Tara Willis was "that giddy little kid" who thought Robert Ballard's deep sea exploration of the RMS Titanic in 1985 "was so amazing" and something she would like to do.
She didn't act on that idea until she was in her 30s and taking an elective robotics course at Long Beach City College. It led to her participation in the international competition for underwater robots, also known as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), sponsored by the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center. MATE obtained support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education program, the Marine Technology Society, and several marine companies to start the competitions in 2001. The competition continues to grow with support from dozens of organizations and participation by students from schools and colleges around the world.
The competition experience was so positive that Willis applied for an At-Sea Internship through MATE. None other than Ballard's E/V Nautilus team selected her.
"Out of that internship, I've actually been hired as one of their mainstay contract pilots," Willis said. In the summer of 2015 she helped pilot the research vessel’s ROV Hercules and ROV Argus when they explored the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. In the past she was part of the Nautilus team when it sailed to the Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean Sea, the Black Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.