FORDE, EVAN B. (born 1952), American oceanographer and the first African American scientist to perform deep-sea research in a submersible. Forde was born in Miami and showed an early interest in science. At Columbia University he studied geology as an undergraduate and marine geology and geophysics for his master’s degree, after which he took a job at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, where he would work for three decades.
Forde’s research has contributed to ocean cartography and ocean chemistry, marine geology, and meteorology. His work mapping underwater canyons and studying the evolution of their geological formations has involved deep-water submersible dives in the Atlantic Ocean into areas previously unexplored by scientists, and his discovery of a sediment slide off the coast of New Jersey led to the cessation of offshore drilling in that area. His current work uses satellite sensor data to predict the formation and intensity of hurricanes.
Forde has received numerous awards for both his scientific research and his commitment to science education, including NOAA Employee of the Year, South Florida Federal Employee of the Year in Service to the Community, and a Congressional Commendation. He has developed and taught science courses from the middle-school to the graduate-school level, spoken to over eighty thousand South Florida schoolchildren, and authored a science column in the children’s magazine Ebony Jr. In 2009 both Miami-Dade County and the City of North Miami celebrated Evan B. Forde Day. “I enjoy the thrill of beginning with a scientific hypothesis and never knowing how my scientific inquiry will end up,” Forde has said. “It’s that uncertainty, along with my thirst for knowing the truth and furthering our knowledge of our oceans and atmospheres, that drives me.”