Dr. Sidney (Sid) Thurston has 30 years of experience in engineering and science Project Management, serving in both the private and public sectors. Working with Rockwell International’s Advanced Satellite Systems Division during the 1980s, he contributed to the design of the Star Wars satellite constellation. After completing graduate degrees in Oceanography, he joined NOAA’s Office of Global Programs in 1995. While residing in Japan during the next six years, he conducted wave research with the Japan Science and Technology Agency while coordinating NOAA’s ocean-climate observations with Asian Partners, including Japan’s Marine-Earth Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC).

Dr. Thurston currently serves NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing (GOMO) Program where his responsibilities include managing the Global Drifter Program (GDP), Indian Ocean Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) and building overseas Resource-Sharing Partnerships. Dr. Thurston recently stepped down after serving ten years as Chair of the WMO/IOC Data Buoy Cooperation Panel (DBCP) Task Team for Capacity Building where he logged over two million air miles while organizing twenty Workshops in the Indo-Pacific Region. He currently serves the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Earth Observing Systems and Monitoring Networks (SC-ON), Observations co-Chair of the Joint Collaborative Board (JCB) and International Cooperation and Partnerships for the DBCP Executive Board and Chairs the Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS) Resource Forum (IRF). Dr. Thurston is a member of  Tau Beta Pi, the U.S. National Engineering Honor Society, and enjoys bicycling, scuba diving and international travel with his Japanese wife and three children.