Dr. Lee H. Somers

• Was an Eagle Scout
  
• Worked as a commercial hard-hat diver in Florida
  
• Earned a Master’s degree in Geology from the University of Illinois.
  
• Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Michigan.
  
• He was also University of Michigan faculty for 30 years, teaching oceanography, scuba diving and diving technology, while serving as the university’s Diving Safety Officer.
  
• Sea Grant’s lead researcher for Lake Lab (1970 in Grand Traverse Bay)
  
• Authored the Research Diver’s Manual
  
• He also worked with Dr. Martin Nemiroff (University of Michigan pulmonary specialist and diving medicine expert) on the famous cold water near-drowning research and outreach Michigan Sea Grant spearheaded during the late 1970s.
  
• AAUS Obit
  
• Founder and first president of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences.
  
• A founding director and Director Emeritus of the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society