Ocean explorer Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreckage of the RMS Titanic in 1985, will speak at CU-Boulder on Tuesday, April 21, in the Glenn Miller Ballroom. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and Ballard will begin speaking at 7 p.m. Seating for the free, public event, which is being hosted by the , will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
In his speech, titled 鈥淎dventures in Deep Sea Exploration: Living the Dream鈥�, Ballard will present his most recent work in deep water archaeology and the technology of "tele-presence." He will share his findings from numerous expeditions where he search for, located and documented sites of historical significance.
Making discoveries that have captured the imagination of the public, Ballard听has succeeded in tracking down numerous other significant shipwrecks, including the German battleship KMS Bismarck, the lost fleet of Guadalcanal, the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (sunk in World War II during the Battle of Midway) and John F. Kennedy鈥檚 boat, PT-109.
In addition to being a National Geographic Society Explorer-In-Residence and a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, Ballard is president of the Ocean Exploration Trust (OET). Having spent 30 years at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, he helped develop telecommunications technology to create tele-presence for his education initiative, which allows hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren to accompany him from afar on undersea explorations around the globe each year. He has a Ph.D. in marine geology and geophysics from the University of Rhode Island and in 2001 returned to the Graduate School of Oceanography where he is presently a tenured professor of oceanography and director of the Center for Ocean Exploration.
There will be a Q&A portion with the audience following the speech.
The Distinguished Speakers Board is a student-run cost center of the with the mission to bring the world鈥檚 greatest minds to the CU Boulder campus.
For more information about the event, or event accommodations, please contact the Distinguished Speakers Board at DSBchair@gmail.com or visit the group's .