Workshop: summary
Day 1: Meshing Science and Pedagogy
Peter Rhines covered broad topics of GFD (atmosphere and ocean) and relevant laboratory experiments: Rossby waves excited by plunger, vortex shedding from obstacle, and inertial waves, to name a few. One of his newer techniques that underscored the measurements of these experiments was optical altimetry, which uses the parabolic free surface of the rotating fluid as a telescopic mirror and thereby maps the entire topography of the free surface by a carefully positioned light source and a camera. The precision of the technique is such that it complements the Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) method, for not just geostrophically balanced flows but also unbalanced flows. A wide ranging discussion followed Peter's talk. Topics were not limited to science and technology-related questions. For example, safety and legal (copyright) issues were also discussed at length.
In the afternoon, a hands-on demonstration session was conducted in the Dave Fultz Memorial Laboratory (4th floor of the Department of Geophyical Sciences). There were five presenters during this session (more photos on the gallery page).
Scott Kittelman showed a series of simple demonstrations which illustrate how fluids behave in nature. His demonstrations included parabolic surface of water spinning in solid body rotation when accelerated by a power drill, laminar flow over a mound, Benard convection cells, and differential heating from different albedos. 
Each demonstration stressed simple designs with safety and “run-down free” operation as a central theme. Also, Scott stressed that all aspects of the experiments should be transparent to the students. An example of this is the wiring in his albedo experiment is consciously a part of the display, so students can see how the information is being passed from the experiment, to the computer for visualization.
Satoshi Sakai demonstrated many useful applications of an infra-red imaging device (thermography). This device showed which materials are optically thick in the infrared band. The device was also useful in demonstrating temperature gradients, and was used by curious audience members in other demonstrations.
Claudia Cenedese demonstrated internal gravity waves and overshooting when a third fluid is added to a two-fluid stratified tank. Several Pub versions of this demonstration were shared by members of the audience.