People
Larry Mayer
Ph.D. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1979
- Director, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping
- Co-Director, Joint Hydrographic Center
- Professor of Earth Science and Ocean Engineering
Research Areas
Sonar imaging, remote characterization of the seafloor, and advanced applications of 3-D visualization to ocean mapping problems
Research Emphasis
Larry Mayer has a broad-based background in marine geology and geophysics that is reflected in his association with both the Ocean Engineering and Earth Science Departments. He graduated magna cum laude with an Honors degree in Geology from the University of Rhode Island in 1973 and received a Ph.D. from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in Marine Geophysics in 1979. At Scripps his schizophrenic future was determined as he worked with the Marine Physical Laboratory's Deep-Tow Geophysical package, but applied this sophisticated acoustic sensor to problems of the history of climate.
After being selected as an astronaut candidate finalist for NASA's first class of mission specialists, he went on to a Post-Doc at the School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island where he worked on problems of deep-sea sediment transport and paleoceanography of the equatorial Pacific. In 1982, he became an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Oceanography at Dalhousie University and in 1991 moved to the University of New Brunswick to take up the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Ocean Mapping. In 2000 he became the founding director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire and the co-director of the NOAA/UNH Joint Hydrographic Center.
Dr. Mayer has participated in more than 50 cruises (over 60 months at sea!) during the last 30 years and has been chief or co-chief scientist of numerous expeditions including two legs of the Ocean Drilling Program. He has served on, or chaired, far too many international panels and committees and has the requisite large number of publications on a variety of topics in marine geology and geophysics. He is the recipient of the Keen Medal for Marine Geology and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Stockholm. He served on the President's Panel for Ocean Exploration and has recently chaired a National Academy of Sciences committee on "National Needs for Coastal Mapping and Charting." His research deals with sonar imaging, remote characterization of the seafloor, and advanced applications of 3-D visualization to ocean mapping problems.