Filmmaker James Cameron came to San Diego to receive a prestigious award from the science community on Friday.



Cameron, 58, is this year’s recipient of the Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography for his record-setting dive of 6.8 miles below the ocean surface in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. He performed the dive in a one-man submarine and is the first solo diver to go submerge that depth.



The deep-sea equipment used in the dive has since been donated to Scripps, which collaborated with Cameron for the project.



The prize, which includes a bronze medal and $25,000, honors the memory of national science leader William A. Nierenberg, who served as director of Scripps for more than 20 years.



Cameron is donating the prize money to Scripps to kick-start operations of a new laboratory.