Staff in Memoriam: Timothy P. Whorf

Timothy P. Whorf passed away suddenly at his home Sept. 19, 2005. He was born in 1947 in Hartford, Conn., and grew up in Ojai.

Timothy P. Whorf
Staff Research Associate 4
Geological Research Division
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Years of service at UCSD: 27

Timothy P. Whorf passed away suddenly at his home Sept. 19, 2005. He was born in 1947 in Hartford, Conn., and grew up in Ojai. He received his B.A. from Pomona College in 1968 and his M.S. from UCSD (IGPP) with Jonathan Berger in 1974. Tim’s study of earthquakes at IGPP initiated a career-long interest in cycles and time-series in nature.

Tim began his career at UCSD in 1978, when he joined Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Carbon Dioxide Research Group (CDRG). Over the years he worked closely with Professor Charles Keeling on the atmospheric CO2 record and other studies and co-authored many articles and reports.

One of Tim's primary responsibilities was the analysis and interpretation of atmospheric CO2 data collected at Mauna Loa Observatory and the network of CDRG sampling stations. Tim's rendering of the Mauna Loa CO2 record, also known as the "Keeling Curve," has become the often-reproduced and most widely known symbol of humankind's impact on global biogeochemistry.

"Tim was a free spirit, full of life and passion," said Alane Bollenbacher, Tim’s colleague and a member of SIO’s Carbon Dioxide Research Group.

"He will be greatly missed."