Innehållsförteckning för 2023 från The Explorers 50

ADJANY COSTA ANAND VARMA ANDREA JANE REID ANIKA PURI ASHA DE VOS AZIZ ABU SARAH BETH ALLGOOD BHAVITA BHATIA CARRIE DOLAN CHRISTIAN RUTZ DAVID BORISH DAVID GOOD DIEGO CARDEÑOSA EMMANUELLE PÉRIÉ-BARDOUT ERIKA WOOLSEY FRANCESCO SAURO GENOVEVA FORERO GHISLAIN BARDOUT GINA MOSELEY GREGG TREINISH HALLEY RAMOS HARMONY A. MARTELL HEATHER HALSTEAD HILDE FÅLUN STRØM IGNACIO MAMANI HUILLCA JAMAL GALVES JOSEPH CUTLER KARINA OLIANI KENEILOE MOLOPYANE KIMBERLY KIVVAQ PIKOK LEO LANNA LHENDUP THARCHEN LILY-ARISON RENE DE ROLAND MANOJ GAUTAM MARK OFUA MATTHEW JOHN CARTER MICHEL ANDRÉ MIRANDA WANG NICK OVENDEN PATRICK PAPATITI PAULA KAHUMBU RACHEL GRAHAM REBECCA HUI SEHENO ANDRIANTSARALAZA STEPHANIE DOLRENRY TAIRA MALANEY TANYA HARRISON TITOUAN BERNICOT VIANNA VON WEYHAUSEN COVER: REBECCA HUI AND THE ROOTS STUDIO TEAM MEET WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS AND INDIGENOUS ARTISTS IN WEST BENGAL, INDIA. PHOTOGRAPH BY…

I began my career working as a freshwater ichthyologist on the 2015 megatransect expedition through the Okavango Basin. Over the course of numerous expeditions, our work has continued to yield an abundance of new data, including the identification of more than eight species of fish new to science and 16 new source lakes and peat bogs in an area of Angola that had been isolated for decades due to civil unrest. Through my work, I have been able to meet and learn from the local people, including the Mbunda of southeastern Angola, who are now beginning to play a key role in protecting this incredible wilderness. Their engagement has come largely as a result of the educational outreach activities for young people I developed to raise awareness of the incredible…

In response to the poaching of elephants and other endangered species in Africa, which has reached crisis proportions, wildlife conservation organizations have turned to technology in order combat the problem. Among the tools in use: UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) equipped with heat-sensing infrared cameras (coupled with computer-vision software) that have been deployed to help park rangers monitor protected areas at night when illegal wildlife poaching often occurs. Unfortunately, the current systems have poor accuracy for detecting potential poaching activity in real-time and none have eliminated the need for costly high-resolution thermal cameras. In response, I have developed ELSA (“Elephant Savior”), a high-accuracy, real-time wildlife poacher-detection solution that leverages machine-learning to drive spatio-temporal analysis, utilizing the disparity in animal and human movement patterns. When tested on thermal infrared video data in…

For decades, policymakers have used Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a leading indicator of any given economy’s general health. However, GDP as a single metric cannot meaningfully assess a country’s overall quality of life or well-being. This is true not just at a global level but also at a local level. Unfortunately, this narrow focus on economic productivity as a measure of success has been ingrained in community development and conservation projects. As a result, most wildlife conservation has emphasized economic approaches to saving wildlife and wild places in a way that may be at odds with or even undermine traditional community values of wildlife and wild places. Rather than relying solely on models that equate economic growth with human thriving, we can use common values grounded in well-being. To…

It is predicted that the world’s urban population will surge from 4.4 billion to 7 billion people by 2050. This dramatic expansion will drive land conversion on a planetary scale, to produce food, extract resources, and establish infrastructure. As a result, the natural world has come under unsustainable pressure from human activity. To address this crisis, the 30×30 and Half-Earth initiatives propose to protect 30 to 50 percent of the planet’s surface. What will happen with the remaining 50 percent? Without immediate action, these unprotected areas will be committed to highly destructive transformation. Therefore, we must develop environmental planning strategies that promote sustainable human–wildlife coexistence. Until now, innovation has been hindered by our limited understanding of how animal movements and behavior are affected by land modification and human disturbance. Our…

The shark fin trade is responsible for the exploitation of 100 million sharks per year, where two-thirds of the species being traded are threatened with extinction. This is also an opaque market that is difficult for outsiders to penetrate. As a result, we have essentially no information on the composition of the trade in recent decades. This is problematic because many shark species have been listed on the Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) since 2013, and we have no idea if these listings have had the desired conservation outcome. Through my work, I have identified some 15,000 shark fin samples from the largest markets in Southeast Asia using mini-barcoding tools that I developed. I found CITES-listed sharks were still common in the trade.…

Some 30 percent of fresh drinking water is found in cave aquifers, while scientists estimate that some 40 percent of Earth’s biodiversity thrives underground, yet what lies below our feet remains mostly unknown and overlooked by our research institutions and humanity as a whole. My work has been dedicated to lifting the veil on this hidden subterranean world and to communicate its importance to a broader public—to protect it and underscore its importance in our planet’s overall ecosystem. In the process, I also hope to convey that sense of wonder that is to be found in caves. From what we know of Earth’s protective underground environments, which can shield us from harmful UV radiation, we know that finding analogue environments on other planets—massive caves and cave systems—may prove crucial for…

While cave-based paleoclimate research has been well-established for several decades, past efforts have focused largely on the tropics and mid-latitudes. Through my work, we are pushing the boundaries of this scientific field by expanding into the High Arctic and, more specifically, Greenland, where the cave deposits are providing a wealth of information for time periods beyond the limit recorded in cores extracted from the Greenland ice sheet, greatly expanding our knowledge about past climate at high latitudes. In addition to paleoclimate research, I have undertaken expeditions to previously unexplored caves, documenting parts of this world never before seen by human eyes. As a climate scientist looking at periods in the past that were far warmer than today, I am regularly reminded of what is in store for us if we…

Coral reefs occupy less than 0.1 percent of the sea-floor, yet more than one billion human beings rely upon them for survival and prosperity. Climate change threatens to eliminate coral reefs, jeopardizing communities worldwide. While we are already committed to a large degree of warming, we have the tools and the capacity to cease the deleterious effects of climate change. As a coral physiologist, I have been working to understand coral metabolism under changing temperature and light conditions, which lead to mass coral bleaching. I am currently working with scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine Science to determine how coral shading, a treatment to prevent bleaching, influences coral metabolism, an important determinant of coral health. I also investigate how the mechanisms of coral stress memory can be optimized to…

Having been born in the Calca, on the banks of the Urubamba River, nature has always been part of my life—being a child of the ancient land of the Inca. It is here that I have lived, studied, explored, and now work to protect, as a ranger for the great reserve that surrounds the 15th-century Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, a post I have held at the UNESCO site since 2016. Prior to signing on at Machu Picchu, I worked for more than a decade as a ranger at Manú National Park, a 1.7-million-hectare haven of terrestrial biodiversity, which bridges the tropical Andes and the Amazon Basin in southwestern Peru. Inscribed on UNESCO’s list for its universal value in 1987, the park is home to some 850 species of birds…

Under the veil of night, rainforests enter a new dimension—one that is both spectacular and ephemeral. With flashlights and cameras, I have had the privilege of exploring this labyrinth of wonders, searching for new and rare species of praying mantises. As they are silent, scentless, and camouflaged animals, my search for them demands a delicate connection to the environment if we are to unveil its extraordinary biodiversity. I founded Projeto Mantis in collaboration with my partner and husband, Lvcas Fiat. Through a blending of science and art, we have embarked on a multidisciplinary approach in advocating for conservation and rainforest exploration. Our science is slow-paced with a rare no-kill protocol that supports our educational and environmental awareness outreach. Through documentaries; our lectures in museums, schools, and universities; and workshops and…

A thoroughly nonconventional conservationist, I have exploited political willpower and legal tools for policy changes and new legislative provisions and instigated a trend of youth-led conservation organizations. My work takes me to the most troubled species and/or communities where I devise the simplest approach to resolve crises, proving that locals, empowered and with simple but crafty measures, are more than sufficient to create solutions. The systematized and routine conservation machines that parachute in as imposing, alien experts become irrelevant. Much of modern conservation practice distances itself from real sustainability and the organic way of life in Indigenous and local communities. Colonial venturing and modernization’s rampaging of Indigenous strongholds were a big blow to conservation and indigeneity. My inclination is to apply cultural anthropology in conservation. I work with mainly six…

One sense that all forms of life share is the perception of sounds and vibrations. Sounds fulfill an essential biological function, maintaining a global dynamic balance on our planet. Since the dawn of time, Nature in its broadest expression has governed this natural acoustic balance. Yet, over time, its capacity to manage this balance has diminished because of human activity in the wake of our break from Nature—a break that began 150,000 years, when our Homo sapiens forebears began developing their capacity for language. As it enhanced our ability to conceptualize the abstract, language, in turn, allowed us to intellectualize our relationship with the wild. It was then that we began to see ourselves as apart from Nature—superior to all with whom we share this planet, resulting in the exploitation…

As a Maasai community leader, I believe that we are collectively responsible for the well-being of our society, whether we hold a formal office or not. For a number of years, I had a dream job with the Kenyan government in Nairobi, working undercover and busting ivory traffickers internationally, when I learned that an organization charged with protecting wildlife in my ancestral homeland was leaving the area as the job had simply become too dangerous. For the love of my community and wildlife, I returned five years ago to form the Olgulului Community Wildlife Rangers (OCWR) to eliminate poaching in my jurisdiction and build tolerance in my community to reduce human–wildlife conflict, as well as to encourage the participation of women in conservation and leadership. OCWR has 87 young men…

Often when people think “rural,” they think poverty, lack of infrastructure, and poor education, but what I have witnessed as an artist and entrepreneur are highly creative individuals in unfortunate circumstances that simply need a path toward opportunity. With unstable farming income, discrimination, and loss of land, villagers often leave their communities to become migrant laborers in cities—dismantling their traditional practices and obscuring their own voices in the process. Simultaneously, the urban world increasingly craves sustainability, community, and provenance, values that Indigenous communities have held for generations. Roots Studio connects those rich in cultural traditions to a multibillion-dollar market that has misappropriated ethnic designs for years, on a foundation of respect, reciprocity, and remuneration. Our collective bypasses onerous supply chains and enables steady income for artists wherever they reside, averting…

Corals are the foundations of a healthy ocean, providing me with everything I need in life—from the reef waves I surf and the fish I eat almost every day to the protection and livelihood of my island. But they are bleaching and dying around the world and, until recently, nothing tangible was being done to stop this, which led me to found Coral Gardeners. Our work is highly focused on impact, both in and out of the ocean, through reef restoration, community awareness, innovation, and science development. The core of our work is propagating climate-resilient corals in our nurseries and planting them on reefs to restore the abundance and biodiversity of these fragile ecosystems. I fell in love with the process of having a little coral farm underwater, what we…

THE EXPLORERS CLUB 46 EAST 70TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10021 WWW.EXPLORERS.ORG | 212-628-8383 AFRICA Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka africa@explorers.org ALASKA Mead Treadwell alaska@explorers.org ATLANTA Mark Hay atlanta@explorers.org AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND Todd Tai anzec@explorers.org BHUTAN Matthew DeSantis bhutan@explorers.org CANADA Jeff Britnell canada@explorers.org CHICAGO/GREAT LAKES Deana Weibel, PhD chicago@explorers.org CONTINENTAL EUROPE Ief Winckelmans continentaleurope@explorers.org EAST & SOUTH ASIA Steven R. Schwankert eastandsouthasia@explorers.org FLORIDA Joseph Dituri, PhD florida@explorers.org GEORGE ROGERS CLARK Cindy Pennington georgerogersclark@explorers.org GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND Mark Wood greatbritainireland@explorers.org Rory Golden, Vice Chair greatbritainireland@explorers.org GREATER PIEDMONT James Borton greaterpiedmont@explorers.org HAWAII Mark Blackburn hawaii@explorers.org HONG KONG Angélica Anglés hongkong@explorers.org LATIN AMERICA Cristián Pérez-Navarro latam@explorers.org MIDDLE EAST (open) middleeast@explorers.org NEW ENGLAND Gregory Deyermenjian newengland@explorers.org NORTH PACIFIC ALASKA Joshua C. Lewis & Victoria M. Becwar-Lewis northpacificalaska@explorers.org NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Jimmy Friedman northerncalifornia@explorers.org NORWAY Synnøve Marie…

FOUNDATION PATRON OF EXPLORATION Rolex Watch U.S.A., Inc. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT Fjällräven Richard & Laetitia Garriott de Cayeux Daniel & Lois Kobal FOUNDING CORPORATE SPONSOR OF THE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVE Warner Bros. Discovery COMMITTEE OF THE EXPLORERS 50.3 PROJECT Joseph Rohde FN’10, Co-Chair Richard Wiese FN’89, Co-Chair Jeff Blumenfeld FN’89 Callie Broaddus MN’21 Marc Bryan-Brown MR’95 Alicia Colson FI’10 Kim Frank FN’18 Marc Ó Griofa FI’20 Mark Hannaford FI’20 Robbie Hart FN’11 Emily Hazelwood MN’14 John Houston FI’21 Onkuri Majumdar MI’21 Juan Daniel Martinez-Pineda MN’21 Craig Mathieson MI’18 Nancy Rosenthal MR’11 Natalie Schmitt FI’22 Sunniva Sorby MI’19 Amber Sparks MN’14 Scott Thompson MN’21 Jalsa Urubshurow MN’20 MEMBERS NOMINATING AWARDEES John Joaquin Bohorquez TM’20 Alex Borowicz TM’18 Natalie Cash FR’21 Matthew DeSantis MI’16 Gregory Deyermenjian FN’88 Alan Eustace FN’15 Alan Feldstein…

The EC50 project is now in its third year, and it has been a remarkable success, paving the way for a new generation of explorers who can communicate the significance of exploration and scientific research to a wide audience. This initiative is a celebration of individuals who are changing the world, even though they may not be household names in their respective fields. These exceptional people are exploring, inspiring, and shaping the future, making an indelible impact on the planet, food security, and in all areas of the field sciences. The selection process for the EC50 was rigorous, with hundreds of nominations received from dozens of countries. An international team of judges was tasked with selecting individuals who were innovative and impactful in their work. The EC50 initiative has transformed…

The greatest reward of working at the intersection of photography and science is seeing how my images help people rethink their assumptions about the natural world. It has never been more critical for us to understand how our natural world works, yet we are facing unprecedented skepticism of science and widespread apathy toward the environment. Existing solutions to this crisis—often based on activating fear or guilt—have clearly come up short. We need a new framework for understanding our relationship with the natural world. I believe that framework starts with attention, leads to curiosity, and ends with each of us finding our own way to connect with and value our planet. My work represents a new way to think about how images can shape our attention and cultivate our curiosity. I…

My pioneering research on the blue whales of the northern Indian Ocean, and recognition that they are the only nonmigratory population in the world, made me one of the first researchers to highlight the importance of tropical marine ecosystems in the basic biology of the largest organism on our planet. The success of this research enabled me to build valuable global networks, establish the first dedicated marine conservation organization, and broaden my research to address other marine conservation issues in Sri Lankan waters. Today, I advise the Sri Lankan government on various matters, including marine disasters. While my journey has been important for conservation and science, as a South Asian woman, coming from a patriarchal culture meant I had to work hard to shift the perception that my gender hindered…

Place-based knowledge systems, such as Indigenous knowledge, are vital for understanding and addressing environmental issues, but there are major challenges with leveraging these sources in accurate and culturally appropriate ways. Oral and visual knowledge are often miscommunicated or misunderstood because they are not accessible to decision-makers outside of these communities. My work directly addresses this challenge by communicating community knowledge through a methodological process I call video-based qualitative analysis: blending creative storytelling techniques with traditional research methods. During my PhD, I led a community-based film and research project called “Herd: Inuit Voices on Caribou.” The goal was to create impact-driven documentary films and qualitative research papers about Inuit knowledge of, and experiences with, caribou population declines in Labrador, Canada. Rather than working on research first then the documentary film, I…

For the past 15 years, through our Under the Pole program, we have undertaken numerous pioneering expeditions to explore submarine habitats. Some of these forays stand out for the rarity of the images brought back, others for the value of the scientific work and technological innovation in an environment where humankind can only stay on borrowed time: the ocean. To succeed in exploring polar, temperate, and tropical environments—seldom visited because of their difficult access—requires unconventional resources. Only five to 10 percent of the ocean is known, mostly in shallow waters. Due to our unique expertise, we have embarked on an ambitious global program, Deeplife, to deepen scientific knowledge of the ocean’s mesophotic zone—ocean depths between 30 and 200 meters. This intermediate zone represents a large part of the coasts and…

In 2019, I was assigned as government protection for marine biologist Callie Veelenturf in the remote Pearl Islands archipelago, a frequent route for drug-trafficking activity. There, I saw my first sea turtle, a truly magical experience in which I felt the most beautiful and incomparable peace and connection with an animal in its ecosystem. I was inspired to use my resources through the Navy to support conservation. Panama is a small country but hosts immense biodiversity. Government institutions charged solely with its protection do not have the international presence and law-enforcement capacity on the ground that Panama’s Air and Navy Service (SENAN) has. Yet until recently, there had been little internal understanding of the institution’s responsibility for the conservation of nature, even it is explicitly charged with such by law.…

Our work is to mobilize people all around the world, giving them the tools they need to help solve environmental issues. We have mobilized, trained, and certified more than 20,000 volunteers to collect scientific field data for our partners at NGOs, government agencies, and universities. While in the past the field of citizen science has been ridiculed in the belief that the data collected by nonprofessionals must be subpar, this is simply not the case. We pride ourselves on collecting high-quality data. We have shown repeatedly that when careful safeguards are in place, the quality of the data can become an essential piece of the puzzle to drive lasting change. For the data to be used, it must hold up to scientific scrutiny, and in court, and be able to…

Virtual exchange programs—defined as sustained, technology-enabled, people-to-people education programs—can vastly expand the number and diversity of young people who have access to profound global experiences as part of their education. Yet, when I launched Reach the World (RTW) in 1998, such critical teaching tools simply did not exist. I am happy to say that RTW has played a significant role in their development. As individuals cultivate their curiosity, compassion, and confidence through the forging of global relationships, each is better equipped to make the most of their personal journey through life and work. The building of such global relationships contributes positively to the social fabric, providing an enhanced prospect for the development of international understanding and fostering an explorer mindset in the community at large. I consider an absence of…

In addition to serving as the lead manatee conservationist in Belize—coordinating research, rescue, health assessments, tracking, and outreach—I am also the assistant chairperson for the National Manatee Working Group, a network of governmental, nongovernmental, and local citizenry committed to developing policies and programs to mitigate the human impact on manatee populations. In this capacity, I have endeavored to rejuvenate what had, for some years, become a dormant network. I have also rescued more than 25 manatees and have developed training programs and stranding toolkits for use by our representatives in the field. Our network has achieved numerous conservation successes. These include the designation of protected areas and wildlife sanctuaries, as well as the development and implementation of nationwide training programs for tour guides and boat captains. In addition, we have…

I first got involved in archaeology as a seven-year-old captivated by fictional characters on TV and in movies. I would become an archaeologist, in the position to tell the story of South African history, as a native South African. I have embarked on a career that has long been dominated in Africa and in popular media by foreign white men. The time has come for the story of the African continent to be told by its Indigenous peoples in a manner that not only speaks to the global audience, but, most importantly, to a local one—for natives of a country can tell the origin story of their peoples better than anyone else given the chance. I am leading expeditions at the Cradle of Humankind to discover fossil remains that contribute…

Although I started saving wildlife from an early age and later through my veterinary practice, I didn’t think of my work as making much of a societal difference until 2018, when Katie Schuller’s National Geographic short film featured it. Now people around the globe know about the extraordinary pressures that have been put on wildlife in Nigeria, pressures wrought largely by the bushmeat trade. But this is beginning to change. My work in wildlife conservation—in the areas of advocacy and education—is producing sustainable results at the grassroots, national, and international levels. Through my efforts, local hunters and bushmeat sellers are becoming keenly aware of the health risks posed by zoonoses—infectious diseases transmitted from wildlife to humans—and that uncontrolled harvesting is driving extinction. In response to sustained civil pressure and advocacy…

At the age of 15, I won a place on a one-month expedition to northern Kenya during which 25 young adults trekked 1,000 kilometers across the desolate Chalbi desert, climbed mountains, and forded rivers to collect rare and unusual specimens of scorpions, woodlice, and earwigs. I discovered a new scorpion species, which I brought to the National Museums of Kenya. This caught the attention of Richard Leakey, who had an open door, was wise, brilliant, and pragmatic. He encouraged me to pursue research in the wild, which led to my PhD research atop a forest-clad mountain in southern Kenya, where I spent eight years studying forest elephants. I quickly realized that study alone was not enough, in light of the threat these creatures face from ivory poachers, who were decimating…

When I saw a baobab for the first time, I was amazed at the ability of this majestic Malagasy tree to survive for thousands of years. The iconic baobabs are not only culturally valuable but have an important economic value, generating income through tourism and the sale of their fruits, seeds, and bark nationally and internationally. Yet they are increasingly coming under threat, particularly in western Madagascar. I have been conducting regular field expeditions in western Madagascar since 2021, most recently with the support of an Explorers Club Discovery Expedition grant. As I have learned, a researcher makes a difference in conservation by turning evidence into action, particularly when it comes to protecting key species and restoring their ecological function to recover ecosystem integrity. With regard to the baobab, my…

When you hear “explorer,” certain archetypes spring to mind: Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbing Mt. Everest; Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the Moon; Amelia Earhart flying solo across the Atlantic. These endeavors all require the physical ability to venture into the unknown, inherently leaving behind anyone without that capacity. Space exploration, however, can be an equalizer. Nearly everything is done remotely through rovers, satellites, and telescopes. You can explore the surface of Mars—or our own planet—from anywhere on Earth with an internet connection. I have a rare condition, ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a physical disability that made me worry I’d never achieve my space dreams. As a queer woman with AS, I want to be the representation that was missing for me. Through efforts like the Zed…

Born in Zimbabwe, wild spaces and wild animals run through my veins. Introduction to a rescued lion cub brought home by my father when I was a baby led to my passion for protecting all animals. When I came across the idea of using dogs to track poachers, I believed it could be highly impactful in the field and loved the idea of using animals to help animals. I founded Canines for Africa, which became Conservation Solutions International as we spread outside of Africa. The concept was virtually unheard of seven years ago, so I had a sharp learning curve, but once I found Conraad de Rosner the project developed rapidly. Conraad is possibly the first person to use dogs for conservation professionally and spearheads our training center in South…

JOIN THE “EXPLORERS IMMORTALS” AND ENGRAVE YOUR NAME OR DEDICATION IN STONE ON NEW PAVERS FOR THE LEFRAK TERRACE AT EXPLORERS CLUB HEADQUARTERS. ADORN OUR LANDMARK OUTDOOR SPACE AND HELP PAY FOR URGENT WORK FOR PHASE II RENOVATIONS BY MAKING A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION OF $3,750 PER DEDICATED PAVER TO OUR LOWELL THOMAS BUILDING FUND. THE EXPLORERS CLUB WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING WHO HAVE PURCHASED A PAVER: Mark Allio, Joanna Allman, James H. Alexander, John G. Alexander, Darlene T. Anderson, Jeanne D. Andlinger, Barbara Annan, Robert J. Aresty, Robert Ashton, Atlanta Chapter, Robert J. Atwater, Robin Wheeler Azqueta, Norman L. Baker, George Basch, Andreas Bender, Josh Bernstein, John Bierley, Bruce Blanchard, John R. Bockstoce, Brian M. Boom, John R. Boreske Jr., Jill Botway, Gary W. Bowersox, Lawson W. Brigham,…

My research—based on the essential premise that more knowledge is useful in solving critical and complex problems—challenges the outright exclusion of Indigenous knowledge systems from dominant fisheries research and management regimes employed globally. I have led a review of Indigenous conceptual frameworks from around the world that enable learning from multiple ways of knowing in parallel and focused on the Mi’kmaw concept of Etuaptmumk or “Two-Eyed Seeing”—that is, learning from Indigenous and Western sciences in tandem. This approach has educational resonance and is now being included in university syllabi across North America and abroad. I have a strong commitment to the development of improved and innovative methods of practice, particularly around co-creation with Indigenous partners and in how research is subsequently disseminated. I also have a deep commitment to mentoring…

Half the world lacks access to essential health services, such as childhood immunizations or care during pregnancy, which means 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty by health expenses. The challenge is to determine the most effective allocation of limited global health resources. There are not enough to go around, so policymakers must become selective about which patients receive care or which diseases get treated. I hope for the future that access to care in hard-to-reach areas is improved through more targeted resource allocation and that maps can be one part of that puzzle. I made my first map while living in a poor Jamaican neighborhood, using a flashlight tightly gripped between my teeth, which provided just enough light to copy the waypoints from my field notes to my…

While there is no replacement for exploring environments firsthand, many places on Earth, especially in the ocean, are unreachable by most. My work seeks to make those regions more accessible using immersive technologies, such as augmented and virtual reality, which can make people feel truly present in places they may never go. In the 2022 report An Introduction to Learning in the Metaverse, my colleagues and I contended that while immersive technologies can increase one’s motivation to learn and capacity to teach, they are not without limitations when it comes to cognitive load and accessibility, which is why content must be designed and applied thoughtfully. To this end, I’ve been lucky to create leading-edge content, as well as to test deployment strategies, measure impact, and publish results with such partners…

The biodiversity of deep-sea ecosystems—invisible from the surface—remains largely unknown and unexplored. As light decreases and we enter the twilight zone, species live and participate in balance with the planet. Yet, they are now affected by the temperature and acidification of the oceans, overfishing, invasive species, waste, chemical pollution, mining, oil and gas exploitation, and the laying of cables and pipelines. The biodiversity of deep-sea ecosystems is threatened and, with it, the capacity of marine ecosystems to connect life between the surface and the depths and also their ability to regulate the climate. A whole chain of life depends on them, yet we still know very little about these organisms upon which we depend. Our organization aims to strengthen scientific knowledge and raise public awareness about the importance of preserving…

My work opens up the ancient and recent past by bringing the 21st century into the field, allowing anyone to experience and learn about cultural heritage via augmented and virtual reality—whether through a computer screen or by walking through a virtual installation of a historic site. By making history accessible, while continuing to innovate along the way, my work has made important contributions by allowing anyone to explore via VR, while also training local communities to do this highly technical work themselves. For example, in a recent project with the International Committee of the Red Cross, I trained local photographers in Syria, Iraq, and Palestine to 3D scan significant urban sites that have been devastated by conflict. The data provide an immersive virtual tour experience to bring awareness to the…

I am the founder of Polheim (Norwegian for “Polar Home”), an impact hub and neutral gathering place in Longyearbyen that brings together community members, scientists, business people, artists, and changemakers for meetings, seminars, and workshops around climate change and other critical topics in the Arctic. The vision for Polheim is to create a place where bridges can be built between diverse groups of decision-makers—a home for sharing ideas, building trust, and developing community-grounded best practices for future solutions in the Arctic. Collaboration is the way forward. I hope that by engaging people—both at Polheim and as guests on ships and expeditions throughout the region—and sharing my deep enthusiasm and desire to protect these places, that I can help others recognize how we can all be part of the solution and…

A restless soul passionate about medicine, nature, and adventure, Karina Oliani has made it her life’s work to bring medical care to little-known remote areas surrounded by nature. Her experience as an explorer has taken her to more than 120 countries, during which she has built a formidable expedition résumé. She has summited Everest twice and was the first Brazilian woman to climb K2. She is also the first person to cross the lava lake of the Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia (a Guinness World Record). Oliani is also a diving instructor who has made more than 5,000 dives, many among apex ocean predators. It was during these adventurous experiences that Oliani realized the need to promote basic health and well-being in such remote places. Since then, she has worked…

How you connect with nature is how you treat nature and its lifeforms in processes like policymaking, research, etc. Growing up with my grandparents, who loved to go camping, fishing, and subsistence hunting, I was taught that everything has a story—from rocks to mountains, plants and animals, the oceans and rivers, and us. For me, knowing ocean and land conditions and understanding animal movements is personal and important to our communities because this is knowledge we need in order to have food on our tables, give back to the communities, and teach our children. In science, we are told to keep personal biases away from research, but, as I have learned, you cannot separate people from the environment. For when you do, you disregard the knowledge that was learned and…

Madagascar is home to many endemic species under threat. I came to direct the Peregrine Fund’s Madagascar Program in 2004 and have helped create community-based conservation of protected areas—nearly 200,000 hectares of rainforests, dry forests, wetlands, mangroves, and savannas—substantially improving the lives of those nearby. I work to develop the capacity of local people and groups to manage these areas. Despite substantial degradation of the country’s natural resources, our management approach ensures that the various ecosystems remain intact and support threatened species. Local management of fisheries enables communities to sustainably harvest 600 tons of fish for both sustenance and income during a six-month fishing season, while leaving enough fish in lakes and time for fish to breed, which, in turn, supports critically endangered fish eagles. I strive to produce Malagasy…

Despite centuries of cultural erosion wrought by colonization, the Indigenous people in the Amazon have retained their rich and vibrant cultures and a wealth of traditional knowledge of their forests, which harbor medicinal plants and some of the most nutrient-rich foods on the planet. Yet many groups in modern Amazonia have come to be malnourished. As their forests have been felled and their territories lost, accessing nutritious foods has become difficult. Fully aware of the fraught history of foreign aid and coercion, Yakum, an organization I founded in 2018, seeks to strengthen the agency of Amazonia’s people, largely through food sovereignty: the control over, and access to, culturally relevant and highly nutritious foods. Successful reforestation requires rigorous planning—knowing which tree species to plant and developing horticultural objectives together with the…

In graduate school, I was taught to rely solely on tools that pass peer-review if I wanted to be a good scientist—ignoring sage advice from the communities in which I was working. To the contrary, I have found that one of the most important conservation tools we have is the shared knowledge of those who have spent the greatest time on the land, which warrants our utmost respect. For I am part of a large effort that has resulted in resounding conservation success: the rebound of African lions in a human- and livestock-dominated landscape where they were nearly extirpated. The Lion Guardians, the traditional Maasai warriors we employ to protect their communities, livestock, and the lions, are exceptionally accurate at finding and understanding the lions with whom they share a…

As we approached the creation of this, the third edition of the EC50, we had an experienced team in place to write, edit, and layout the book. Then fate stepped in. About halfway through the process, your lead editor, me, fully boosted, was felled by a serious bout of covid, which compromised his ability to devote the required time to the project. While I am recovering, I had to bring in added support. The process is to gather materials from each of the selected honorees—a task well done by The Explorers Club staff member, Brooke Vahos. The condensed biographies and personal essays are next developed from the submitted materials by the lead editor. The entries are then combined with essays from The Explorers Club president and the EC50 committee co-chairs.…