in 1974, and M.S. in theoretical physics at the Moscow Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP) in 1975. He was employed at the Institute of Physics in Tbilisi from 1976-1993, where he did research in cosmic ray and high-energy physics, and computer simulations. He did his Ph.D. research in cosmic ray physics at the Moscow State University and at the Institute of Physics in Tbilisi, receiving his Ph.D. in 1985.  In 1993-1996, he worked at North Carolina State University in kinetics of phase separation in binary fluids and also doing research in low-energy nuclear reactions. In 1996-1997 he worked at NOAA/NESDIS, Suitland, MD, designing, developing, and supporting ingest, processing, and delivery of near-real-time science data from NSCAT, OCTS, and TOMS instruments onboard ADEOS.  In 1997, he joined the GES DAAC to lead the DAAC preparations for archiving and distributing SeaWiFS data.   He then acted as the MODIS Data Support Team Lead at the GES DAAC, providing science and management support for the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data processing, archiving, and distribution, along with data access and visualization tools and services development. In 2000- 2003 he was Mission Support Lead for EOS missions at the GES DAAC. Since 2003 he has been employed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as the GES Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) Science Data Manager.

James G. Acker:

received a B.A. from Lawrence University of Wisconsin in 1981, and a Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of South Florida in 1988.   His research concerned the dissolution kinetics of biogenic calcium carbonate (aragonite) in the oceanic water column. He performed postdoctoral research in mineral dissolution kinetics and natural hydrologic systems with the United States Geological Survey in Reston, VA and Towson, MD.   He joined the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s (GSFC) Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes in the position of Earth Observing System Oceanographic Liaison in 1991, and worked with the Laboratory and the SeaWiFS Project until 1996, when he joined the Ocean Color Data Support Team (OCDST) of the Goddard Earth Sciences Distributed Active Archive Center (GES DAAC).    He is currently coordinator of the Ocean Color Time-Series Project Web site and the manager of the Laboratory for Ocean Color Users (LOCUS), and is continuing his research on the capability of detecting and estimating neritic carbonate transport events using satellite remote sensing.   He is employed by Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD.