WINGS Trailblazing Women’s Art Contest
2024-06-25 - 2024-12-31
WINGS Associate Board invites children to draw a woman explorer and/or hero of their choosing!
Rules:
– Submit a drawing of a “woman trailblazer:” any woman you admire, see as a role model, explorer, hero (real or fictional), leader, innovator, or yourself reimagined.
– Entries must be from ages 4 to 14 – $5 per entry and $12 for 3 entries (first 20 entries are free)
– Entries will be judged by age group
Participant Age Groups:
– Under 7: Discoverers
– 8 to 10: Adventurers
– 11 to 14: Pioneers
Prizes:
– Winners receive their drawing as a plushie and a “2024 WINGS Associate Board Young Artist Award” plaque or medal.
– 1 winner per age group and 2 runner-ups receive a plushie.
Entry Guidelines:
– Submissions must be in PNG or JPEG format
– Complete a paragraph about who you drew and why (Parents can complete this section if needed)
Featured in cover image left – right : Dr. Mandë Holford, Dr. Cassandra Quave, Dr. Diva Amon, Dr. Krithi Karanth and Ann Bancroft
Need some inspo? Check out these WINGS Explorers and others here: https://wingswomenofdiscovery.org/explorers/

Living with Giants: Gorongosa Elephants’ Recovery and Challenges
2025-02-27 18:30 - 20:30 UTC | 22 Vanderbilt Ave, 22 Vanderbilt Ave, New York, NY, 10017
2023 WINGS Flag Carrier Dr. Dominique Gonçalves is a Mozambican ecologist who manages the Gorongosa Elephant Ecology Project in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. She conducts a long-term monitoring of Gorongosa’s recovering elephant population looking on their habitat choices and its implications on human elephant conflict and coexistence. WINGS supported a critical component of Dominique’s assessment and monitoring of elephant populations in the Gorongosa National Park-Zambezi sector: the 99 active cameras distributed along the areas of high probability of elephants occurrence.
Dominique’s work is a holistic blend of ecology, behaviour and conservation, and focus on build coexistence between communities and elephants throughout a shared landscape. A passionate advocate of girls’ education to prevent early marriage, Gonçalves also supports the park’s Girls’ Club program through the role models initiative. Dominique has an M.Sc. in Conservation Biology and a Ph.D. in Biodiversity Management from the University of Kent’s Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology. Dominique was the narrator of award-winning film called “Our Gorongosa: a Park for the People”. She is a National Geographic Society Explorer and have featured in National Geographic Channel’s “Women of Impact” film. In 2020, she was nominated for the Pritzker Genius Award Prize, and she was one of the Explorers Club 50 people changing the world in 2021 and the Explorer’s Club New Explorer Awardee of 2023. In 2024 she was awarded the DICE-University of Kent’s Mike Walkey prize for best postgraduate student, and she is currently one of the Princeton University Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows.
Her talk, “Living with Giants: Gorongosa Elephants’ Recovery and Challenges” will take you through the fall and recovery of the elephant population, and its impacts in the social- ecological system of one of the most successful restoration efforts in Africa.

NYC OceanTech Summit
2025-06-06 13:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Date: June 6, 2025
Location: Newlab Brooklyn; 19 Morris Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Website: oceantechsummitnyc.com
Registration: lu.ma/wwbomvw3

The NYC OceanTech Summit is a premier event connecting ocean innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and researchers in the tristate area. Focused on the lab-to-market phase of technologies at the ocean-climate nexus, the summit offers a platform to explore advancements in marine science, robotics, AI, climate tech, and the Blue Economy. This is the second annual summit, building upon the success of its inaugural event.
The summit aims to build community and highlight the role of the ocean in climate tech. By concentrating on technologies at their earliest stages—emerging from the lab and beginning commercialization—the event fosters collaboration and innovation within NYC’s OceanTech ecosystem.
Supporting Organizations:

WINGS Women of Discovery
BlueX News
Investable Oceans
Seaking Blue
Newlab

WINGS Women of Discovery Pickleball Fundraiser
2025-06-25 17:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Ericsson Playgroun, 438 Leonard Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11222, United States
Hosted by WINGS Associate Board—we’d love for you to join us!
100% of proceeds go to support WINGS. $20 minimum donation entry fee – but no limit to donations! Snacks and beverages will be provided along with lively competition.
WINGS funds women researchers and scientists worldwide in bold exploration and groundbreaking discoveries. Now, more than ever, these researchers need our support.

WINGS Fellow Anna Cummins Explorer Talk at South Carolina Aquarium
2025-09-10 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Halifax) | South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, SC, South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, United States
Join 2011 WINGS Fellow Anna Cummins for an Explorer Talk at South Carolina Aquarium on Wednesday, September 10, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Anna is a marine conservationist, an environmental educator, and the Co-founder & Executive Director of 5 Gyres.
Anna’s passion for environmental conservation began in childhood, playing in Santa Monica stormdrains and beaches—experiences that sparked her interest in the land-sea connection. She has spent 30 years working in marine conservation, watershed management, and environmental education.
In 2009, Anna and her husband Dr. Marcus Eriksen co-founded 5 Gyres to stop plastic pollution through science, education, and advocacy. The organization uses vetted research to drive policy campaigns, engage corporations to reduce plastic use, and work with communities for local change.
Purchase your tickets for this event in Charleston, SC, at this link.

Callie Veelenturf on Sea Turtle Conservation and the Rights of Nature
2025-09-19 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Marblehead Arts Association, 8 Hooper Street, Marblehead, 01945, United States
WINGS Explorer Talk Series with Callie Veelenturf, WINGS Flag Carrier, and Founder of The Leatherback Project and the National Geographic Society’s newest Program, For Nature on September 19, 2025 at the Marblehead Arts Association, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM.
Sea turtles are powerful ambassadors for conservation, spanning coastal and oceanic environments. Sharing the stories of the devastating threats that they face via compelling datasets and multimedia can quite literally change the world. Join us for an inspiring presentation by marine conservation biologist, National Geographic Explorer, and Scientist with the United Nations Harmony with Nature Programme, Callie Veelenturf, to learn about the ways in which The Leatherback Project is using sea turtle science and the Rights of Nature framework for conservation impact across three countries in Latin America. Get tickets here or register below.
Make sure to bring a critical-thinking mindset about how these case studies can help inform other high-impact conservation initiatives globally. It’s time to unite behind strategic and impactful conservation initiatives, while we still have the chance to safeguard the future of the planet’s biodiversity.
Light refreshments will be served.

2025 Women Of Discovery Awards
2025-10-09 18:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | 583 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 583 Park Avenue, New York, NY, United States
2025 WINGS Women of Discovery Awards will be Thursday, October 9th, 6 – 10 PM. The WINGS Women of Discovery Awards and Fellows Program were established to celebrate the ground-breaking work of women explorers and scientists who are actively out in the field, and provide critical unrestricted funding to support and ensure their continual studying and exploration of our world.
Learn about the 2025 WINGS Women of Discovery Fellows and get your ticket here!
Sign up for our newsletter (scroll down on our home page) and be sure you are receiving all of the latest WINGS news on events, discoveries, and our explorers.

2025 Global Explorers Forum
2025-10-11 09:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, United States
Saturday, October 11, 2025 from 9 AM – 5 PM, in tandem with the WINGS Women of Discovery Awards on Thursday, October 9, 2025, WINGS hosts a Global Explorers Forum that showcases the work, challenges and expeditions of the most recent cohort of Fellows, who present their research before their peers and the public. Attending Fellows and Flag Carriers may also present recent initiatives and expeditions. The Forum serves to bring broader recognition to their work while also acting as an ideas ecosystem, a platform for education, and a connector to the next generation.
with EMCEE Mandë Holford, Ph.D. WINGS Fellow & Trustee
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
9:30am: Guest Check-in and Refreshments
10:00am: 2025 WINGS Women of Discovery Presentations with Q&A

Dr. Yara Barros
Brazil, Jaguar Conservation
Saving Jaguars in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil
Dr. Divya Karnad
India, Marine Biology & Sustainable Fisheries
Tide to Table: Recognizing Everyday Marine Sustainability Heroes with In Season Fish
Dr. Nurzhafarina Othman
Borneo, Elephant Ecology
Misunderstood Giants: Why Male Elephants Hold the Key to Peace
Dr. Grace Calvert Young
USA, Robotics & Ocean Engineering
Seeing the Invisible — Inventing High-Speed & Spectral Imaging to See Life Underwater and Track Reusables in Waste.

12:15pm: Luncheon served
2:00pm: Lightning Round Presentations featuring WINGS Explorers: Darlene S. Lim—NASA geo-biologist, Arita Baaijens-Biodiversity in Bosavi, Terrie M. Williams—Marine Biology in Arctic, Nora Shawki—Egyptian archaeologist, Aparajita Datta-Wildlife ecologist in Amazon, Kiera Rumbough—Marine Biology, Sandra Lai—Carnivore researcher in Arctic, Jessica Ware–Dragonflies, Hilde Fålun Strøm—Hearts in the Ice Polar Explorer, Katie Lois Hutchinson—Biologist in Ecuador, Cassandra Quave—Ethno-botanist/Plant Based Medicine, Hollis-Ann Stewart-Panthers in FL, Katie Conlon—Environment in Himalayas, Grace Cordsen—Arctic Climate Change, Amanda Brock Morales—Anthropological Archaeology
3:30pm: Happy Hour Networking Reception with Refreshments
5:00pm: Event Concludes
Learn about the 2025 Women of Discovery Fellows
Tickets for the October 11, 2025 Forum can be purchased here.
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