Robin Gauss was elected recently to the nonprofit Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara Board of Directors. Gauss began with Old Spanish Days Fiesta activities in 1993 as a Bienvenidos volunteer, became a parade marshal, and has assisted in numerous behind the scenes Fiesta activities. A lifelong resident of Santa Barbara, he attended local schools and graduated in the first Marine Diving Technology program at SBCC in 1970.
Gauss is a professional engineer-diver with U.S. and Australian certifications employed by L-3 Communications, MariPro Division in Goleta, and performs engineering and diving operations on undersea projects worldwide. He developed and built hardware for the movies The Abyss and Titanic, and produced and has placed equipment at the North Pole and numerous other Arctic locations.
He is also a U.S. merchant mariner, a submersible pilot, an amateur radio operator and an Army veteran.
He owns La Cumbre Canyon Ranch, a sustainable fruit producer certificated by California Certified Organic Farmers. He’s a board member of Terra Marine Research & Education and is a volunteer pilot for Aeromedicos, flying supplies to support medical operations in remote areas of Baja California.
The 86th Old Spanish Days-Fiesta takes place Aug. 4-8. Click here for more information.
— Kathryn McKee is media relations director of Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara.