URI_Research_Magazine_2011-2012_Melissa-McCarthy

“The university and the people of Rhode Island really embraced this adventure,” said Ballard. They are critical players who “stepped up to the plate.”

“It’s been an uphill battle, but we pulled it off,” said Ballard, as he sat one day last fall in the Inner Space Center, overlooking a command center, much like NASA’s, which is covered wall to wall with video screens. As Ballard spoke, a remotely operated vehicle was picking up a rock from the seafloor off the coast of Spain — in real time. The Exploration Vessel Nautilus , one of two exploration ships at Ballard’s command, was directing and filming the robot’s movements, then sending the images back digitally to the Inner Space Center, which posted them on the NautilusLive.org website for the world to see. A battery of international scientists, called Doctors-on-Call, stand by to interpret new findings as they happen and to help direct the movements of Hercules and Argus, the two remotely operated robots. This way, the expedition can expeditiously enhance the ship’s discoveries, essentially giving the whole endeavor more bang for its buck, Ballard explained.

Ballard dates his passion for oceanography to his youth in San Diego, California, where he loved exploring tidal pools. “I’ve always been interested in the bottom of the ocean,” he said. He joined the faculty at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography in 2002, founding the university’s Institute for Archaeological Oceanography in addition to launching the Inner Space Center. Rhode Islanders approved bond issues to help build the center and for their support, Ballard is grateful. He estimated that the cost of the whole project, including the two exploratory vessels, at $100 million, much of which comes from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “The university and the people of Rhode Island really embraced this adventure,” said Ballard. They are critical players who “stepped up to the plate.”

Bringing URI Ocean Research to Bear on Rhode Island Economic Development 9