Campus Profile: Channing Prend Highlighted at Scripps College
PhD Student Channing Prend Embraces the Waves at Scripps Oceanography
Channing Prend, a third-year physical oceanography PhD student at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), has found a home at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Prend, who hails from New Hampshire, chose Scripps for its breadth of work, strength in Southern Ocean research, and the people.
Prend's academic journey began at Columbia University, where he earned his bachelor's degree. His undergraduate advisor, Ryan Abernathey, introduced him to the field of oceanography and encouraged him to pursue it. This guidance led Prend to spend a summer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution working with Hyodae Seo.
At Scripps, Prend is working with oceanographers Sarah Gille and Lynne Talley. His research focuses on the Southern Ocean dynamics and its impact on biogeochemical cycles around the world. The current time is an exciting one for Prend, as there has been a dramatic increase in data, allowing them to ask new questions.
This increase in data is due in part to recent advances in autonomous observing systems, providing unprecedented spatial coverage of subsurface biogeochemical measurements. Prend's work is part of the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling (SOCCOM) project at Princeton University.
Prend's days at Scripps are filled with analyzing and visualizing data, reading papers, writing, attending seminars, meeting with collaborators, and taking walks on the beach. Many of his role models at Scripps are other students and postdocs. He acknowledges that work-life balance and imposter syndrome are continual challenges.
Prend hopes to continue communicating science to general audiences and making academia more inclusive. He is also looking forward to continuing his research at an academic or government research institution. You can find him on Twitter at @ChanningPrend.
Prend's collaborations with researchers from many other institutions have greatly impacted his development as a scientist. He is grateful for the amazing mentorship he has received from his advisors and committee members at Scripps. Despite experiencing imposter syndrome as a white cis male, he acknowledges that the experience is different for underrepresented minorities.
Life as a Scripps student involves spending most of the day at the computer, analyzing data, reading papers, writing, and attending meetings, with breaks for seminars, meetings with collaborators, or walks on the beach. Prend's work in the Southern Ocean is an exciting time, and he is grateful to be a part of it.
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