Ralph Rayner

Ralph is a Professorial Research Fellow in the Department of Statistics at LSE. He also holds a senior advisory position at the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He is a fellow of the Institute for Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, the Society for Underwater Technology, the Marine Technology Society, the Royal Meteorological Society, the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and the Royal Institution.

Background

Ralph has a first degree in biology, a masters in underwater science and technology and a PhD in physical oceanography. For much of his career he has worked at the interface between the public and private sectors, delivering the ocean data and information needed to support understanding of climate change, the sustainable use of ocean resources and the protection of the marine environment. He is a former chair of the IOC/UNESCO Global Ocean Observing System Steering Committee and currently serves on the advisory bodies of a number on leading ocean research organisations, including the Schmidt Ocean Institute and the OceanQuest Foundation. He is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Operational Oceanography and is a founding trustee of the Rising Seas Institute.

Research Interests

• Sea level rise and its implications for coastal communities and infrastructure.
• Understanding the scale and scope of the ocean economy.
• Determining the economic, societal, and environmental benefits of ocean observation, measurement and forecasting.

Research – 2025

• Lead for the 2025 US Ocean Enterprise Study to measure the scale and scope of Ocean enterprise business activity in the United States.
• Lead for the development of the Benefits of Ocean Observing Catalog (BOOC), a global repository for use cases describing the economic, societal and environmental benefits derived from ocean data and information.

Events – 2025

8 October Ocean of Knowledge Conference, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.
10-11 September Blue Finance 2025, London
9-13 June United Nations Ocean Conference, Nice.
8-10 April Ocean Business, Southampton