Robert, nicknamed Bob, is probably best known for discovering the shipwrecks of the Titanic and the Bismarck. He is also a distinguished oceanographer who helped discover hydrothermal vents on the seafloor.

Bob relates stories about all these expeditions, as well as how geology and oceanography define our world, in the National Geographic Channel series Alien Deep.

EARLY WORK

Bob grew up in the southern California cities of San Diego and Los Angeles. There, he was exposed to scientists who studied the ocean.

“When attending elementary school in San Diego, many of my neighbors worked at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla, California,” he says by email.

Bob’s familiarity and fascination with the ocean at times put him in danger, but the experiences helped him develop a healthy respect for the sea, and the scientists and engineers who make their living there.

“When I went out to sea on my first expedition at the age of 17 on a National Science Foundation summer scholarship between junior and senior years in high school, we were hit by a rogue wave that almost sank the ship,” he says. “We were joined by a Coast Guard Cutter that escorted us back to shore.”

After that scholarship expedition, Bob continued pursuing his interest in ocean exploration. He worked summers on designing deep-diving submersibles for North American Aviation’s Ocean Systems Group, for instance.

Bob graduated with undergraduate degrees in chemistry and geology from the University of California at Santa Barbara while working for General Motors’ Defense Research Laboratories Sea Operations Department. He secured a PhD from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in marine geology while employed by the Ocean Systems Group in Long Beach.

Bob also worked in a dive shop and trained dolphins at Sea Life Park and the Oceanic Institute in Waimanalo, Hawaii.

MOST EXCITING PART OF YOUR WORK

“My independence and the ability to go where no one else has gone on planet Earth.”

MOST DEMANDING PART OF YOUR WORK

“Raising the money and hiring the team to do what I do.”

HOW DO YOU DEFINE GEOGRAPHY?

“To me, it is the planet on which I find myself.”

GEO-CONNECTION

Bob says his work as an ocean explorer is directly related to geography.

“I am constantly trying to better understand the Earth,” he says.

Bob notes that he consistently uses geographic tools like GPS and GIS in his work.

“I am an explorer and mapmaker, so all of those tools are critical to what I do,” he says.

SO, YOU WANT TO BE AN . . . OCEAN EXPLORER

Bob suggests taking geology and oceanography courses, but he also recommends expanding your scientific background by studying biology, chemistry, geology, and physics of the sea.

GET INVOLVED

Bob says the website www.nautiluslive.org is great for people interested in ocean exploration. The website has information on Bob’s current expeditions.

He also encourages people to visit two organizations he is involved with: the Ocean Exploration Center at Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut, and the Inner Space Center at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography in Narragansett, Rhode Island.