Peter F. Worcester is a research oceanographer emeritus in the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.

Worcester’s primary research interests are in acoustical oceanography and underwater acoustics. His work has focused on the application of acoustic remote sensing techniques to the study of ocean structure and circulation. He has been engaged in the development of the technique of ocean acoustic tomography since its inception, including the development and deployment of the required instrumentation. He has participated in numerous experiments applying the technique to oceanographic and acoustic problems in the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, the Greenland Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Strait of Gibraltar.

Worcester received a B.S. in engineering physics from the University of Illinois in 1968, an M.S. in physics from Stanford University in 1969, and a Ph.D. in oceanography from Scripps Institution in 1977. He became a Scripps researcher in 1978.

In 2006, Worcester received the Walter Munk Award for Distinguished Research in Oceanography Related to Sound and the Sea, awarded jointly by The Oceanography Society, the Office of Naval Research, and the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy.

Worcester is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is also a member of the American Geophysical Union and The Oceanography Society.

He and his family reside in San Diego, Calif.

(Update January 2021)