Congratulations to Professor Peter Girguis, recipient of the 2023 Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration.
Professor Girguis is honored for his prolific career dedicated to increasing understanding of the animals and microbes that thrive in the deep sea and in advancing deep-sea exploration to expand humanity’s understanding of the natural world. His primary focus is to understand how marine organisms have adapted to their habitats and how they respond to a changing world. Girguis and his team made groundbreaking discoveries of previously unknown microbe communities that ‘eat’ methane at unprecedented rates, keeping the greenhouse gas out of our atmosphere.
The award, jointly sponsored by the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT), recognizes outstanding, sustained, international contribution to the development, application, and propagation of marine technology toward the advancement of ocean exploration.
“I am deeply honored to be the recipient of this award. I know there are many others who qualify for this recognition, so I view myself as representing all of us, from all backgrounds and walks of life, who have contributed to ocean exploration," Girguis said. “To paraphrase Captain Walsh, there’s a lot of work left to do in exploring and understanding our ocean, so I will continue to do my part and support as many others as I can on our journey to further understand this ocean world on which we live.”