Prior to joining OWAQ in 2010, Cortinas directed NOAA Research’s Cooperative Institute program, overseeing the administration of a program that supported more than 1000 scientists and students at United States universities working with NOAA.  In this position, he oversaw administration, grant management, and science policy development for cooperative institutes across the United States and led the development of NOAA’s first Administrative Order governing CIs and its accompanying handbook.

From 1992-2003, Cortinas was a research scientist at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies at the University of Oklahoma, working with scientists at NOAA Research’s National Severe Storms Laboratory to improve winter weather products and services at NOAA’s National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.  In 2000, he became the first CIMMS assistant director of NOAA Relations, overseeing NOAA-supported activities at CIMMS.

ADVOCATE FOR UNDERREPRESENTED IN STEM

Throughout his career, Cortinas has been a passionate advocate for underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).  He is a member of several scientific organizations that work to improve diversity within STEM, such as the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals, Latinos@NOAA, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Meteorological Society (AMS), for which he is currently an elected representative of the AMS Council.

Cortinas grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and is the oldest of five children. He received a B.S. in Meteorology from Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado, and a doctorate in Geophysical Sciences from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.  Cortinas has authored and co-authored many scientific articles, including a chapter on operational meteorology in the Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences, Academic Press, Vol. 4, and served on numerous American and international scientific working groups and committees.

Molly’s research expertise includes measuring the strength of the Western Boundary Current in the North Atlantic, monitoring the meridional overturning circulation in the North Atlantic as part of the RAPID/MOCH program, managing high-density XBT observations in the Atlantic, and leading repeat hydrography and coastal carbon dioxide surveys. Molly has served in leadership roles on more than 29 hydrographic programs since 1998, including the role of chief scientist on more than a dozen of these cruises.

Molly’s scientific leadership extends well beyond the ship’s helm. Molly has served on more than 21 national and international panels including as secretary of the Physical Oceanography Section of the American Meteorological Society and the International Argo Panel, regularly providing advice and direction on national science policy and program management, including stakeholder negotiations.

Molly received her doctoral degree in 1994 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the field of physical oceanography. Molly is also a graduate of NOAA’s Leadership Competency Development Program and the National Weather Service’s Building Leaders for a Solid Tomorrow (BLAST) program. Molly also served as AOML’s acting deputy director in 2010, during the Deep Water Horizon oil spill, skillfully managing resources to support AOML’s scientific response.

Molly has published over 80 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Science, the Journal of Climate, and the Journal of Geophysical Research, to name a few. Over the past ten years she has also served as a principal investigator or co-principal investigator on numerous externally funded research programs totaling more than $30 million. She is also the recipient of the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal award for her role on the Western Boundary Time Series Team.