Mary C. Landsteiner

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death March 31, 1998 of Mary C. Landsteiner at her home in Falmouth following a long battle with cancer. She was 41.

Mary, a Research Assistant in the Physical Oceanography Department, was born October 11, 1956 in Corona, California, and attended schools there. She received a B.S. degree in oceanography in 1979 and a B.A. degree in applied mathematics in 1982, both from Humbolt State University in California, and earned a masters degree in oceanography from the University of Washington in 1988. She participated in a number of research cruises beginning in 1978, most recently a 1992 cruise aboard the R/V Thomas Thompson on Loihi Seamount and the Puna Ridge off Hawaii. She was awarded a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program Fellowship from 1990 to 1993.

Mary joined the WHOI staff in June 1993 as a Visiting Investigator in the Biology Department, working with Steve Bollens, Cabell Davis and others on the development of coupled physical/biological models to describe foodweb dynamics in the Bering Sea, and developing analysis routines to describe the time and space variability in the distribution and abundance of zooplankton on Georges Bank as part of the GLOBEC program. In November 1993 she was appointed a Research Assistant and remained in the Biology Department until July 1996, when she transferred to the Physical Oceanography Department. She worked with Breck Owens and Ruth Curry on a variety of projects, including the database of hydrographic stations and tools for analysis (HydroBase) for the North Atlantic, and she collaborated with colleagues at the University of Washington, including John Delaney, Russ McDuff and Marv Lilley, on a hydrothermal vent mapping project. Her research interests included upper ocean dynamics, numerical methods, physical/biological interactions, equatorial dynamics, utilization of remotely sensed data, oceanographic observations and interpretation, hydrothermal systems, and coastal and estuarine processes.

Prior to joining the WHOI staff, Mary worked as a Research Assistant in the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington (UW) from 1985 to 1993 on a variety of projects in the Arabian Sea, Pacific Ocean and Puget Sound. She also served as a teaching assistant at UW in 1984-1985.

Mary had many friends and was known for her love of life and the outdoors, and for her consideration to others.

She is survived by her many friends. An informal gathering of friends, for a moment of silence to commemorate Mary’s life, will take place at Nobska Point in Woods Hole on Sunday, April 5, at 4:00 p.m. A reception for those attending the gathering will follow at the home of Steve and VeeAnn Cross. Directions and maps to their home will be distributed at the gathering.

Memorial donations in Mary’s name may be made to the American Cancer Society, 1115 West Chestnut Street, Suite 301, Brockton, MA 02401 or to the Falmouth Hospital Foundation, Ter Heun Drive, Falmouth, MA 02540.