Lora Van Uffelen

Dr. Lora Van Uffelen is an Associate Professor in the Ocean Engineering department at the University of Rhode Island, where she leads the OPERA Lab. Her research spans underwater acoustics, acoustical oceanography, and signal processing, with a focus on autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) integration for long-range acoustic propagation studies and marine mammal monitoring in Arctic and tropical environments.

Education:

• Ph.D., Oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (2009)
• Post-Doctoral Researcher, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (2010)
• B.S., Engineering, Hope College (2002)

Her work combines underwater acoustic modeling, glider navigation, and passive acoustic monitoring for applications in Arctic acoustics, coral reef soundscapes, and real-time positioning systems. Recent publications highlight automated acoustic arrival matching algorithms, Doppler effects on AUV navigation, and self-noise characterization of Seagliders.

Grant Leadership:

• Office of Naval Research (PI, 2023)
• URI Research Foundation (PI, 2021)
• NIUVT Collaborative Projects (Co-PI, 2020)

The OPERA Lab under Dr. Van Uffelen explores benchmarking underwater platform positioning, acoustic processing automation, and long-range subsurface navigation with projects spanning Hawaii to the Arctic.