07.04.2021
Awarded jointly by both societies, the Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration is presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding, sustained, international contribution to the development, application, or propagation of marine/ underwater technology toward the advancement of ocean exploration. The award is named in honour of Captain (Ret) Don Walsh, an accomplished American oceanographer, explorer, retired naval officer, and marine policy specialist. He and Jacques Piccard were aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste on January 23, 1960 when it made a record descent into the Mariana Trench, which is the deepest point of the world's oceans. Dr. Edie Widder, an MTS member, won the inaugural award in 2020.