Maj. Colin Bettis, MN’20 is a mechanical engineer, a U.S. Air Force Officer, and a technical project manager and acquisitions officer who has spent his decade-long career working in organizations across the Department of Defense to develop, flight test, and deploy novel technologies such as large-sized autonomous aircraft, hypersonic missile systems, satellite systems, and the associated ground-based support infrastructure. Throughout his career, he supported numerous government organizations during their system development cycles and flight test events, to include NASA. His direct support as a flight test engineer for NASA’s MQ-9 Ikhana unmanned aircraft served as his entrance into the world of exploration, and he has never looked back since.

In addition to his technical background, Colin is an avid photographer, scuba diver, and a growing sailor. Having only just received his initial scuba certification in 2019, Colin was hooked on the world beneath the ocean’s surface and is nurturing his budding passion for ocean conservation.

He was involved in his first Explorers Club Flag Expedition in July 2021, where he served as a crew member on a two-part coral reef and shark-tagging research expedition to the Honduran island of Roatán in the Caribbean Sea. The expedition included numerous day and night dives to capture the water quality data necessary, as well as several deepwater ocean dives to 2,000 feet deep in a miniature research submarine to attempt to tag the Bluntnose sixgill shark (Spoiler: Success!).

Colin is a new member of the Washington D.C. Chapter board of directors and a repeat face on the Executive Club World Oceans Week planning committee.