Among the most accomplished and well known of the world’s deep-sea explorers, Dr. Robert Ballard is best known for his historic discoveries of hydrothermal vents, the sunken R.M.S. Titanic, the German battleship Bismarck, and numerous other contemporary and ancient shipwrecks around the world. During his long career he has conducted more than 150 deep-sea expeditions using the latest in exploration technology.

Dr. Ballard has been a pioneer in the development of advanced deep submergence and telepresence technology. Although his Ph.D. is in Marine Geology and Geophysics, his scientific interests run the gamut from the volcanic, tectonic, and hydrothermal processes of the mid-ocean ridge to deep-sea archaeology and maritime history. Dr. Ballard also spends a great deal of his time involved in various educational outreach programs. In 2008, Dr. Ballard secured the E/V Nautilus, which has become his flag-ship for exploration, operated by the Ocean Exploration Trust and funded in part by NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration. Nautilus is connected by way of a high bandwidth satellite link to the University of Rhode Island’s Inner Space Center and from there to the world.

He has received prestigious awards from the Explorers Club and the National Geographic Society—the Explorers Medal and the Hubbard Medal, respectively—as well as the Lindbergh Award. In 2003 President George W. Bush presented him with the National Endowment for the Humanities Medal in the Oval Office of the White House. He is currently a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence.

EDUCATION:

University of California, Santa Barbara, B.S. Physical Science, Majors: Chemistry/Geology; Minors: Physics/Math;
University of Hawaii, Graduate School in Oceanography;
University of Southern California, Graduate School in Marine Geology; University of Rhode Island, Graduate School in Oceanography. Ph.D. Marine Geology and Geophysics Ph.D. in Marine Geology and Geophysics the CEO

Megan Cook is Manager of Education Partnerships and Programs at Ocean Exploration Trust. She has worked for Dr. Bob Ballard, the man who discovered the Titanic wreck, for 6 years including countless expeditions at sea aboard the E/V Nautilus. Join Megan on Friday as she recounts her favorite discoveries on the seafloor, such as, the octopus garden in the Monterey Bay where thousands of octopods sat brooding over their eggs in a nursery atmosphere. Megan’s role at OET is planning and executing outreach to global audiences and creating education programs like the Nautilus Ambassador Program, Science Communication Fellowship, Science & Engineering Internship Program, professional development training workshops, and Community STEM Program year-round. Megan has a Bachelor of Science in biology and chemistry from Oregon State University with an emphasis in marine biology. She also was an International Scholar studying tropical ecology at James Cook University in Australia and studied oceanography with Sea Education Association.

Ocean Exploration Trust and the Nautilus Exploration Program seek out new discoveries in geology, biology, and archaeology while conducting scientific exploration of the seafloor. Their expeditions launch aboard Exploration Vessel Nautilus — a 64-meter research ship equipped with live-streaming underwater vehicles for scientists, students, and the public to explore the deep sea from anywhere in the world. They embed educators and interns in their expeditions who share their hands-on experiences via ship-to-shore connections with the next generation. Even while we are not at sea, explorers can dive into Nautilus Live to learn more about their expeditions, find educational resources, and marvel at new discoveries.

Vipe is the founder and CEO of HDX Mix, an environmentally friendly sports drink mix. In addition to being a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, he has applied his more than 3 decades of experience in launching disruptive brands, brand building and cause-marketing strategies for both for-profit and non-profits. Currently Vipe is serving as a Board Member for Ocean Champions, Lonely Whale Foundation and RichUncles.com, an SEC reporting company managing more than $300 million in assets.

In the early 90’s, Vipe created the H2O Winter Classic, a two-day surf and snowboard competition with a concert which went on to inspire the Vans Warped Tour and the X Games. In the late 90’s, he helped launch Red Bull in the U.S. Vipe has been called upon by numerous brands, CEO’s and even political campaigns to advise on branding, marketing and turn-around strategies which also included creating a campaign for Partnership for a Healthier America chaired by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Today, Vipe’s focus is on ensuring that future generations are met with a healthy and thriving ocean. He’s involved with several ventures focused around innovations and solutions that will reduce plastic waste and minimize impact on the planet.

As a way to help entrepreneurs, he launched the Army of Gamechangers podcast where he interviews executives who share their best career and leadership advice.

Keep up with his projects and ventures at vipedesai.com

Dr. Linda Duguay is the Director of the University of Southern California (USC) Sea Grant Program and Director of Research for the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies at USC. She was also elected as President of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography in 2014 and will serve as President-Elect from 2014-2016, President 2016-2018, and Past President s2018-2020. She served as the Executive Director of the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement from 2000 to 2008 as well as Chair of the Environmental Studies Program at USC from September 2000 to September 2002. She is an Associate Research Professor in the Marine Environmental Biology Section of the Biological Sciences Department in the Dornsife College of Letters Arts and Sciences at USC. Linda received her BA in Biology from the University of Rhode Island (URI) and her MS and PhD in Biological Oceanography from the University of Miami (UM), Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

Dr. Duguay has held research faculty positions at the Marine Sciences Research Center of the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNYSB) and at the Center for Environmental Sciences of the University of Maryland (UMD), and has also held teaching positions at Southampton College of Long Island University (LIU) and St. Mary’s College, Maryland. Dr. Duguay served as a program manager at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the Biological Oceanography Program and the Office of Polar Programs in both the Antarctic and Arctic Sciences Programs.

Dr. Duguay’s research interests are in plankton ecology of ctenophores, algal invertebrate symbioses, benthic ecology with a focus on disturbance in dredge material sites and problems of the urban ocean such as water quality and changing climate effects on ecosystems. She served as Chair of the NSF supported Centers of Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Network. She served two terms as the Biological Oceanography Section secretary of the Ocean Sciences (OS) section of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), co-chaired the AGU/ASLO Ocean Sciences meeting in 1998, 2000 and 2002 and served on the OS section leadership team and chaired the OS nominations committee. She has served as Treasurer of the Sea Grant Association (SGA) and served on the SGA Board. She has served on the meetings committee of the American Society of Limnology (ASLO) and is has been a longtime member of the ASLO informal science education committee.

Jonathan Fram is a coastal physical oceanographer. His focus is on building an oceanographic research community that shares quality field data as soon as they are collected. He is an Associate Professor Senior Research in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. Since fall 2018, Jon has been the project manager for the Coastal Endurance Array portion of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a long-term interdisciplinary oceanography program sponsored by the National Science Foundation. He was a systems engineer for OOI from 2011 to 2018. He received his Master’s and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley, and he received his undergraduate degree in physics from Pomona College.

Melodie Grubbs, M.S., is a Science, Research & Policy Specialist at USC Sea Grant. As a coastal scientist, Ms. Grubbs is focused on helping communities prepare for and adapt to changing climate conditions, coastal hazards, and sea level rise. Ms. Grubbs specializes in physical coastal processes and dynamics, remote sensing, and geospatial analysis. Previously she served as the Director of Watershed Programs at The Bay Foundation where she developed, led, and implemented coastal habitat restoration and living shoreline projects. Ms. Grubbs also has experience at sea, serving as a scientist and chief mate on board an oceanographic research vessel.

Ms. Grubbs holds a M.S. in Geographic Information Science and Technology from USC and a B.S. in Meteorology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. At USC, her research focused on using remote sensing data to detect beach sediment changes associated with El Nino periods in Southern California.

Rusty Jehangir founded Blue Robotics in 2014, starting with a Kickstarter campaign raising more than $100,000 to manufacture an underwater robot thruster. The company now manufactures over 200 underwater robotic parts as well as the Blue Robotic designed underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle called the BlueROV2. The BlueROV2 sells at a price point well below competitors, making it accessible to all users, not just giant oil and gas companies.

Rusty has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering both from USC.

Geraldine Knatz is Professor of the Practice of Policy and Engineering, a joint appointment between the University of Southern California Price School of Public Policy and the Viterbi School of Engineering. She previously served as the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles from 2006 to January 2014. She was the first woman to serve in this role and made a significant impact through the creation and implementation of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, an aggressive plan that reduced air emissions by combined port operations of over 70% within five years. Prior to that, she was managing director of the Port of Long Beach. She is past president of the American Association of Port Authorities and past president of the International Association of Ports and Harbors. She served for 10 years (2007-2017) on California’s Ocean Protection Council from 2007 to 2017, first appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and reappointed by Governor Brown. In 2014, she was named a member of the National Academy of Engineering in recognition of her international leadership in the engineering and development of environmentally clean urban seaports.
Knatz is currently a member of the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Marine Board, a member of the advisory council for the Center for the Blue Economy at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and a senior advisor to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Port Network. Knatz is currently the vice-chairman of the Board of Trustees of Altasea, a 30 acre campus located within the Port of Los Angeles devoted to marine and maritime research, education and business entrepreneurialism.
Knatz has authored numerous publications as well as two award-winning books on the Port of Los Angeles. Her most recent book is a political history of the Port of Los Angeles, co-published by the Huntington Library’s Institute for California and the West and Angel City Press, titled, Port of Los Angeles, Conflict, Commerce and the Fight for Control. She co-authored Terminal Island, Los Communities of Los Angeles Harbor. Knatz’s career has been featured in several popular books, most notably in Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Edward Humes’s Door to Door and David Helvarg’s The Golden Shore.

Dr. Roberta Marinelli is Dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. As dean she leads one of the strongest Earth sciences programs in the nation, with nationally recognized teaching and research expertise in oceanography, atmospheric sciences, geology, geography, and coastal studies.

Previously, Marinelli served as executive director of the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Southern California, a post she held since 2011. There, she played a leadership role in planning and implementing an expansion of academic and research programs in environmental studies at USC’s University Park Campus, and directed the Philip K. Wrigley Marine Science Center on Santa Catalina Island. Marinelli also oversaw the George and Mary Lou Boone Center for Science and Environmental Leadership, a nexus where scientists and policy makers can meet to resolve environmental challenges.

Prior to her arrival at USC, Marinelli was the Director of the Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems Program in the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Sciences section, where she helped to lead the development of collaborative, interdisciplinary programs across the Foundation, including the International Polar Year, Climate Research Investments, and SEES (Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability). She was a tenured associate professor on the faculty at the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science, and an assistant professor at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography.

Marinelli received her master’s and doctoral degrees in marine science from the University of South Carolina, and her bachelor’s degree from Brown University. She is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, and The Oceanography Society.