Explorers
Fellows
Flag Carriers
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. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and teacher working to help create the best possible climate future. She is co-founder…
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
Leela Hazzah
Dr Leela Hazzah: Executive Director and Cofounder of Lion Guardians, Leela obtained her PhD and MSc from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research…
Jill Heinerth
JILL HEINERTH is one of the world’s premier underwater explorers and the first person to dive inside iceberg caves. A pioneering explorer, award-winning filmmaker and…
Susan Hendrickson
Born: 1949 Hometown: Chicago, IL Education: Honorary Ph.D. University of Chicago Occupation: Marine archaeologist, field paleontologist, professional diver Expeditions: Diving – Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Cuba, Honduras, Egypt, Peru, and…
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…
Katie Lois Hutchinson
Katie Lois Hutchinson has long been fascinated by the living world. Growing up next to the beach in Kent, England, she gained a unique perspective…
Nina Jablonski
Inspired to study natural history by her upbringing on a farm in upstate New York, Nina Jablonski is a biological anthropologist and paleobiologist…
Kate Jackson
Born: 1972 Hometown: Toronto, Canada Education: Ph.D. in Biology Occupation: Herpetologist specializing in Central Africa venomous snakes Expeditions: Surveying reptiles/amphibians in Central Africa, herpetological expeditions in South and Central…
Hope Jahren
Hope Jahren is the “New York Times Best Seller” author of Lab Girl, a memoir about a woman in science and a lifelong love and…
Rannva Joermundsson
Originally from the Faroe Islands, Rannva Joermundsson has been passionate about diving since learning to dive in 2008. In addition to working for one of…
Diana Beresford Kroeger
Botanist, medical biochemist, author and filmmaker Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger has dedicated her life and career to understanding the underlying beauty, preservation and protection of rare…
Aquilina Lestenkof
Aquilina D. Lestenkof is the co-director of the Ecosystem Conservation Office of the Tribal Government, located on Alaska’s island, St. Paul, the same…
Laly Lichtenfeld
Dr. Laly Lichtenfeld is committed to a world where communities and wildlife coexist and thrive. A twenty-year resident of Tanzania, she co-founded African People &…
Beate G. Liepert
Dr. Beate G. Liepert discovered during her graduate work at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich that declines in solar energy reaching Earth’s surface were equivalent…
Darlene Lim
Dr. Darlene Lim is a geobiologist based at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. Darlene leads several NASA-funded research programs that are focused on…
Rosaly Lopes
Dr. Rosaly M. C. Lopes is a Principal Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she is also Lead Scientist for Geophysics and…
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:…
Margaret Lowman
Born: 1953 Hometown: Elmira, NY Education: Ph.D. in Botany Occupation: Canopy ecologist (argonaut) Expeditions: Hot air ballooning to survey biodiversity in Cameroon, Africa; Jason expedition, broadcasting via satellite to…
Kristen Marhaver
Dr. Kristen Marhaver, a marine biologist, completed her NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship studying the ecology, reproduction, and juvenile behavior of Caribbean reef corals at the CARMABI…
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Catherine Powers
Born: 1976 Hometown: Denver, CO Education: Ph.D. in Earth Sciences Occupation: Paleontologist Expeditions: Europe and Western U.S. to analyze the distribution and diversity of bryozoans, a group of marine…
Pauline Wiessner
Born: 1947 Hometown: Stowe, VT Education: Ph.D. in Archaeology and Ethnology Occupation: Anthropologist Expeditions: 30 years of expeditions to the Kalahari Bushmen and th Enga of Papua New Guinea…
Milbry Polk
Born: 1954 Hometown: Oxford, England Education: B.A. in Anthropology Occupation: Photographer, writer, founder of WINGS WorldQuest Expeditions: Egypt, India, Tibet, the Arctic, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Alaska, Nepal, Greenland Favorite Places:…
Jill Tarter
Born: 1944 Hometown: Berkeley, CA Education: Ph.D. in Astronomy Occupation: Astronomer; former Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute Expeditions: Chasing after signals from distant technologies…
Anna Cummins
Anna Cummins has over 20 years of experience in environmental non-profit work including marine conservation, coastal watershed management, community relations and sustainability education. Her work…
Katey Walter Anthony
Born: 1976 Hometown: Fairbanks, AK Education: Ph.D. in Aquatic Biology Occupation: Aquatic ecosystem ecologist and professor Expeditions: Siberia, Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Finland, and Sweden to study methane emissions from…
Cindy Lee Van Dover
Dr. Cindy Lee Van Dover is a deep-sea biologist with an interest in ocean exploration and the ecology of chemosynthetic ecosystems. She began…
Ann Bancroft
Ann Bancroft is one of the world’s preeminent polar explorers and an internationally recognized leader who is dedicated to inspiring women, girls and audiences around…
Diana Beresford Kroeger
Botanist, medical biochemist, author and filmmaker Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger has dedicated her life and career to understanding the underlying beauty, preservation and protection of rare…
