Meet an “Amazing” Whose Love of the Sea is Deep

Sylvia Earle, 82, a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998, is a marine biologist, author, and lecturer. She became the first woman to be named Chief Scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1990. Among her many accomplishments, Sylvia won a TED prize in 2009. With the prize money, and support from TED, Sylvia created the non-profit foundation “Mission Blue” (also known as the Sylvia Earle Alliance, Deep Search Foundation, and Deep Search). The foundation establishes marine protected areas, called "Hope Spots," around the world.

Sylvia leads expeditions to Hope Spots all over the globe. As of 2015, there were already 50 official Hope Spots! Of her early experiences as a scientist at Harvard, Sylvia told Time (Sept.18, 2017) that when she applied for an experiment that required scientists to live underwater for two weeks, no one expected women to sign up. Yet a few did, including Sylvia. She became the leader of the female team. She says; “The men were called aquanauts. The women we were aqua-babes, aqua-chicks, aqua-naughties. But we didn’t care what they called us, as long as we had a chance to go.”

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