David Pugh (13 July 1943 – 1 August 2022) was a British marine scientist and academic. He founded the

Global Sea Level Observing System Established in 1985, The Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) is an Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) program whose purpose is to measure sea level globally for long-term climate change studies. The program's purpose has changed ...

, was President of the

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It first met in Paris at ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, Director of the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level and emeritus fellow of the UK

National Oceanography Centre The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is a marine science research and technology institute based across two sites, one in Southampton and one in Liverpool, England. It is the UK’s largest institute for integrated sea level science, coastal ...

Biography

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, in 1943 to Welsh parents, Pugh was brought up in Trefnanney, Wales. He achieved his doctor of philosophy degree from

Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but retains a strong interest in the arts ...

in 1968, with his doctoral thesis entitled "The Thermal Environment of the Deep-Sea Floor". Following graduation one of his first positions was in 1969 when Pugh joined what came to be called the

Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory The former Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL) is based in Brownlow Street, Liverpool, England. In April 2010, POL merged with the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) to form the National Oceanography Centre. The Liverpool labora ...

, at

Bidston Bidston is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of th ...

Observatory in the Wirral. His work focused on

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

science and as part of this he invented a new class of

tide gauge A tide gauge is a device for measuring the change in sea level relative to a vertical datum. It is also known as a mareograph, marigraph, and sea-level recorder. When applied to freshwater continental water body, water bodies, the instrument may ...

, called a "bubbler", which remains in use to this day in the United Kingdom. In 1984 Pugh was appointed as Head of Oceanography, Hydrology and Meteorology for the UK

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British Research Councils UK, research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several envir ...

. Along with American oceanographer Klaus Wyrtki, Pugh proposed and established the

(GLOSS), a program of the

including real-time tsunami detection and contributing data to the global Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) repository. He was the first Chair of GLOSS from its 1985 establishment, and also served as Director of the PSMSL. Pugh went on to become Chair of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission from 2003 to 2007. Pugh published over 50 academic works and articles during his career. His 1987 book, "Tides, Surges and Mean Sea Level—A handbook for engineers and scientists", has been reported as "used by an enormous number of researchers and students", and received positive reviews as a valuable reference work. Following retirement Pugh continued to undertake research into tides and sea level, and was emeritus fellow of the

. Pugh died in Wales on 1 August 2022. He is survived by his wife, Carole, and son Gareth.

Awards and honours

Pugh was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

2003 Birthday Honours The 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours were announced on 14 June 2003 for the United Kingdom and on 2 June 2003 for New Zealand. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour. United Kingdom Knight Bachelo ...

for services to Marine Sciences as Secretary of the Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pugh, David 1943 births 2022 deaths Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge British oceanographers Scientists from Liverpool Members of the Order of the British Empire Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire

Biography

Awards and honours

Selected works

See also

References