John Winchester

Winchester Photo Professor Emeritus

Chemical Oceanography
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1955

Since becoming Professor Emeritus in 2003, I am directing a program of awards to students for excellence in writing for public understanding of science. Awards are offered by the FSU Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, an activity of the FSU Vice President for Research, in cooperation with the Department of English.

After joining FSU in 1970, my research emphasized applications of nuclear methods to trace element analysis of mainly atmospheric aerosol samples and inference of transport and transformation processes by statistical analysis of chemical composition data and associated environmental variables. In collaboration with the Van de Graaff accelerator laboratory of the FSU Department of Physics, we introduced PIXE analysis and perfected its application to field studies of aerosol particle composition, especially in remote areas. This research included graduate students, who completed nine Ph.D. dissertations and 13 M.S. theses, and 27 post-doctoral and other visiting scientists. My teaching emphasized linking different disciplines to understanding global environmental change and its human dimensions.