Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne, the director of the University of Vermont’s Spatial Analysis Lab and a former officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, died earlier this month at 49. According to his obituary and a remembrance published by the Mansfield Nordic Club, O’Neil-Dunne died of a heart attack on Jan. 6 while Nordic skiing in Craftsbury with his friends.
“Jarlath was the sort of person who attracted people into his orbit,” said Chris Danforth, a longtime UVM colleague and close friend of O’Neil-Dunne. “He behaved in a way that always encouraged people around him to be the version of themselves they aspired to be.”
As a part of his work with the UVM Spatial Analysis Lab, O’Neil-Dunne founded and helmed the university’s Unoccupied Aircraft Systems Team, which uses drone imagery for aerial data collection and analysis with a variety of applications, including environmental assessment and disaster response.
Serving as Vermont’s resident eye-in-the-sky, O’Neil-Dunne conducted research on a broad array of natural resource-related issues, including wildlife habitat mapping and high-elevation forest decline. He would often share stunning aerial photos of Vermont’s vibrant foliage with the public on social media.
Meanwhile, he worked with local, state and federal officials to further the use of drone technology in disaster response and recovery.
During Vermont’s catastrophic flooding last summer, O’Neil-Dunne led the Unoccupied Aircraft Systems Team’s work as it assisted state agencies with recovery efforts by providing aerial mapping and analysis of the flood waters in what had thus far been the largest use of drones for disaster response ever carried out in New England, according to UVM.
Anna Royer, a geospatial specialist who worked under O’Neil-Dunne at the Spatial Analysis Lab, said he brought unparalleled enthusiasm and positivity to his work.
“He really was kind of a dream boss,” said Royer. “If you ever had a moment of doubt about the work you were doing, he could revive you in a second.”
Jarlath Patrick Macbeth O’Neil-Dunne was born Sept. 15, 1975, in Taunton, a town in Somerset, England, according to Danforth. He moved with his family to New Jersey in his infancy and spent his childhood there before attending the University of New Hampshire, where he studied forest science, according to his LinkedIn profile.
O’Neil-Dunne also served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 12 years, eventually becoming an intelligence officer while serving in East Asia, East Africa and the Middle East, according to a remembrance published by UVM.
While studying for a master’s degree at UVM, O’Neil-Dunne first joined the university staff in 2004 as a geospace analyst and later became the director of the UVM Spatial Analysis Lab in 2012, a post that he held until his death.
In his personal life, O’Neil-Dunne was an avid outdoorsman and athlete. According to those who knew him, he enjoyed Nordic skiing, cycling and running, among other activities, which he took part in year-round — rain or shine — and usually in the company of friends and family.
“He always was himself,” said his brother, Aengus James O’Neil-Dunne. “He always spent time doing what he loved, and that was being outdoors and pushing his body.”
O’Neil-Dunne helped share his love of the outdoors with his three children, who shared memories of their father with VTDigger. His eldest daughter, Ailsa, 19, said they went on “crazy adventures” with him on the weekends and all loved spending time outdoors together. His younger daughter, Maeve, 12, and son Gus, 17, said they especially loved to go nordic skiing and hiking with their father.
“While hiking, he would explain to us how the environment adapted to be able to thrive and survive in the harshest conditions,” Ailsa said.
“He taught us to appreciate even the days with bad weather,” she said. “He would bike to work on a snowy morning in the freezing cold and love every second of it.”
O’Neil-Dunne was also a member of what friends and community members affectionately referred to as “The Boy Band,” a group of men who organized outdoor workouts multiple times a week.
“Jarlath was one of the fittest humans I have ever met in my life,” said Paul Suk-Hyun Yoon, a friend and UVM colleague who was also a part of the exercise group.
“He was someone who took very seriously functional fitness and physical wellbeing as a manifestation of one’s health,” said Yoon. “A very important piece to that was the importance of our mental well-being and the strength and quality of our relationships with one another.”
Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne is survived by his partner Julie Hathaway and their three children.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the ages of Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne’s children.
