Sylvia Earle: Exploring and protecting the ocean for seven decades
National Geographic Explorer, renowned oceanographer & marine biologist Sylvia Earle has dedicated her life to ocean conservation.
Sylvia Earle needs no introduction to most. The renowned oceanographer and marine biologist has spent the better part of seven decades exploring the world’s ocean. In that time she has become one of the world’s preeminent experts on marine research and conservation.
National Geographic’s Rosemary and Roger Enrico Chair for Ocean Exploration, Sylvia Earle is founder of Mission Blue, SEAlliance and Deep Ocean Exploration and Research. She is also the Council Chair of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, former chief scientist of NOAA and a founding Ocean Elder.
Earle has been called “Her Deepness” by The New York Times and “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress and was Time magazine’s first “Hero for the Planet.”
She has led over 100 expeditions and logged more than 7,000 hours underwater and she has authored more than 200 publications and lectured in 90 countries.
A graduate of Florida State University with an M.S. and a Ph.D. from Duke University and 29 honorary doctorates, Earle serves on various boards and commissions.
Her more than 100 honors include the 2013 National Geographic Hubbard Medal, 2009 TED Prize, Netherlands Order of the Golden Ark and medals from the Explorers Club, the Royal Geographical Society, the Lindbergh Foundation and the Dominican Republic.
Earle is a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence.
