Hobart Alumnus Awarded Bronze Star

For his work on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research ship Thomas Jefferson, Douglas A. Wood '05 was awarded the Bronze Star, the highest award given by the U.S. Department of Commerce. In September 2005, after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the Thomas Jefferson was called to the area to survey commerce channels to ensure that they were unobstructed and passable for trade ships. Wood and fellow crew members spent more than two months in the Gulf, moving from Gulfport, Miss., to Pensacola, Fla., and then west to Galveston, Texas, and for their efforts, were awarded the Bronze Star.

A geoscience major, environmental studies minor while attending Hobart and William Smith, Wood used the William Scandling research ship, a valuable basis for his career. He interned at the Finger Lakes Institute, making a high resolution bathymetric map of Owasco Lake with Professor of Geoscience and Environmental Studies John Halfman. Wood graduated cum laude and was a member of the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society.

Wood now works as a hydrographic survey technician for NOAA, a division of the Department of Commerce, and has recently been surveying in Chesapeake Bay aboard the NOAA ship Rude.