Robert D. Ballard

Robert D. Ballard

Robert D. Ballard (Robert Duane Ballard) was born on June 30th, 1942 and is currently 83 years old. Robert D. Ballard was born in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Ballard attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he received an undergraduate degree, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa where he received an M.S. degree, the University of Southern California where he received a PhD and the University of Rhode Island where he received a PhD.

Robert D. Ballard is a well-known and accomplished deep-sea explorer who made his name for his discoveries of Bismarck the German battleship, the sunken R.M.S. Titanic and hydrothermal vents. Over his decades-long career, he has been involved in more than 150 expeditions in the deep sea.

Ballard grew up in San Diego and since his home was a few meters from the Ocean he loved to spend his free time walking the sandy beaches where he learned to swim and SCUBA dive. He also got encouragement about life as an explorer from his teachers, parents, and eventually oceanographers who saw his potential.

Throughout his teenage years, Robert D. Ballard spent much of his time doing something associated with ocean engineering and oceanography. He would ultimately get a job at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as a Naval officer where he spent three decades.

Even though Robert Ballard started as a marine geologist studying North American continental margins, he would later shift to hydrothermal, tectonic, and volcanic processes of the Mid Ocean Ridges. He also developed an interest in maritime history, marine archeology, and the development of deep-diving submersible and remotely operated vehicles.

Outside of his professional pursuits, Ballard is the founder of the JASON Project. Nearly 2 million students have taken part in the project designed to bring the wonders of the sea, air, and earth to classrooms across the globe. In the program, they learn all about natural phenomena from storm systems to volcanoes.

In 1992, Robert D. Ballard published Bright Shark a work set in 1988 where Fanning II, an American research vessel is doing tests off the Greek Coast when it discovers traces of an Israeli submarine that had gone missing in 1967.

U.S. intelligence is concerned as the Bright Shark, a coded file is still open after two decades. But the U.S. is not the only party interested in Bright Shark. As the Americans tried to resolve the mystery, the U.S.S.R., and Israel came together to keep the secret of the submarine and this could result in a confrontation with the United States.

Robert D. Ballard published Finding the Titanic a work that tells the story of the sinking of the Titanic and the mission to locate it decades later on the ocean floor.

It is a novel that has two stories. The first focuses on a twelve-year-old Ruth Becker who is a passenger who survived the sinking of the Titanic. The other story tells of Ballard locating and taking pictures of the ship on the ocean floor.

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Fans of Robert D. Ballard also enjoy these authors:

1. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series.
2. Dean Koontz, author of the Odd Thomas Series.
3. Jim Butcher, author of The Dresden Files Series.
4. Marie Lu, author of the Warcross Series.
5. George R.R. Martin, author of the A Song Of Ice and Fire Series.

Robert D. Ballard: F.A.Q