2011 Vetlesen Lectures in Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the University
of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography:
The State of Our Oceans
The Last Great Frontier - March 29.
Robert Ballard, professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most famous for his 1985 discovery of the remains of the Titanic, will discuss ocean exploration in a lecture entitled “The Last Great Frontier” on Mar. 29 at 7:30 p.m.
His
presentation, in Edward’s Auditorium on the URI Kingston campus,
is part of the University’s Vetlesen lecture series on “The
State of the Oceans” in conjunction with the 50th anniversary
of the Graduate School of Oceanography. The event is free and open
to the public.
In his lecture, Ballard will share his passion for the deep ocean and his quest to better understand and preserve the marine environment for future generations..
“We completed a very comprehensive research cruise last fall that lasted almost five months, and I’ll be discussing the data from that expedition, including the search for ancient shipwrecks and studies of the geology in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Ballard said. “I’ll also preview our plans for a comparable research program this year to the Black Sea, the Aegean and areas off the coast of Israel, Tunisia, Spain and Sicily.”
A marine geologist who earned a Ph.D in oceanography from URI, Ballard is yet more of the plethora of distinguished alumni who have passed through URI’s exceptional Graduate School of Oceanography. Ballard serves as president of the Institute for Exploration in Mystic, Conn. He has conducted more than 100 deep-sea expeditions and has succeeded in tracking down numerous significant shipwrecks, including the German battleship Bismarck, the lost fleet of Guadalcanal, the American aircraft carrier Yorktown, sunk in World War II’s Battle of Midway, and John F. Kennedy’s WWII patrol ship PT-109.
He spent 30 years at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he helped develop manned submersibles and remotely operated vehicles for marine research. He went on to develop telecommunications technology to allow scientists and schoolchildren to participate in undersea explorations from afar, which became the basis for the technology in the URI Inner Space Center.
A commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Ballard was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President George W. Bush in 2003 and the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal in1996 for extraordinary accomplishments in coaxing secrets from the world’s oceans and engaging students in the wonder of science. He continues to lead scientific expeditions every year.
To view this lecture online, click here.
Major Sponsors:
The G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation
The URI Graduate School of Oceanography
Co-Sponsors:
URI Coastal Institute
URI Honors Program
Special Sponsors:
URI College of Arts & Sciences
URI Harrington School of Communication and Media
Rhode Island Sea Grant
Colloquium Coordinators:
Professor Steven D'Hondt, Graduate School of Oceanography;
Dr. Sunshine Menezes, Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting, Graduate School of Oceanography;
Professor Arthur Spivack, Graduate School of Oceanography;
Professor Judith Swift, Coastal Institute / Communication Studies.
