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Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Susanne Elizabeth Craig

(Scientist III)

Susanne Elizabeth Craig's Contact Card & Information.
Email: susanne.e.craig@nasa.gov
Org Code: 616
Address:
NASA/GSFC
 Mail Code 616
 Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer: UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE CO

Missions & Projects

Current Projects

PACE Science Lead for System Vicarious Calibration

Remote Sensing

Positions/Employment

Senior Scientist

NASA GSFC Ocean Ecology Laboratory/USRA - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

February 2018 - Present

Lead for the PACE mission system vicarious calibration (SVC) activities. Ocean color algorithm development, radiative transfer, machine learning, phytoplankton ecology.

Mission Scientist

Canadian Space Agency - St. Hubert, Quebec, Canada

January 2017 - June 2017

Mission Scientist for the Canadian Ocean Colour Imager (COCI) Program, Canadian Space Agency.

Adjunct Professor

Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University - Canada

March 2014 - March 2019

Adjunct Professor

Department of Process Engineering & Applied Science, Dalhousie University - Canada

December 2013 - Present

Senior Research Associate

Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University - Canada

November 2011 - July 2016

Federal Research Scientist

Bedford Institute of Oceanography - Canada

June 2012 - July 2014

Scientist

Bedford Institute of Oceanography - Canada

November 2011 - October 2012

Adjunct Research Associate

Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University - Canada

October 2008 - October 2013

Consulting Scientist

Center for Hydro-optics & Remote Sensing (CHORS), San Diego State University - San Diego, CA

June 2007 - June 2009

Consultant Scientist for NASA funded research project, SORTIE, investigating alternative radiometric validation methods for satellite ocean color.

Research Associate

Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University - Canada

October 2005 - October 2010

Research Scientist

Department of Marine Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi - John C. Stennis Space Center, MS

October 2003 - September 2005

Investigating the use of hyperspectral radiometry to detect and assess the dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, as part of the ECOHAB project.

Research Fellow

Department of Civil Engineering, Environmental Health Research, University of Strathclyde - Glasgow, Scotland

March 2000 - September 2000

Leverhulme Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Strathclyde - Glasgow, Scotland

January 2000 - March 2003

Research Scientist

Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Strathclyde - Glasgow, Scotland

July 1999 - February 2000

Research Scientist

Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory - Oban, Scotland

June 1995 - October 1995

Teaching Experience

PhD, Masters Advisor & Highly Qualified Personnel Supervision

Advisor and/or committee member for multiple PhD and MSc degrees in Oceanography and Engineering.

Unless otherwise indicated, personnel are from Dalhousie University

  • Alan Wilson MASc candidate, 2014-2017 Thesis committee
  • Jonathon Lemay MSc candidate, 2015-2016 Thesis committee
  • Yunchen Li MASc candidate, 2016-present Co-supervisor
  • Loay Jabre MASc candidate, 2014-2017 Co-supervisor
  • Rio Yorke, Sean Campbell, Jad Tawill Senior year design project, Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering, 2015 Project Designer & Co-supervisor
  • Haya Qadoumi MASc candidate, 2014-2016 Co-supervisor
  • Alan Wilson MASc candidate, 2014-2016 Thesis committee
  • Thomas Barnett MASc candidate, 2013-2016 Co-supervisor
  • Alex Hayes MASc candidate, 2013-2014 Thesis committee
  • Aaron Outhwaite MASc candidate, 2013-present Thesis committee
  • Monika Woźniak (University of Gdansk/Stockholm University) PhD candidate, 2013-2015, Co-supervisor with Dr. Susanne Kratzer (Stockholm University)
  • Michael Brown MSc candidate, 2011-2014 Co-supervisor
  • Jianwei Wei PhD candidate, 2009-2013 Thesis committee
  • Alison Conley BSc Honours thesis, 2012 Co-supervisor
  • Jessica Wingfield Co-op student, May-Aug. 2010 Supervisor
  • Alison Conley Co-op student, Jan.-Apr. 2010 Supervisor
  • Alison Conley Co-op student, May-Aug. 2009 Supervisor

Graduate Level Teaching

2003 - 2005: Department of Marine Science, University of Southern Mississippi, MS, USA

  • M.Sc. Remote Sensing for Hydrographers, HYD 611
  • M.Sc. Marine Bio-optics, MAR 701-01

Undergraduate Level Teaching

1994-1999: Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Scotland

  • Undergraduate physics laboratories and tutorials, undergraduate seminar courses, student assessments
  • Outreach tutor: science outreach for schools and general public for Women in Science and Engineering events and numerous science education events

 

Education

PhD Physics, 2000

Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. Thesis: “Spectral Measurements of Absorption, Scattering and in vivo Fluorescence from Phytoplankton Cultures”.

Supervisors: Dr. Alex Cunningham (University of Strathclyde), Prof. Jim Aiken (National Centre for Earth Observation)

BSc (Hons) Physics, 1995

Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
 

Professional Service

  • Chair Ocean Optics XXIII Conference 2016 Planning Committee
  • (http://www.tos.org/oceanopticsconference/), 2014-2016
  •  
  • Member of core writing team Core writer for successfully funded Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) award of $93.7M to establish Dalhousie’s Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI), 2016
  • Team member Canadian Space Agency-Naval Research Laboratory-NASA User’s Science Team on the Coastal Ocean Colour Imager (COCI) for the PACE mission, 2016
  •  
  • Panelist NASA Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Proposal Review Panel, 2016-present
  •  
  • Project Scientist NASA NAAMES (North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study) Project, 2015-present
  •  
  • Member NASA Scoping Study Team for Arctic-COLORS (COastal Land Ocean inteRactionS), 2014-present
  •  
  • Member & Session Chair Ocean Optics XXII Conference 2014 Planning Committee, 2012-2014
  •  
  • Co-chair International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group (IOCCG) Working Group on Coastal Water Algorithm Comparison, 2014-2016
  •  
  • Principal Investigator NASA Phytoplankton, Clouds and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite mission Science Team, 2014-2017
  •  
  • Invited lecturer PhD training course on sea-truthing and bio-optical modeling, Stockholm University, Askö Laboratory, Sweden, May 2014
  •  
  • Steering Committee Canadian Network on Coastal, Oceans and Lakes Optics Remote sensing (NetCOLOR), 2014-present
  •  
  • Panel Member Review panel for The Oceanography Society Jerlov Award, 2014
  •  
  • Proposal Reviewer NASA, Agence Nationale de la Recherche (France), National Science Foundation (NSF, USA), Belgian Science Policy (BELSPO), NSERC (Canada), NERC (UK), on going
  •  
  • Scientific Advisory Board Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE): Fundy Applied Sensor Technology (FAST), 2012-present
  •  
  • Member Writing team for NASA working group on remote sensing of coastal and inland waters, 2012-2014
  •  
  • Member Satellite Phytoplankton Functional Type (PFT) Algorithm Intercomparison Project, 2012-present
  •  
  • Member International Ocean-Colour Coordinating Group (IOCCG) Working Group on phytoplankton functional types, 2006-2014
  •  
  • Session Chair Ocean Optics XVIII Conference 2006, In Situ Optics – Session 7
  •  
  • Manuscript reviewer Journal of Geophysical Research, Remote Sensing of Environment, Applied Optics, Optics Express, Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics, Limnology and Oceanography, Deep-Sea Research, Biogeosciences, Journal of Plankton Research, Harmful Algae, Continental Shelf Research, Journal of Marine Systems, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Water Resources Research, Ocean Science, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.
     

Grants

Phytoplancton de surface par télédétection satellitaire - Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada - Awarded: 2014-06-01


Dates: 2015-01-01  - 2016-01-01

Amount 45,000

Improved assessment of scallop stock status with remotely sensed phytoplankton community structure information - Strategic Program for Ecosystem-Based Research and Advice (SPERA) – Department of Fisheries & Oceans Canada - Awarded: 2015-10-01


Dates: 2016-01-01  - 2019-01-01

Amount 132,200

Derivation of Inherent Optical Properties from Satellite Top of Atmosphere Measurements in Optically Complex Waters

Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES-2013), A.25: Pre-Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) - NASA (NNH13ZDA001N) - Awarded: 2014-07-01


Dates: 2014-10-01  - 2017-09-30

Development of autonomous unmanned aerial platforms for remote sensing of ocean colour

Killam Predoctoral Fellowship - Killam Foundation - Awarded: 2015-02-15


Dates:  - 

Amount 100,000

Development of autonomous unmanned aerial platforms for remote sensing of ocean colour

Nova Scotia Graduate Entrance Scholarship - Faculty of Graduate Studies, Dalhousie University - Awarded: 2015-07-01


Dates:  - 

Developing Remote-sensing Indices of Trophic Availability (RITA) for ecosystem status at appropriate scales

Strategic Program for Ecosystem-Based Research and Advice (SPERA) - Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada - Awarded: 2013-08-01


Dates:  - 

Amount 120,000

An ocean-atmosphere supersite was established on Sable Island in the NW Atlantic to investigate the role of marine biogenic volatile organic compounds in secondary aerosol formation.

Data Display and Source Apportionment of Volatile Organic Compounds on Sable Island - Natural Resources Canada/Environmental Studies Research Fund - Awarded:


Dates: 2012-06-01  - 2017-08-31

Amount 1,000,000

Investigation into the role of phytoplankton in the uptake of atmospheric CO2.

Physical and Phytoplankton Controls of CO2 uptake on the Scotian Shelf - Canadian Foundation for Climate & Atmospheric Science - Awarded:


Dates:  - 

Amount 47,000

Machine Learning Approaches for Predicting Phytoplankton Community Composition from Ocean Color

ROSES-2020, Program Element A.3 Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry - NASA (NNH20ZDA001N-OBB) - Awarded: 2020-11-12


Dates:  - 

Coverage: 0.3

Amount $656,137

Publications

Refereed

2021. "A Short Glossary of Inclusive Language.", Oceanography, 34 (2): [10.5670/oceanog.2021.207] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "150 shades of green: Using the full spectrum of remote sensing reflectance to elucidate color shifts in the ocean.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 247 111900 [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.111900] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Radiometric approach for the detection of picophytoplankton assemblages across oceanic fronts.", Optics Express, 28 (18): 25682 [10.1364/oe.398127] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Inversion of multiangular polarimetric measurements from the ACEPOL campaign: an application of improving aerosol property and hyperspectral ocean color retrievals.", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 13 3939–3956 [10.5194/amt-13-3939-2020] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "A global compilation of in situ aquatic high spectral resolution inherent and apparent optical property data for remote sensing applications.", Earth System Science Data , 12 (2): 1123-1139 [10.5194/essd-12-1123-2020] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Top of Atmosphere, Hyperspectral Synthetic Dataset for PACE (Phytoplankton, Aerosol, and ocean Ecosystem) Ocean Color Algorithm Development.", PANGAEA, [https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.915747] [Dataset]

2018. "An overview of approaches and challenges for retrieving marine inherent optical properties from ocean color remote sensing.", Progress in Oceanography, 160 186–212 [10.1016/j.pocean.2018.01.001] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Blooms and subsurface phytoplankton layers on the Scotian Shelf: Insights from profiling gliders.", Journal of Marine Systems, 172 118-127 [10.1016/j.jmarsys.2017.03.007] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "A Novel Statistical Approach for Ocean Colour Estimation of Inherent Optical Properties and Cyanobacteria Abundance in Optically Complex Waters.", Remote Sensing, 9 (4): 343 [10.3390/rs9040343] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Oxygen isotope measurements of seawater ( H218O/ H216O): A comparison of cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS).", Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, 14 (1): 31-38 [10.1002/lom3.10067] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "The effect of seasonality in phytoplankton community composition on CO 2 uptake on the Scotian Shelf.", Journal of Marine Systems, 147 52-60 [10.1016/j.jmarsys.2014.07.006] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Aquatic color radiometry remote sensing of coastal and inland waters: Challenges and recommendations for future satellite missions.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 160 15-30 [10.1016/j.rse.2015.02.001] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Detection of karenia brevis and Karenia mikimotoi Blooms.", Reports of the International Ocean-Colour Coordinating Group: Phytoplankton Functional Types from Space. , 15 [Report]

2014. "Curvature in models of the photosynthesis-irradiance response.", Journal of Phycology, 50 (2): 341-355 [10.1111/jpy.12164] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Metaproteomic analysis of a winter to spring succession in coastal northwest Atlantic Ocean microbial plankton.", The ISME Journal, 8 (6): 1301-1313 [10.1038/ismej.2013.234] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Estimation of diffuse attenuation of ultraviolet light in optically shallow Florida Keys waters from MODIS measurements.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 140 519-532 [10.1016/j.rse.2013.09.024] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Examining the links between air quality, climate change and respiratory health in Qatar.", Avicenna, (2013): 9 [10.5339/avi.2013.9] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Regional-scale effects of eutrophication on ecosystem structure and services of seagrass beds.", Limnology and Oceanography, 57 (5): 1389-1402 [10.4319/lo.2012.57.5.1389] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Direct observations of diel biological CO2 fixation on the Scotian Shelf, northwestern Atlantic Ocean.", Biogeosciences, 9 (6): 2301-2309 [10.5194/bg-9-2301-2012] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Deriving optical metrics of coastal phytoplankton biomass from ocean colour.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 119 72-83 [10.1016/j.rse.2011.12.007] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Air-Sea CO2 fluxes on the Scotian Shelf: seasonal to multi-annual variability.", Biogeosciences, 7 (11): 3851-3867 [10.5194/bg-7-3851-2010] [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "Using Mass Reconstruction along a Four-Site Transect as a Method to Interpret PM10 in West-Central Scotland,United Kingdom.", Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 59 (12): 1429-1436 [10.3155/1047-3289.59.12.1429] [Journal Article/Letter]

2006. "Use of hyperspectral remote sensing reflectance for detection and assessment of the harmful alga, Karenia brevis.", Applied Optics, 45 (21): 5414 [10.1364/ao.45.005414] [Journal Article/Letter]

2003. "Fine-scale variability in phytoplankton community structure and inherent optical properties measured from an autonomous underwater vehicle.", Journal of Marine Systems, 43 (1-2): 51-59 [10.1016/s0924-7963(03)00088-5] [Journal Article/Letter]

2003. "Semi-empirical correction algorithm for AC-9 measurements in a coccolithophore bloom.", Applied Optics, 42 (21): 4369 [10.1364/ao.42.004369] [Journal Article/Letter]

2003. "Estimation of absorption and backscattering coefficients from in situ radiometric measurements: theory and validation in case II waters.", Applied Optics, 42 (15): 2804 [10.1364/ao.42.002804] [Journal Article/Letter]

. "In situ high spectral resolution inherent and apparent optical property data from diverse aquatic environments.", PANGAEA Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science, [https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.902230] [Dataset]

Non-Refereed

2024. "Life after launch: a snapshot of the first six months of NASA’s plankton, aerosol, cloud, ocean ecosystem (PACE) mission.", Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XXVIII, 14 [10.1117/12.3033830] [Proceedings]

2021. "US SOLAS Science Report.", , [10.1575/1912/27821] [Report]

2019. "Bayesian Models for Deriving Biogeochemical Information from Satellite Ocean Color.", Earth ArXiv, [10.31223/osf.io/shp6y] [Other]

2016. "Remote-sensing Indices of Trophic Availability (RITA) for ecosystem status.", Canadian Technical Report of Hydrography and Ocean Sciences, 3166 (xiii): 87p [Report]

Talks, Presentations and Posters

Invited

The Global Ocean from Space: Phytoplankton, Fish, and Climate

December 6, 2021

COP26: United Nations Climate Change Conference, Glasgow, UK, Invited NASA Hyperwall presentation, 31 Oct - 12 Nov 2021. https://www.youtube.com/live/GyV6B5k_QRA?feature=share

Other

Selected Public Outreach

PACE Spotlight: The ROSEy Research of PACE Scientist Susanne Craig

March 2018 - Present

PACE blog entry

The day I… left home and joined NASA: Scots scientist Susanne Craig shares her story

September 2019 - September 2019

Interview in a Scottish Sunday Newspaper on childhood aspirations to work for NASA

Contact Us

For general inquiries about the Sciences and Exploration Directorate.

Jocelyn Lynch

Project Support Specialist

301-286-6066 jocelyn.m.lynch@nasa.gov
Ellie Jeffries

Project Support Specialist

301-286-6066 ellie.jeffries@nasa.gov
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