Alfred Scott McLaren, PhD and retired US Navy Captain, is recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal and two Legions of Merit, president emeritus of the Explorers Club, former senior pilot of the SAS Super Aviator submersible, and president emeritus of the American Polar Society. He is author of Unknown Waters: A First-Hand Account of the Historic Under-Ice Survey of the Siberian Continental Shelf by USS Queenfish (SSN-651) and Silent and Unseen: On Patrol in Three Cold War Attack Submarines.

This talk will focus on Captain McLaren's most recent book, Emergency Deep: Cold War Missions of a Submarine Commander. The memoir conveys the entire spectrum of Captain McLaren’s experiences commanding the USS Queenfish, mainly in the waters of the Russian Far East and also off Vietnam, from September 1969 to May 1973. Ensuing discussion will also address the Captain's other areas of expertise and experience: climate change, exploration of the Siberian Continental Shelf, exploration of extreme underwater environments, geographic oceanic areas and the Arctic.

Hosted by Dr. Wanyun Shao of the Geography Department.