CW3E Welcomes Ethan Morris

June 30, 2022

Ethan Morris joined CW3E as a Research and Development Engineer on June 1, 2022. Ethan has worked at Scripps Institution of Oceanography for just over 9 years. His previous research group in the CASPO department specialized in moorings and instruments for physical oceanography. Ethan spent most of his time building, refurbishing, modifying, deploying, and recovering moorings up to 5000 meters long in many locations around the world. All the components from the anchor to the surface buoy had to be thoroughly checked for inductive capability and the ability to withstand harsh environments. Controllers in the surface buoys collected data from the instruments via inductive links over the mooring wire. Iridium satellite or cellular telemetry was used to transmit real-time data from the moorings. Ethan also downloaded large amounts of data via acoustic links. Acoustic downloads required many hours of station keeping and were coordinated with the ship’s captain so that the the ship could be positioned at a point where data transfer was optimized. Based on his notes and findings on acoustic data communication and modem settings, Ethan wrote documentation to assist people in his lab optimize and improve the success of at sea data downloads.

Projects with his previous lab provided Ethan with the opportunity to collaborate with many other oceanographic institutions and work aboard ships in 15 countries. Some of his field work destination highlights include the Gulf of Alaska, Cancun, Iceland, Chile, New Caledonia, Sri Lanka, Barbados, Papua New Guinea, and Spain! Ethan has been in seas up to 40 feet off the southern tip of Chile, and sailed through a hurricane off Iceland. When working on deck calmer seas were always a welcome surprise. On ships Ethan has crossed the equator multiple times with his longest voyage being 36 days in the South Pacific. The many cruises aboard different research vessels taught Ethan how to problem solve in the field with very limited resources.

Before coming to Scripps, Ethan spent 26 years working in vehicle mechanics, welding and fabrication. With his welding skills he was part of many projects designing and building vehicle suspensions, steering components, headers, exhausts, turbo systems, building structures, and even some aviation related efforts like a ramp to raise the front wheel / nose of a plane whose tail was too tall for the hanger. Ethan’s hobbies include off-roading and fabricating things in his home metal shop, which includes a CNC plasma table.

At CW3E, Ethan will be working with the Field Team under the direction of the Lead Engineer Douglas Alden focusing on building, maintaining, and installing meteorological stations, sensors, and wind profilers.