Camila Fernandez/Assistant News Director
At a young age of 42 years, coordinator of research programs for the School of Environment, Arts and Society, Thor Dunmire, has passed away.
A marine scientist, Dunmire spent his last years as part of the University’s College of Arts and Sciences Aquarius program, the only program in the world to have an undersea research laboratory.
In a memorandum to the University, director of Human Resources relations, Trudy Fernandez, said Dunmire worked from Big Pine Key to Antarctica and the Pacific Ocean.
A skilled diver, Dunmire joined the U.S. Navy where he was trained as a Navy SCUBA diver and became a diving officer, said faculty senate chairman Kathleen Wilson at a Sept. 2 Faculty Senate meeting.
“Thor was never far from the family or ocean he loved. He was a force on or in the water,” said Wilson.
He had graduated with a bachelor’s in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Florida in 1989. He later entered the University of Miami for graduate school in Biochemistry, Cell Biology and Molecular Biology.
At the Aquarius program, Thomas Potts, director of the Aquarius Reef Base laboratory, said Dunmire was a big asset to the program and an incredibly likeable guy.
“He was one of those guys who could do everything,” said Potts. “He had a good grasp on the science that was being conducted, especially with the local waters.”
Dunmire served the program as diving supervisor, boat captain and diving medical technician.
He was part of a family atmosphere where the Aquarius team are invested in one another, said Potts.
He was also a talented visual artist who painted fish and diving-themed, often whimsical works, said Wilson.
He will be leaving behind his children, aged three and four.
“The University mourns his passing, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this time of bereavement,” said Fernandez.
camila.fernandez@fiusm.com
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