Sylvia A. Earle is an oceanographer with expertise in ocean science, technology, exploration, and conservation and a spokesperson for policies that emphasize a harmonious relationship between human prosperity and the natural living systems that maintain the habitability of Earth.
She is a National Geographic Explorer at Large, Founder and Chair of the California-based NGO, Mission Blue, an advisor to the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, an advisor to the Earth Observatory of Singapore and Nantung University, a founding Ocean Elder, a founding IUCN Patron of Nature, a founding Planetary Guardian, a board member for Just, Inc. and since 1981, a Rolex Testimonial.
Formerly Chief Scientist of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Curator of Phycology at the California Academy of Sciences and Research Fellow at Harvard University, she had served as leader of 100+ expeditions with thousands of hours underwater, given professional talks in more than 100 countries, authored 250 publications, earned 34 honorary degrees and travelled globally for research expeditions and conservation, science and policy events. Called Her Deepness by the New Yorker and New York Times, Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and Time Magazine’s First Hero for the Planet, she has been profiled in several books and countless magazines.