David A. Brooks
  • Professor Emeritus

Biography

  • Circulation, tides and mixing processes and the distribution of lobster larvae along the central Maine coast
  • Modeling tidal and riverine circulation in shelf and coastal environments
  • tidal power generation

 

Research Interests

  • Dynamics of shelf, marginal and coastal seas;
  • Western boundary current fluctuations;
  • Observational and modeling studies in shelf and coastal ecosystems;
  • Tidal-power generation

Educational Background

  • Ph.D. Physical Oceanography, University of Miami, 1975
  • M.S. Ocean Engineering/Acoustics, University of Miami, 1971
  • B.S. Electrical Engineering, University of Maine-Orono, 1965

Industry Experience

    • Trustees’ Advisory Board, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, 2020-2024
    • Professor Emeritus Oceanography, Texas A&M University, 2017
    • Senior Professor of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, 2017-2019
    • Professor, Oceanography, Texas A&M University, 1987-2017
    • Executive Associate Dean and Associate Dean for Research, College of Geosciences, 1998-2003
    • Head, Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, 1994-1998
    • Adjunct Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, 1988- 2013. 
    • 1983 -1987 Associate Professor of Oceanography, Texas A&M University
    • 1978 -1983 Assistant Professor of Oceanography, Texas A&M University
    • 1979 -1980 Adjunct Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
    • 1975 -1978 Research Associate and Graduate Faculty Member, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

    Editorial:

    Founding Editor and Publisher, Oceanography Magazine, (1987-91).

    Director of Publications, The Oceanography Society (1988-91).

    Editor, "The Oceanography Report," Eos, American Geophysical Union  (1984-87).

Awards & Honors

  • Association of Former Students College Level Distinguished Teaching Award, 2011

Selected Publications

    • Bayer*, S.R., D.A. Brooks, and others, 2019: Modeling and observations of larval scallops in a tidally-energetic estuary: The Damariscotta River, Maine (manuscript in preparation).
    • Spencer*, L., S.F. DiMarco, Z. Wang, J. Kuehl, D.A. Brooks, 2016: Asymmetric oceanic response to a hurricane: Deepwater observations during Hurricane Isaac. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 121, 7619-7649. doi: 10.1002/2015JC011560.
    • Brooks, D.A., 2011. Salinity and tides in a mesotidal estuary: the Kennebec River of central Maine. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (in revision).
    • Brooks, D.A., 2010. The hydrokinetic resource in the central Maine coast between the Kennebec and Damariscotta Rivers. Renewable Energy 36(5), 1492-1501.
    • Brooks, D.A., 2009. Circulation and dispersion in a cancellate coast: the rivers, bays and estuaries of central Maine. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 83, 313-25, dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2009.04.009
    • Brooks, D.A., 2006. The tidal-stream energy resource in Passamaquoddy-Cobscook Bays: A fresh look at an old story. Renewable Energy 31(14), 2284-2295.
    • Brown, C.A., Holt, S.A., Jackson, G.A., Brooks, D.A., and Holt, G.J. 2004. Simulating larval supply to estuarine nursery areas: How much variation in larval supply to Aransas Pass inlet is explained by physical processes? Fisheries Oceanography, 13(3), 181-196.
    • Brooks, D.A., 2004. Modeling tidal circulation and exchange in Cobscook Bay, Maine. Northeastern NaturalistVol. 11 (Special Issue 2), 23-50.
    • Brooks, D.A. 2002. Review of: Seas at the Millennium: An Environmental Evaluation. (C. Sheppard, Ed.),Pergammon Press, 2352 pp. Oceanography 15(1), 146-147.
    • Brown, C.A., Jackson, G.A., and Brooks, D.A. 2000. Particle transport through a narrow tidal inlet due to tidal forcing and implications for larval transport. J. Geophys. Res. 105 (C10), 24141-24156.
    • Xue, H., Xu, Y., Brooks, D.A., Pettigrew, N., and Wallinga, J. 2000. Modeling the Circulation in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Estuarine and Coastal Modeling (M. Spaulding and A. Blumberg, Eds.), Am. Soc. Civil Eng., 1299 pp.
    • Brooks, D.A., Baca, M.W., and Lo, Y.T. 1999. Tidal circulation and residence time in a macrotidal estuary: Cobscook Bay, Maine. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 49: 647-665.

     

    Selected examples of ocean-related books, articles and essays:

    • 2020: The Cutler Code. A sailing adventure in the Gulf of Maine. Amazon books.
    • 1990: LaViolette, P., D.R. Johnson and D.A. Brooks. Sun-glitter photographs of Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine from the space shuttle. Oceanography, 3(1), 43-49.
    • 1988: The Type Thirty Triode. Eos 68, June 2, 555-556. Reprinted in: Antique Radio Classified, 5(1)
    • 1986: Another Tale of Halley. Eos 67 (8), 89, February 25. Reprinted in: Earthquake Information Bulletin (H. Spall, Ed.), U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, April-May, 1986.
    • 1984: The eastern maritime boundary between the United States and Canada.  Eos, 65 (50), 1209-1210, December
    • 1983: Building the Wayfarer Dinghy.  Wooden Boat Magazine, 51,  March/April.
    • 1980: Bane, J. M., D.A. Brooks, K. Lorenson, and C. Seay.  Three-dimensional view of a Gulf Stream meander between Savannah, Georgia and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.  Gulf Stream Magazine,  May 6.