For them, every drop of water connects back to the vast family of oceans that cover most of Earth’s surface and represent about 95% of the planet’s biosphere. These oceans, beyond their beauty and biodiversity, play a critical role in climate regulation—absorbing over a quarter of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions and around 90% of excess heat.
However, with rising sea levels threatening coastlines and communities, Lisa and John recognize that protecting our oceans is essential in mitigating the broader climate crisis. Their commitment to ocean health stands as a call to action, underlining the urgency of preserving our planet’s greatest ally in combating climate change.
Lisa Beal is a professor in the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science at the University of Miami. She is an expert on the Agulhas system of currents around South Africa and has brought recognition to the key role this system plays in a warming climate through her publications and international leadership.
Beal designs research programs, leads scientific cruises, and supervises graduate students and postdoctoral scientists in a quest to understand variability and change in the ocean. Beal teaches Physical Oceanography at the graduate level, as well as courses on Observing the Ocean and Climate Change to undergraduates including students in non-science majors.
Both Lisa and John are avid swimmers, each holding a health-conscious approach that fuels their investigative spirits with every step they take on land and every stroke they make in water.
In addition to her research, Beal works to increase the engagement, recruitment, and retention of women and minorities in oceanography. She has led mentoring groups for MPOWIR.org. She produced the recruitment film Women in Oceanography with videographer Valery Lyman. She funds and co-leads an annual scientific writing workshop with author Dallas Murphy. In 2019 she led a review of the Indian Ocean Observing System, highlighting the importance of partnering with Indian Ocean rim nations in its design and sustainability. She teaches periodically in the Honors program at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. And she currently serves as Editor in Chief of JGR-Oceans where she is proud to have recruited the most diverse editorial board in the journal’s history.
When she’s not working as an oceanographer, mentor, teacher, writer, chief scientist, editor, communicator, or climate action advocate, Beal is an open water swimmer, tango dancer, and proud supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. She enjoys fresh cocktails, the performing arts, and spending time in the shady, wild garden she shares with her husband and neighbors on Miami Beach.
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