Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration

Dr. Robert Ballard is founder and president of the Institute For Exploration (IFE) at Mystic Aquarium. Specializing in deep-sea archaeology, IFE's goal is to establish this new field of research utilizing evolving technology, such as advanced mapping and imaging systems, underwater robotics and remotely operated vehicles. Another Institute for Exploration objective is to share Ballard's most recent discoveries with guests in the Challenge of the Deep exhibition, completed as part of a $52 million expansion at Mystic Aquarium in 1999.

After 30 years, Dr. Ballard retired from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where he was a senior scientist and director of the Center For Marine Exploration. Dr. Ballard is presently an explorer-in-residence for the National Geographic Society and a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. Ballard is also the founder of the JASON Project. JASON was established in 1989 after Ballard received thousands of letters from school children wanting to know how he discovered the R.M.S. Titanic.