In February 2018, GCOOS founding staff member Matthew K. Howard died suddenly while attending a business conference in Seattle. He was 65 years old. Matt, DMAC Manager at GCOOS, was an accomplished research scientist with many contributions to the study of oceanography.
Following Matt’s untimely death, his many friends and colleagues sought to memorialize his professional gifts and talents for oceanographic research and data systems and solutions, as well as his personal intellect, generosity, enthusiasm and — of course — his sense of humor.
GCOOS is currently working to have an undersea geological feature named in his honor and in April 2018, we established the Howard Scholarship Fund to support oceanography and data management students who embody Matt’s dedication to collaboration and his visionary data management practices.