Les Bender

Experience

Sep 06 – Present Associate Research Scientist, Geochemical and Environmental Research Group, Ocean Sciences Division. Texas A&M University. Responsible for operational oceanography involving the Texas Automated Buoy System and conducting oceanographic research, writing proposals, and administering grants.

Aug 00 – Sep 06 Assistant Research Scientist, Geochemical and Environmental Research Group, Ocean Sciences Division. Texas A&M University. Primarily responsible for operational oceanography involving the Texas Automated Buoy System and for conducting oceanographic research.

Feb 98 – Aug 00 Senior Research Scientist, Powerware Solutions, Inc. Responsible for performing the research and development necessary to maintain an alignment between the company’s strategic objectives and its core technical competency. This entailed water chemistry modeling, prediction of consumption patterns, simulation of water utility operations, optimization of pipeline design, and financial and risk management modeling.

Jan 95 – Feb 98 Assistant Research Scientist, Texas-Louisiana Shelf Circulation Program,
Texas A&M University. Analyzed, synthesized and modeled observational data collected during a three-year physical oceanography field program on the Texas- Louisiana continental shelf.
 

Publications

• Bender, LC, NL Guinasso, JN Walpert, and SD Howden, A comparison of methods for determining significant wave heights: Applied to a 3-m discus buoy during hurricane Katrina, to be submitted to the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, June, 2009.
• Bender, LC, NL Guinasso, JN Walpert, and SD Howden, Wave heights from a 3m discus buoy during Hurricane Katrina, Proceedings of the MTS/IEEE Oceans 2008 Conference, Quebec City, Canada, Sept 15-18, 2008.
• Howden, S, D Gilhousen, N Guinasso, J Walpert, M. Sturgeon, and L. Bender, Hurricane Katrina winds measured by a buoy mounted sonic anemometer, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 5(4), 607-616, 2008.
• Bender, LC, NL Guinasso, JN Walpert, LL Lee, RD Martin, RD Hetland, SK Baum and MK Howard, Development, Operation and Results from the Texas Automated Buoy System, Gulf of Mexico Science, 25(1), 33 – 60, 2007.
• MacDonald, I.R., L.C. Bender, M. Vardaro, B. Bernard, J.M. Brooks, Thermal and Visual Time-Series at a Seafloor Gas Hydrate Deposit on the Gulf of Mexico Slope, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 233, 45-59, 2005.
• Martin, R.D., Jr, N.L. Guinasso, Jr., L.L Lee, Jr., J.N. Walpert, L.C. Bender, R.D. Hetland, S.K. Baum, & M.K. Howard, Ten Years of Realtime, Near-surface Current Observations Supporting Oil Spill Response, Proceedings 2005 International Oil Spill Conference, American Petroleum Institute, Washington, D.C., pp 541 – 545, 2005.
• Walpert, J.N., N.L. Guinasso Jr., L.C. Bender, and L.L. Lee III, The Effects of Marine Fouling on the Performance of a Single-Point Acoustic Doppler Current Sensor Mounted on a TABS-II Spar Buoy, In OCEANS 2001 MTS/IEEE Proceedings, 956-961, Marine Technology Society, Washington DC, 2001.
• DiMarco, S.F., and L.C. Bender, WAM4 model/data comparison in the NW Gulf of Mexico, Ocean Wave Kinematics, Dynamics and Loads on Structures Proceedings, American Society of Civil Engineers, Houston, Texas, April 30, 1998.
• Tolman, H.L., L.C. Bender, and W.L. Neu, Comments on "The Goddard Coastal Wave Model. Part I: Numerical Method," J. Phys. Oceanog., 28(6), 1287-1290, 1998.
• Tolman, H.L., W.L. Neu, and L.C. Bender, Comments on "The Goddard Coastal Wave Model. Part II: Kinematics," J. Phys. Oceanog., 28(6), 1305-1308, 1998.
• Bender, L.C. and T.J. Glowacki, The Assimilation of Altimeter Data into the Australian Wave Model, Aust. Met. Mag., 45, 42-48, 1996.
• Bender, L.C., A Modification of the Physics and Numerics in a Third Generation Ocean Wave Model, J. of Atm. & Ocean. Tech., 13(3), 726-750, 1996.
• Bender, L.C. and K.C. Wong, The Effect of Wave-Current Interaction on Tidally Forced Estuarine Circulation, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 16,521-16,528, 1993.