Meet Robert Ballard

Dr. Robert (Bob) Ballard is perhaps best known for his investigations of the Titanic shipwreck, Bob Ballard is a visionary oceanographer who is continually extending our reach and understanding of the underwater world. Read the full text of Bob's interview below to learn more about his job.

About the Job

What is your title?

Oceanographer

Where do you work?

I work at the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography .

Do you travel often?

Yes.

What are the educational requirements for your job?

Having a bachelors of science, a masters of science, and doctorate degrees.

What is the salary range for someone with your type of job?

Senior oceanographers make between $100,000 and $150,000 a year as full professors.

How many hours do you work per week?

I work approximately 60 hours a week.

Job Duties

Tell us about your research and the types of things you do.

Developing a new graduate program in archaeological oceanography at the University of Rhode Island and working with the first group of graduate students, our continuing research in the Black Sea, improving our telepresence program via the Immersion Institute, and looking forward to NOAA's new ship of exploration, the Okeanos Explorer, coming online... too many things to list.

What is the most fascinating thing you have ever seen or done?

I think the most fascinating thing I ever saw were the creatures living in and around deep-sea vents.

What are the personal rewards of your work?

That you can excite and motivate young people to become life-long learners of science and technology.

How does your work benefit the public?

Greater understanding of the world around us, awareness of conservation issues, increasing our use of advanced technology.

What else could someone with your background do?

Teach, lecture, and conduct expeditions.

About Bob

What sparked your initial interest in ocean sciences?

Growing up in Southern California, spending a summer working at Scripps, and going to graduate school at the University of Hawaii gave me a good perspective on the vastness of the world oceans. I was fascinated and wanted to explore that secret world.

I was heavily influenced by books, movies, and television programs about the undersea world including "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," "Sea Hunter," and the "Underwater World of Jacques Cousteau."

I graduated from a passive interest in the underwater world to an active interest when I learned how to SCUBA dive. That was when I saw the true beauty of this hidden world.

As time went on, I graduated from SCUBA diving to deep-diving submersibles, reaching depths of 20,000 feet. At first, I thought the only way to appreciate the underwater world was to "physically" descend beneath the waves and "see" it first hand. But few people have this opportunity and even those who can, the journey is long, frustrating, and very expensive for what little time you can spend there.

Then I began to develop deep-sea robots to take me. These robots are called Remotely Operated Vehicles or ROVs.

At first, they were primitive vehicles like ARGO that I used to discover the Titanic and Bismark. Their cameras were black and white and in no way equaled the experience of looking out of the view port of my submersible.

But then, in the early 1980s, there was a series of technological breakthroughs that would change everything, the first of which was fiber-optic cable. Instead of using copper cables through which I was transmitting my black and white images of the Titanic using ARGO in 1985, I could now use fiber-optic cable to transmit beautiful, high-definition color images of the Titanic using my new ROV HERCULES in 2004.

Another breakthrough was the recent development of Internet2, the new SUPER information highway.

Then the bulb in my head went off. Why not bring all of this together? My love of the undersea world and a desire to share that love with everyone in a way that would not destroy the very thing we loved. Why not take people who will never go themselves to this world and let them see why these wonders of the underwater world and help protect them for future generations?

Who influenced you or encouraged you the most?

My father, Chet Ballard.

Looking back, was there anything you would have done differently in your education or career journey?

I might have taken more courses in the humanities.

What obstacles did you encounter along the way?

I might have taken more courses in the humanities.

What are your hobbies?

Fishing, horseback riding.

Career Timeline