Don Walsh was the first submersible pilot in the United States and was designated as a Deep Submersible Pilot No. 1 by the U.S. Navy. In January 1960, he and Jacques Piccard dove Trieste to the deepest place in the World Ocean: 35,840 feet. For this achievement, Lt. Walsh received a medal from President Eisenhower at ceremonies in the White House.

On Jan. 8, Walsh will participate in an online webinar at www.oceanmysteries.net. The webinar is free, and is due to last one hour, beginning at 3:00 PM UTC (10 a.m. Eastern). The presentation is part of the Blue Marvel series.

In 1975, Walsh retired as a Navy captain and joined the University of Southern California (USC), becoming founding director of the Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies. He left USC after eight years to form International Marine Inc. (IMI) in 1983.

Since its founding, IMI has completed nearly 100 projects in 20 countries. Walsh has participated in diving operations with more than two dozen manned submersibles, piloting seven. He has also been active in the design, manufacture and operation of manned and unmanned submersibles.

For the past four decades, Walsh has worked in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. To date, he has participated in more than 50 polar expeditions including travels to the North (five trips) and South Poles. The “Walsh Spur” (ridge) near Cape Hallett is named for him in recognition of his contributions to the U.S. Antarctic Program.

Among other awards Walsh was elected in 2001 to the National Academy of Engineering in recognition of his four decades of work in the design, construction and operation of undersea vehicles. That same year, he was awarded the Explorers Medal by the Explorers Club and the French Jules Verne Adventures ‰ÛÏEtoile Polaire‰Û medal celebrating ‰ÛÏThe Greatest Explorations of the 20th Century.‰Û Walsh was awarded The National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal in 2010.

To register for the webinar, see oceanmysteries.net.