Organising ocean expeditions
Revelle entered Scripps as a graduate student in 1931 and later became a researcher and director. He promoted research cruises and international cooperation that extended investigations into the open ocean, including its seafloor and physical processes.
Carbon in the ocean and atmosphere
In 1957 he and Hans Suess examined carbon-dioxide exchange between the atmosphere and ocean and the additional carbon from fossil fuels. He supported Charles David Keeling’s precise observations, making sustained measurement an important test of carbon-cycle questions.
References: [2]
Universities and public policy
Revelle helped establish UC San Diego in 1960, bringing researchers from different disciplines together. In 1964 he moved to Harvard to found its Center for Population Studies, later returning to San Diego to work on science and public policy.
References: [1]