Evan Forde

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Evan B. Forde is an American oceanographer.

Forde was born in Miami, Florida and received his primary education in the local public school system. He received his bachelor's degree in Geology and his Master's degree in marine geology and geophysics, both from Columbia University in New York. Forde became a researcher in the Marine Geology and Geophysics laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) while an undergraduate at Columbia during the summer of 1973.

Utilizing his background in classical Marine Geology techniques, Forde became a recognized authority on the formation, evolution and sedimentary processes of east coast U.S. submarine canyons. Among Forde's career highlights are successful submersible dive expeditions in several submarine canyons utilizing ALVIN, the JOHNSON SEA LINK and NEKTON GAMMA. Additional scientific research efforts have included studies of gravity-induced mass sediment movements on continental slopes, 3-dimensional mapping of hydrothermal plumes, and the study of ocean-atmosphere exchange of anthropogenic carbon dioxide.

In 1998, Forde became a researcher in NOAA/AOML's Satellite Remote Sensing group. The mission of this group is to use satellite radiometry and scatterometry data to verify and improve the quality of oceanographic and meteorological data in open ocean areas. This work has many potentially far reaching applications most notably in the early detection of forming hurricanes as well as improving hurricane intensity and track predictions models.

Forde has also worked in the area of science education. He developed and teaches graduate level courses on Tropical Meteorology targeted towards K-12 teachers, authored science experiments in a children’s magazine for three years, created a Severe Weather Poster for NOAA that was distributed nationally to 50,000 teachers by the National Science Teachers Association. Forde has spoken to greater than 25,000 school children through presentations about his oceanographic and academic careers. He has been the subject of two museum exhibits, including a current display in the Great Explorations section of the Staten Island Children's Museum and he has been featured in a number of periodical articles, numerous text books as well as many other books and publications on prominent African American scientists.