Titanic discoverer speaks at UTPA

EDINBURG — Robert Ballard's fascination with underwater terrain began when he was a boy growing up in California.

He loved visiting the nearby mountain ranges, but when he read Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, he decided he wanted to see the mountains below.

"I didn't want to be an oceanographer. I wanted to be Captain Nemo," he said Tuesday during a talk at the University of Texas-Pan American as part of its Distinguished Speakers Series.

Ballard and a team of U.S. and French scientists discovered the R.M.S. Titanic in 1985 using state-of-the-art technology they developed and took numerous photographs of the sunken luxury liner.

On Tuesday, he shared stories and photos of his work and his adventures below the sea to encourage young people to pursue careers in science.

Ballard is the third "Distinguished Speaker" for the 2008-2009 school year. Last fall, conservationist and TV show host Jeff Corwin and former Egyptian first lady Jehan Sadat spoke to packed houses at the university's fine arts auditorium.

Judy Shepard, a gay rights activist and the mother of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old college student who was killed in Laramie, Wyo., because he was gay, is slated to speak at UTPA on March 10.

Like previous speakers, Ballard addressed a packed auditorium filled in part with middle and high school students enrolled in Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, an initiative that encourages low-income students to go to college.

Although Ballard and his team have explored much of the oceans, they and other scientists have seen just a fraction of what lies below.

"We have better maps of Mars than we have of Earth," he said.

It will be up to future generations to explore and discover the mysteries of the deep, Ballard said.

"Your generation will be exploring more (of the) Earth than the last three generations combined," he said.

After finding the remains of the Titanic, Ballard said he received about 16,000 letters from children asking him what they needed to do to become explorers like him and if they could join him on his next trip.

Ballard, who also taught oceanography and related courses at Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said it got to a point where none of the students he was teaching were from the United States, because so many international students were meeting the admissions standards for those programs.

"And it hurts," he said.

That and the letters he received from children inspired him to create the JASON Project, a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Geographic Society that allows students to accompany Ballard and other scientists in their expeditions via Webcasts and other technology in their classrooms.

Now in its fifth year, UTPA's Distinguished Speakers Series is funded by student activities fees, but the events are free and open to the public. Previous speakers include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbechev and former CBS News anchor Dan Rather.

Several who attended Ballard's presentation said beforehand that they were curious to learn more about his expeditions and hoped he would talk about the Titanic.

"He's like a modern-day treasure hunter," said Peter Martinez, a 16-year-old sophomore at Mercedes High School who attended with fellow GEAR UP students.

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Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.