Explorers
Fellows
Flag Carriers
Dr. Grace C. Young
Dr. Grace C. Young is a Research Engineer and Lead Scientist at X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory (formerly GoogleX), where her team is creating radical new technologies to protect…
Dr. Nurzhafarina Othman
Dr. Nurzhafarina (Farina) Othman is a conservation scientist and community advocate dedicated to the protection of the endangered Bornean elephant. With a PhD in Bioscience…
Dr. Divya Karnad
Dr. Divya Karnad is an Indian marine conservationist and associate professor at Ashoka University, dedicated to sustainable seafood, fisheries management and marine biodiversity protection. With…
Dr. Yara Barros
Dr. Yara Barros is a Brazilian conservation biologist and the Executive Coordinator of Project Jaguars of Iguaçu, a flagship initiative dedicated to the conservation of…
Mandë Holford
Dr. Mandë Holford is a professor of chemistry at CUNY Hunter College and The CUNY Graduate Center, with scientific appointments at the American Museum of…
Terrie Williams
The narwhal is one of the most iconic marine mammals of the Arctic but remains virtually unstudied due to its deep diving habits and polar…
Arita Baaijens
From December 2019 through January 2020, Arita Baaijens (Flag #2) returned to Papua New Guinea to continue the work she began in 2016 with WINGS…
Felicity Aston
Poler explorer and climate scientist Felicity Aston (Flag #27), who has led international teams of women on record-making ski expeditions to both poles, traveled to…
Dr. Jessica Ware
Dr. Jessica Ware is a full curator at the American Museum of Natural History where she serves as Chair of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology. Dr. Ware’s…
Prof Adriana Vergés
Adriana Vergés is a marine ecologist whose research focuses on the ecology and conservation of coastal marine habitats. In particular, her team investigates the ecological…
Ruthmery Pillco
Ruthmery Pillco is a Peruvian biologist who works on conservation and biodiversity projects in the rainforests of Costa Rica and Peru. In Costa Rica, she…
Dr. Patricia Medici
Dr. Patricia Medici is a Brazilian conservationist whose main professional interests are tapir conservation, tropical forest conservation, landscape ecology, and communication. Patrícia has a Bachelor’s…
Dr. Paula Kahumbu
Dr. Paula Kahumbu is a prominent Kenyan conservationist and the CEO of WildlifeDirect. She earned her Ph.D. from Princeton University, focusing on Ecology and Evolutionary…
Alifa Haque
Dr. Alifa Bintha Haque is a marine biologist and ethno-conservationist focused on conserving sharks and rays in the global south context. Her research covers sustainable…
Elizabeth Bennett
Elizabeth (Liz) Bennett is the Vice President for Species Conservation at WCS. She conducted the first ever detailed field study of the proboscis monkey in…
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Dr. Haiza Haroon
Materials scientist Haiza Haroon will lead her expedition to South Island, New Zealand, endeavoring to discover the potential use of earthy material, namely clay collected…
Julieta Massaferro
Paleoecologist / paleolimnologist Julieta Massaferro (Flag #33) researches fossil insects from lake sediments to reconstruct past environmental conditions and understand climate and other environmental changes…
Anna Knochel
Marine ecologist Anna Knochel (Flag #34) will be collecting data in the Galapagos that combines acoustic tagging, satellite tagging, and isotope analyses to identify movement…
Norina Vicente
Entomologist and conservation biologist Norina Vicente focuses on the evolutionary history of the eusocial, wingless wasps “ants” of poorly known regions, Afrotropical and Malagasy. For…
Azlin Fazlina Osman
Bioengineer and nanotechnology researcher Azlin Fazlina Osman and her team will explore dolomite reservoirs around the Ashio mountainland in Kuzu district, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Dolomite…
Dominique Gonçalves
As a keystone species, elephants help maintain the integrity of entire ecosystems, which in turn deliver climate regulation benefits and resilience to climatic shocks. Ecosystem…
Gina Moseley
Palaeoclimatologist and polar explorer Gina Moseley specializes in improving our understanding of how the Arctic responds to a warmer world. Gina has led two pioneering…
Kiera Rumbough
Kiera Rumbough is a marine biologist and the lead research coordinator on a multi-year sea expedition around the world to film and document stories about…
Cassandra Quave
Writer, professor, podcast host, mother, and ethnobotanist Cassandra Quave, Ph.D., is a two-time WINGS Flag Carrier. Cassandra is an endowed Associate Professor of Dermatology and…
2025 Women of Discovery
Dr. Yara Barros
Dr. Yara Barros is a Brazilian conservation biologist and the Executive Coordinator of Project Jaguars of Iguaçu, a flagship initiative dedicated to the conservation of…
Dr. Divya Karnad
Dr. Divya Karnad is an Indian marine conservationist and associate professor at Ashoka University, dedicated to sustainable seafood, fisheries management and marine biodiversity protection. With…
Dr. Nurzhafarina Othman
Dr. Nurzhafarina (Farina) Othman is a conservation scientist and community advocate dedicated to the protection of the endangered Bornean elephant. With a PhD in Bioscience…
Dr. Grace C. Young
Dr. Grace C. Young is a Research Engineer and Lead Scientist at X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory (formerly GoogleX), where her team is creating radical new technologies to protect…
All Explorers
Iris Love
Years: 1933 – 2020 Hometown: Lincoln, VT Education: M.A. in Classical Archaeology Occupation: Field archaeologist, photographer, art critic Expeditions: Samothrace and Cnidus, Greece, and Etruscan sites in Italy Favorite Place:…
Katy Payne
Born: 1937 Hometown: Ithaca, NY Education: B.A. with honors in Music Occupation: Acoustic biologist Expeditions: Argentina, Revillagigedos Islands, Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic Favorite Place: Quietly deep in nature Best…
Vera Rubin
Dr. Vera Rubin was a trailblazing astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. Her observations provided…
Stephanie Schwabe
Born: 1957 Hometown: Charleston, SC Education: Ph.D. in Biogeochemistry and J.D. in Law Occupation: Cave diver, geomicrobiologist Expeditions: Diving into the ocean’s Black Holes and Blue Holes Favorite Place: In…
Marie Tharp
Years: 1920 – 2006 Hometown: Ypsilanti, MI Education: M.A. in Geology Occupation: Oceanographic cartographer Expeditions: At sea on the following research vessels: Eastward to the North Atlantic & Caribbean,…
Gitanjali Bhattacharya
Gitanjali Bhattacharya is a Conservation Biologist and the Head of Global Development for the Zoological Society of London. …
Nathalie Cabrol
Nathalie has been a Principal Investigator (PI) at the SETI Institute since 1998. She leads projects in planetary science and astrobiology, develops science…
Dalia Amor Conde
Dalia Amor Conde is a conservation ecologist and associate professor at Southern Denmark University and is also the Director of Science at Species360. She…
Marianne Greenwood
Years: 1916 – 2006 Hometown: Gallivare, Lapland, Sweden Education: Art & Trade School of Design and Hotel School Occupation: Author and photographer Expeditions: Traveled around the world eight…