Sylvia Earle
Dr. Sylvia Earle is a legendary oceanographer and Explorer whose life’s work champions ocean conservation and protecting our blue planet.
Hero for the Planet
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Living Legend
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Her Deepness
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Hero for the Planet • Living Legend • Her Deepness •
More about Sylvia
Considered the grande dame of the oceans, Sylvia Early was named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, and TIME magazine’s first “Hero for the Planet.” A member of the Ocean Elders, she supports the “30X30” movement which aims to protect 30% of our Oceans by 2030.
In 2008, Sylvia founded Mission Blue, an organization that supports a science-based network of Hope Spots in more than 70 countries, protecting almost 60 million square kilometers of ocean. It earned her the 2009 TED Prize.
In 1990, Sylvia was named the first female Chief Scientist for the NOAA. Following that, she founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, in 1992, a leader in ocean exploration using sustainable design, manufacture, and deployment of cutting edge submersibles.
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Sylvia first gained notoriety in 1970, when she led an all-female team in the Tektite II Project, an initiative sponsored by the U.S. Navy, the Department of the Interior, and NASA near the U.S. Virgin Islands. She made history near Oahu, Hawaii, in 1979, when—wearing an armored diving suit called JIM strapped to a small submersible—she descended 1,250 feet to the ocean floor.
Sylvia has received 30+ honorary degrees and 100+ national and international honors and awards, including being named a member of the Netherlands Order of the Golden Ark. .She has also received the Walter Cronkite Award, the Explorers Club Medal, the Royal Geographic Society Patron’s Medal, and the National Geographic Society Hubbard Medal. She learned to SCUBA dive with Jacques Cousteau.
Speaking Topics
Leadership
Resilience
Conservation
Science
Exploration
Overcoming Obstacles
Nature
Watch Sylvia in action
Presentations
Saving Our Blue Planet, One Hope Spot at a Time
Immerse yourself in Dr. Sylvia Earle’s inspiring mission to save the ocean, one “Hope Spot” at a time. Working beyond borders and ideologies, Sylvia advises heads of state on critical marine protection legislation and crisis response. She strives to help the rest of us navigate the consequences of everything we put into—and take out of—the ocean.
“My TED Prize wish is that you will use all means at your disposal ... to ignite public support for a global network of marine protected areas, ‘hope spots’ large enough to save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet.”
– Sylvia Earle