Professor Mayer is 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. He has a broad background in marine geology and geophysics and 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 ten cruises on the USCGC 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, and enables the United States to conserve and manage ECS resources.

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 New Hampshire’s Excellence in Research Award, and the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography’s Distinguished Alumni Award and 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.