Dr. Robert D. Ballard

Dr. Robert D. Ballard is chairman of The JASON Project and explorer-in-residence with the National Geographic Society. He is widely acclaimed for revolutionizing undersea exploration through the development of remotely operated submersibles capable of working at expedition sites miles below the surface.

On one of his most famous expeditions, Dr. Ballard and a team of scientists traveled to the Galapagos Islands in 1977 and discovered hot springs on the seafloor called hydrothermal vents. They found these vents brimming with life, including giant tubeworms that survive in a highly toxic environment. The tubeworms subsist on bacteria, which convert the poisonous chemicals from the vents into food. This chemical-based food-making process is referred to as chemosynthesis. Until Dr. Ballard and his team learned about tubeworms, scientists thought all life depended upon photosynthesis, the energy of sunlight.

Finding hydrothermal vents also led Dr. Ballard and his expedition team to determine the chemistry of the ocean water. They learned that ocean water is cycled through the Earth's crust, changing its mineral composition in the process. The water goes down through cracks in the Earth's crust until it hits very hot rock. It becomes superheated and dissolves minerals from the rocks, then shoots up through the hydrothermal vents back into the ocean. This helped finally solve the question: Why is ocean water salty?

Dr. Ballard also ventured on the first manned exploration of the Mid-Ocean Ridge and discovered polymetallic sulfides, high temperature "black smokers," and warm water springs and their unusual animal communities in the Galapagos Rift.

In addition to RMS Titanic, his famous shipwreck discoveries include the luxury liner Lusitania, the German battleship Bismarck, the U.S.S. Yorktown, and 11 warships from World War II's lost fleet of Guadalcanal.

Dr. Ballard has published more than 60 scientific articles in journals including Science, Nature, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research, and numerous popular books and articles for the general public.