Patricia Fryer, Ph.D., Research Professor, University of Hawaii
Patricia Fryer is a Research Professor at the University of Hawaii.
Patricia received her B.S. in Geology from the College of William and Mary and Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii. She has led or participated in a total of 45 research expeditions. Her many dives in the submersibles Alvin and Shinkai 6500 and expeditions with remotely operated vehicles (ROV), including the Woods Hole Nereus hybrid ROV, have been primarily in the Mariana Trench and island arc areas.
She served as chair of the Deep Submergence Science Committee, which provides science guidance for the submersible and ROV operations at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She participated in discussions of sampling operations for design of James Cameron's Deepsea Challenger submersible in Sydney in December 2011 and was an onboard scientist on his historic expedition in March-April 2012 to dive in the Challenger Deep.
Her research deals with volcanic and tectonic processes of trenches and mid-ocean spreading centers. It is currently focused on huge mud volcanoes near the Mariana Trench that are erupting cold, green, serpentine (asbestos) mud and producing ghostly carbonate chimney structures at springs that host unique biological communities from microbes to mussels.
