Richard E. Thomson received his Ph.D. in Physics and Oceanography (with Distinction) from the University of British Columbia in 1971 and since graduation has worked as a research scientist within the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Sidney, British Columbia. He has authored/coauthored over 240 primary journal publications (including in Science and Nature), several hundred technical reports, two books on oceanography, and chapters for three books on marine sciences. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1995 and a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2009. He is the recipient of 14 academic awards including the John P. Tully Medal (2003), the Prix d'Excellence (2005), the Timothy R.

Parsons Medal (2009), the Deputy Ministers Commendation Award (2012), and the David C. Bevan Outstanding Career Award (2021). He has served as an Adjunct/Affiliate Professor at the University of Victoria (1999-present) and University of BC (1999-2023), as well as a Visiting Professor in Mathematics, University of New South Wales (Sydney, 1989), Visiting Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (Townsville, 1982) and Visiting Lecturer in Mathematics, Monash University (Melbourne, 1974). He has spent considerable time at sea as an investigator and co-investigator on large and small oceanic research ships operated by the Canadian Coast Guard, the University of Washington and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences. Recent projects have focused on the dynamics of coastal and deep-sea circulation, hydrothermal venting processes, tsunami generation and propagation, bioacoustics, oceans on icy planetary satellites, fisheries oceanography and global sea level variability.