Abstract My career has been a series of adventures and occasional misadventures that have been both physically and intellectually challenging. I suspect that the stories about detectives and explorers I liked to read as a kid, played a role in developing a mindset that embraces curiosity and risk-taking. I began my research on deep-sea animals using traditional tools, nets and acoustics, but eventually I wanted more than those indirect methods could offer. I wanted to see things for myself, so I dove in submersibles, and when the opportunity came to help build a new institution that would develop robotic systems for that kind of research, I jumped at the chance. What followed has been an extraordinary combination of technology development and the scientific discoveries enabled by that progress. I hope that this story can provide some insights that will be of value to younger scientists, about trusting your instincts and not being bound by convention.
Bruce H. Robison (Mon,) studied this question.