Larry Mayer, director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping and co-director of the UNH/NOAA Joint Hydrographic Center, was appointed by President Biden to chair the U.S. Arctic Research Commission.
President Biden has appointed Larry Mayer, director of UNH’s Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM), as chairperson of the United States Arctic Research Commission (USARC). USARC is an independent federal agency that advises the President and Congress on Arctic research. This is Mayer’s second appointment to the USARC, as he was previously appointed in 2016.
“With growing recognition of the critical role that the Arctic plays in myriad global issues, including national security, resources and climate, it is incumbent upon us to assure that we conduct the best possible research in order to better understand this complex and fragile region.”
“I am very honored to have been re-appointed to the Commission,” says Mayer. “With growing recognition of the critical role that the Arctic plays in myriad global issues, including national security, resources and climate, it is incumbent upon us to assure that we conduct the best possible research in order to better understand this complex and fragile region.”
Mayer is the founding director of CCOM and the co-director of the NOAA/UNH Joint Hydrographic Center. He has a broad background in marine geology and geophysics. His research interests include sonar imaging, remote characterization of the seafloor, and advanced applications of 3-D visualization to ocean mapping challenges. He is jointly appointed in UNH’s ocean engineering and Earth science departments. Mayer has participated in more than 100 scientific research expeditions (over 80 months at sea) during the past 50 years.
He has been chief or co-chief scientist of numerous expeditions, including 10 cruises on the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy, mapping unexplored regions of the Arctic seafloor in support of the U.S. announcement of the U.S. “extended continental shelf” (ECS) outer limits in December 2023. This action, which added a total area of approximately one million square kilometers — an area about twice the size of California — protects long-term U.S. national interests and sovereign rights.
Mayer is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering for “development of techniques and technologies for coastal, Arctic, and ocean floor mapping.” He was awarded the Keen Medal for Marine Geology, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Stockholm, the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography’s Distinguished Alumni Award and UNH’s Excellence in Research Award. He was the first recipient of the Walter Munk Medal from The Oceanography Society. He is also an elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research. He served on the President’s Panel for Ocean Exploration and chaired a National Academy of Sciences committee on “National Needs for Coastal Mapping and Charting.” He co-chaired NOAA’s Ocean Exploration Advisory Working Group and chaired the National Academy of Sciences Ocean Studies Board.
USARC’s mission is to develop and recommend U.S. Arctic research policy to the President and Congress and to build cooperative links in Arctic research within the federal government, with Arctic residents, the State of Alaska, researchers and international partners.
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