Physical oceanography graduate student joins
Scripps luminaries as recipient
Scripps Institution of
Oceanography/University of California, San Diego
Kyla Drushka, a
graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, has joined
alumni such as Walter Munk and John Orcutt as a recipient of a Fulbright
scholarship.
The scholarship,
which fosters international cooperation through student exchange, will support
Drushka’s ongoing study of ocean dynamics at a key intersection of ocean circulation
at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
(CSIRO). Drushka will work there with CSIRO oceanographer Susan Wijffels.
“I was blown
away when I got the news,” said Drushka, a fifth-year student advised by Sarah
Gille and Janet Sprintall in Scripps’ Climate, Atmospheric Science, and
Physical Oceanography (CASPO) division. “I feel completely honored by this."
Beginning this
month, Drushka will study large-scale patterns in the Indian Ocean circulation
that are related to currents in the Indonesian Throughflow, a passage of major
ocean currents through narrow channels between Indonesian islands. The
ocean-atmosphere interaction strongly influences weather patterns in the
region.
“What I’m
looking at has a pretty considerable impact on Australian climate, so I think
people there will be happy to see energy focused on this,” said Drushka.
"The Fulbright Fellowship
is a well-deserved and wonderful opportunity for
Kyla,” said Scripps
physical oceanographer Janet Sprintall, whose earlier
research in the region will serve as a basis for Drushka’s work. “Kyla is a
very enthusiastic and motivated graduate student, and gets on well with both
students and faculty in CASPO. I am certain that she will make an extremely
favorable representative of Scripps and the U.S. during her stay in Australia.”
The U.S.
Department of State sponsors Fulbright scholars. Including Drushka, five
Scripps alumni have won the scholarship, which was established in 1946 under
legislation introduced by Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright. In addition,
several foreign students have studied at Scripps with support from Fulbright
scholarships.
-- Robert Monroe
