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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University oceanographic leader Mark Abbott has been named the 2011 recipient of the Jim Gray eScience Award, presented by Microsoft Research.

Abbott, who is dean of OSU's College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, is the fourth recipient of the award since its 2008 inception. It is presented to a nationally recognized researcher who has made outstanding contributions to data-intensive computing.

He will receive the award today (Dec. 5) in Stockholm, Sweden, at a joint meeting of the 2011 Microsoft Research eScience workshop and the annual Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers conference.

The award is named for Jim Gray, a Microsoft Research innovator, who disappeared at sea in 2007. A video feature focusing on the Gray Award is available on the Microsoft Research homepage.

"The Jim Gray eScience Award recognizes innovators who use computing to advance scientific discovery," said Tony Hey, corporate vice president, Microsoft Research Connections. "Mark Abbott represents the essence of this award with his outstanding contributions to integrating biological and physical science, data-intensive science and educational leadership."

Under Abbott's leadership, OSU's College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences has developed an international reputation for its research - especially in the collection, synthesis and distribution of data. The college's Environmental Computing Center houses one of the most sophisticated marine science computing networks in the country, and OSU researchers are global leaders in data-driven research on climate change, near-shore oceanography, ocean-atmosphere interactions and other fields.

Abbott's own research has pioneered the use of satellite measurements of ocean productivity, the deployment of an array of biological sensors in the Southern Ocean between New Zealand and Antarctica, and the use of advance computer technology on board ocean gliders and vehicles. All of these projects involved the collection and synthesis of complex data sets through the use of data-intensive information technology.

OSU also is a leader for the Ocean Observatories Initiative, the National Science Foundation's $386 million signature project to monitor the oceans' response to climate change. The college operates a fleet of undersea gliders that patrol the near-shore Pacific Ocean, logging critical data.

Also being honored in Stockholm is Alex Szalay, a Johns Hopkins University astrophysicist, who will receive a Jim Gray eScience award retroactively. Szaley had received a Microsoft Research award in 2007 based on technical computing contributions - the same profile as the Gray Award. He will retroactively be named a 2007 winner of the Gray Award.