Ballard, new organization receives $94 million to study U.S. underwater territory
Five organizations, including Bob Ballard’s Ocean Exploration Trust, have received a $94 million federal grant to create a new institute at the University of Rhode Island that will survey an estimated 3 billion acres of submerged U.S. territory.
Ballard, a Lyme resident, has discovered numerous wrecks — the most famous being the ill-fated ocean liner Titanic — and formerly headed the Institute for Exploration at Mystic Aquarium. He is also the director of the Center for Ocean Exploration at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography.
The grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will bring together URI, the Ocean Exploration Trust, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of New Hampshire and University of Southern Mississippi to form the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute.
“There is another half of America, beneath the ocean’s surface, that we know very little about,” said Ballard, who is the lead principal investigator of the new institute. “U.S. territorial waters cover more ocean than those of almost any other country on Earth. Imagine we’re about to lead the next Lewis and Clark expedition, only six times over.”
In announcing the effort, the Ocean Exploration Trust, which is based in New London, said the institute’s five members “will combine their substantial exploration, scientific, technological and outreach resources and expertise in discovering this largely unexplored “New America.”
It said the alliance “will leverage facilities on the West Coast, Gulf Coast, and East Coast, serving as a truly national effort to advance ocean exploration.”
It added the five-year award, which could be renewed for another five years, will help advance the delivery of “high-quality data and information needed to maintain a healthy ocean, aid responsible resource management, strengthen the national economy, and build a better appreciation of the value and importance of the ocean in the public’s everyday lives.”
“With the Blue Economy expected to more than double its contribution to the U.S. economy and employ 40 million people by 2030, NOAA’s new cooperative institute will be on the front lines helping NOAA explore and characterize the 3 billion acres of U.S. ocean territory,” said retired Navy Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, the assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator. “The Blue Economy relies on data and information to inform science-based management and sustainable use of our ocean resources in support of economic growth, food security and our national security.”
While the research will take place far from shore and deep underwater, there will be opportunities for students, teachers and members of the public to interact with scientists and participate in real-time research through telepresence-supported broadcasts, something Ballard has been doing for more than 25 years.
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