Raymond W. Schmitt is an Emeritus Research Scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Co-Founder of both Neal Brown Ocean Sensors, Inc. and Salient Predictions, Inc. He holds a B.S. degree in Physics from Carnegie-Mellon University and a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island.  He is a leading expert on double-diffusive convection, ocean turbulence, the global water cycle and the role of the oceans in climate. He has over 40 years of experience in oceanographic theory, observations and instrument development at WHOI, with over 100 refereed publications and over 13,000 citations. He has two patents. He has served on several National Academies of Science panels including the Ocean Studies Board, the America’s Climate Choices Panel, the Committee for Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy Technology Assessment and the Sustaining Ocean Observations Workshop Committee.  He was the NASA Salinity Science Team Leader from 2006 to 2016 and served two terms on the NASA Earth Sciences Advisory Committee. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and was a J.S Guggenheim Fellow in 1997-1998. He serves on the boards of the Climate Foundation and the Marine Renewable Energy Collaborative.   He worked with his sons to win $250,000 in a rainfall forecasting contest for the US West by combining new insights into the ocean’s role in the water cycle with artificial intelligence techniques. This win led to the founding of Salient Predictions, Inc.