On Feb. 7, students, faculty and Starkville community members filled Bettersworth Auditorium to the brim to listen to Dr. Robert Ballard as part of the Global Lecture Series hosted by the Mississippi State University’s Student Association. 
Participants of the event were able to hear about Ballard’s many explorations, such as finding the Titanic and other ancient shipwrecks. 
Ballard kept the audience intrigued by telling stories of how he got into his field of study and what he accomplished throughout the years.
“As a child, I read the book ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’,” Ballard said. “It captivated me, and when my parents asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wanted to be Captain Nemo.”
Ballard, along with the description of his childhood, described what he had to do to find the Titanic. He first found the U.S.S Scorpion and the U.S.S Thresher, as was requested by the United States Navy; it was not until then that he found the remains of the Titanic, slowly decaying on the ocean floor. 
After uncovering the Titanic, he searched for more shipwrecks, searching for ways to prove theories wrong. Even though he was not able to find whole ships, he found empty wine bottles in the Black Sea, evidence that ships had sailed through that area on trade routes, dating back hundreds of years. 
Jay Curtis, junior marketing major and SA cabinet member, said he thinks attendees learned a lot from Ballard’s talk.
“I was really happy with how everything turned out,” Curtis said. “Dr. Ballard was engaging, witty, and quite brilliant throughout his presentation.”
Curtis said the importance of oceans should not be ignored.
“The darkness of the ocean depths is often ignored in favor of the brightness of the stars, but both have a huge impact on our planet,” Curtis said.
Curtis said his favorite part of the night was when Ballard encouraged the audience to make their own discoveries.
Along with his interesting presentation, Dr. Ballard kept the audience laughing with his witty personality, jokes, and hints of sarcasm. 
Dr. Ballard ended his speech with encouragement to “get in the game” and learn about a program called the Core of Exploration, which is inspired by Lewis and Clark’s Core of Discovery. 
Ballard is an Explorer-in-Residence for National Geographic. To learn more about him, visit www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/robert-ballard/.