Robert Ballard
Underwater Explorer (top)
A remotely-operated vehicle begins a dive to the sea floor (bottom)
Photographs by Ira Block (top); Randy Olson (bottom)

Most famous for his discovery of the Titanic shipwreck, undersea explorer Robert Ballard has devoted much of his career to the search for human history underwater. From famed World War II warships such as the Bismarck and John F. Kennedy’s PT-109, to wooden vessels more than a millennium old, Ballard has gained unexpected insights into human history through his underwater investigations.

In recent years he has become one of the leading advocates of deep-sea archaeology—the search for shipwrecks and other human artifacts in the ocean’s deepest points far from coastlines. Ballard believes that the world’s largest museum is in the depths of our planet’s oceans, where a wealth of unexplored human history awaits discovery: In the Black Sea, for example, ancient shipwrecks in a state of perfect preservation wait to be excavated; in the eastern Mediterranean, newly discovered hydrothermal vents reveal information about cataclysmic events that destroyed early civilizations; in the Pacific lies a graveyard of battleships that honor the memories of the greatest generation; and possibly the best known underwater museum, the R.M.S. Titanic, lies in the North Atlantic, but its preservation is threatened by both natural and man-made causes. In this presentation, Ballard will share some of his recent discoveries from the ocean’s depths, showing how deep-sea archaeology is writing new chapters in human history, and discussing the issues of preserving our heritage beneath the waves.

A former commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Ballard has received more than 30 awards including six military honors. He received National Geographic’s highest award, the Hubbard Medal, in 1996 for “extraordinary accomplishments in coaxing secrets from the world’s oceans and engaging students in the wonder of science.” Currently Ballard serves as a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, and President of the Institute for Exploration.

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S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium Benaroya Hall 200 University Street Seattle, WA

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