Earle, Sylvia

Dr. Sylvia Earle has been at the frontier of deep ocean exploration for four decades. She hasled more than 70 expeditions worldwide, involving more than 6,000 hours underwater. As captainof the first all-female team to live underwater in the Tektite Project in 1970, she and herfellow scientists received a ticker-tape parade and White House reception upon their return tothe surface. In 1979, Sylvia Earle walked untethered on the sea floor at 1250’, a deeper depththan any other woman before or since. She also holds the women’s record for a solo dive in adeep submersible (3280 feet, 1000m). At the bottom, she detached from the vessel and exploredthe depths for two and a half hours with only a communication line connecting her to thesubmersible, and nothing at all connecting her to the world above. In the ‘80s she started thecompanies Deep Ocean Engineering and Deep Ocean Technologies with engineer GrahamHawkes to design and build undersea vehicles that allow scientists to work at previously inaccessibledepths. In the early 1990s, Dr. Earle served as Chief Scientist of the National Oceanographicand Atmospheric Administration. Sylvia is president of Deep Search International andchair of the Advisory Council for the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. Shehas a B.S. from Florida State University, an M.S. and a Ph.D. from Duke University, and 15honorary degrees. She has authored more than 150 scientific, technical, and popular publications,lectured in more than 60 countries, and appeared in hundreds of television productions.Earle is the author of many books on the ocean, including Sea Change: A Message of theOceans and, most recently, Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas. At present she is explorer-in-residenceat the National Geographic Society, and she most recently won a TED award, and has planneda global summit in Galapogos Island to address concerns most dear to her heart. Sylvia Earleis a dedicated advocate for the world’s oceans and the creatures that live in them. Her voicespeaks with wonder and amazement at the glory of the oceans and with urgency to awaken thepublic from its ignorance about the role the oceans plays in all of our lives and the importance ofmaintaining their health. “We’ve got to somehow stabilize our connection to nature so that in 50years from now, 500 years, 5,000 years from now there will still be a wild system and respect forwhat it takes to sustain us.”

Boston Sea Rovers
Boston Sea Rovers