Sylvia Earle

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Sylvia Earle

Sylvia Alice Earle (born August 30, 1935 in Gibbstown, New Jersey) is an American oceanographer. She was chief scientist for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 1990-1992. She is a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, sometimes called "Her Deepness" or "The Sturgeon General".^[1]

Earle received a B.S. degree from Florida State University (1955), M.S. (1956) and PhD. from Duke University (1966). She was Curator of Phycology at the California Academy of Sciences (1979-1986) and a Research Associate at the University of California, Berkeley (1969-1981), Radcliff Institute Scholar (1967-1969) and Research Fellow or Associate at Harvard University (1967-1981). She led the first team of women aquanauts during the Tektite Project in 1970. In 1979, she made the first open-ocean JIM suit dive, setting a women's depth record of 1250 feet (381m); she also holds the record for solo diving (3280 feet, 1000m). From 1980 to 1984 she served on the President's Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere (1980-1984). In 1992 she founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER), to design, operate, support, and consult on piloted and robotic sub sea systems. She co-designed and built the Deep Flyer research submarine, which operates down to 3000 feet.

Earle has led more than 60 expeditions worldwide involving in excess of 7000 hours underwater in connection with her research.^[2] From 1998 to 2002 she led the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, a five year program to study the United States National Marine Sanctuary sponsored by the National Geographic Society and funded by the Goldman Foundation. An expert on the impact of oil spills, she was called upon to lead several research trips during the Gulf War and following the spills of the ships, Exxon Valdez and Mega Borg.

She is the author of more than 125 publications concerning marine science and technology including the books Exploring the Deep Frontier, Sea Change (1995), Wild Ocean: America's Parks Under the Sea (1999) and The Atlas of the Ocean (2001), she has participated in numerous television productions and given scientific, technical, and general interest lectures in more than 60 countries. Children's books that she has written include Coral Reefs, Hello Fish, Sea Critters, and Dive!

Earle was named Time magazine's first "hero for the planet" in 1998.

Sylvia Earle displays samples to aquanaut inside TEKTITE

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[edit] Quotes

"I want to get out in the water. I want to see fish, real fish, not fish in a laboratory."
"I can still feel that leap of enthusiasm, and real joy, at the prospect of finally getting out to the beach, and running around. But probably the most important thing, to me, aside from just the freedom of it and the power of it, was the kind of creatures that you could see along the beach, that you can't find anywhere else."