“We used to get grants for high-risk science; not many of the funding agencies want to take risks today. It’s all very safe science, which in many ways is boring science,” says Dr. John Morse, holder of Texas A&M’s Scherck Chair in Oceanography. “If you’re ever going to make big advances, you’ve got to be willing to try things that are risky.”

It’s unlikely that anyone would label John Morse’s science as boring. After all, what better to capture the imagination than offering support for the theory that Martian oceans could have supported life?

Although Morse, who holds master’s and doctoral degrees in geology from Yale University, admits that the existence of life on the red planet remains a matter of “pure speculation,” his calculations helped conclude that life-sustaining conditions once existed on Mars.

For years, he explains, key questions in the debate about life on Mars centered on whether liquid water could have existed in that planet’s extremely cold environment and whether the water’s chemistry could support life.

Using NASA data gathered by the Mars Global Surveyor satellite, the Mars Rover and the Viking I, Morse analyzed the planet surface’s chemical composition—in particular, levels of carbon—in order to answer those questions.

“I think it’s pretty clear now that there was liquid water on Mars,” he says. “The question was whether there ever had been anything like oceans. From what we now know, there is no reason to say there shouldn’t have been. The debate now is ‘How much was there and for how long?’”

Just as his analyses of Mars lent weight to the idea of life on our neighboring planet, Morse’s earthbound projects seek not only a better understanding of life on this planet, but a better quality of life.

Morse describes his research objective simply – “to apply physical and inorganic chemistry to address problems”—yet there is nothing simple about the questions he strives to answer.

For example: Could carbon dioxide be removed from the atmosphere, liquefied and pumped into nearly-depleted natural gas wells to counter the greenhouse effect while extending the wells’ operating lives?

If his current Department of Energy project yields favorable results, Morse says, “It may be possible for us not only to get rid of the carbon dioxide, but also pump the remaining gas out in sufficient quantities to pay for the process.”

When Morse applied for the $1 million Louis and Elizabeth Scherck Chair in Oceanography, he employed a similarly innovative new approach to solving a longstanding problem among researchers: limited funding for graduate students’ research.

Louis Scherck was a graduate of Brown University who came to Texas in 1935 to enter the oil and gas business. Through both his business activities and as a major in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, he met many Aggies and came to hold Texas A&M in high regard.

As an oilman, Scherck also understood the importance of oceanographic research to his industry. Less than a year before his 1994 death, he wrote in a letter to the College of Geosciences’ development officer that it was his “conviction that the oceans of the world represent the frontier of the future, and will play a very important role in both the political and economic status that my great-grandchildren and beyond may expect to encounter.”

Scherck backed up his conviction with a $1.47 million bequest to Texas A&M to support oceanographic teaching and research.

Morse, in turn, opted to devote the chair’s stipend to bolstering his students’ research capabilities. “I’m using the funds primarily to support three graduate students and develop scientific infrastructure—to buy lab equipment and develop computer-modeling capabilities,” he says.

“In order to support graduate students, we normally have to rely on research grants,” Morse adds. “That limits students to the projects that their advisers can get the money for, rather than allowing them to pursue their dreams.”

Thanks to the Schercks’ generosity and Morse’s approach, undergraduate students are also supported by funds from the chair. “Typically three to four undergraduates work as technical and lab assistants each semester,” says Morse. “For many it is their first chance to take what they have learned in courses and apply it to actual problems. It is a real chance for classical apprenticeship.”

Morse’s use of the chair funds is exactly what Dr. David Prior, dean of the College of Geosciences, had hoped would occur. “We’re trying to find ways to support graduate students at every turn,” says Prior. “I’m delighted that John is using this position to bring in graduate students.”

In his first year as chair holder, Morse already is seeing results on a scale previously unattainable. He invested a portion of the money in microelectrode probes, which can detect the chemical difference between layers of sediment no farther apart than the width of a human hair.

“We hope to take core samples, insert the electrode and be able to tell what kind of creatures are living there and see what the relationship is between the community and the chemistry of the sediment,” Morse explains.

In other words, he says, observing those minute differences in chemistry may help us understand if and how life can survive in a given area. “Being able to see chemical interactions on that scale is just a whole new world for us.”