John LaBrecque

John L. LaBrecque is a Fellow of the International Association of Geodesy, Chair of the IUGG GeoRisk Commission and leads the Geohazards Monitoring Focus Area of the Global Geodetic Observing System. John LaBrecque is a 1977 graduate of Columbia University and a former senior research scientist of Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory where he conducted geophysical research in global tectonic evolution and geopotential fields using ocean surveying and drilling ships, aircraft, and satellites including the early evaluation of GPS for geophysical research. In 1993, Dr. LaBrecque joined NASA’s Solid Earth Program where he encouraged the development of ground and spaceborne GNSS applications for environmental and geohazards measurement. Dr. LaBrecque served as program scientist for several NASA missions including the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, the GRACE gravity missions, and numerous international GPS occultation missions including SAC-C, CHAMP, Oersted, and COSMIC. Dr. LaBrecque is the 2009 recipient of the Golden Medal of Merit from the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the 2013 recipient of the American Geophysical Union’s Edward A. Flinn III Award. Dr. LaBrecque retired from NASA in May, 2014. Dr. LaBrecque has published over 75 peer reviewed papers on geomagnetism, seismology, gravity, tectonics, geomorphology, and natural hazards. Dr. LaBrecque is focused upon the GNSS enhancement of Tsunami Early Warning Systems (GTEWS) for the Indo-Pacific region.