Sylvia Alice Earle ( née Reade; born August 30, 1935) is an American

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifi ...

, oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer. She has been a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998. Earle was the first female chief scientist of the U.S.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

, and was named by ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

'' as its first Hero for the Planet in 1998. Earle is part of the group Ocean Elders, which is dedicated to protecting the ocean and its wildlife. Earle gained a large amount of publicity when she was featured in '' Seaspiracy'' (2021), a Netflix Original documentary by British filmmaker Ali Tabrizi. Earle eats a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

diet. She describes the chemical buildup in carnivorous fish, the 90% depletion of populations of large fish, and references the health of oceans in her dietary decision. Also, she describes the seafood industry as “factory ships vacuuming up fish and everything else in their path. That’s like using bulldozers to kill songbirds…”. In a discussion at the Good Food Conference in California, Earle warns of disappearing fish stocks, and that while coastal people’s diets have included seafood for centuries, the commercial fishing industry no longer makes sense and encourages transitions to plant-based diets as a solution.

Early life and education

Earle was born in 1935 in the Gibbstown section of Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, to Alice Freas (Richie) Earle and Lewis Reade. Both her parents were enthusiastic about the outdoors and supportive of their daughter's early interests in the natural world. The family moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

on the western coast of Florida during Earle's childhood. Earle received an associate degree from St. Petersburg Jr. College (1952), a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from Florida State University (1955), a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

(1956) and a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

Phycology Phycology () is the scientific study of algae. Also known as algology, phycology is a branch of life science. Algae are important as primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Most algae are eukaryotic, photosynthetic organisms that live in a ...

(1966) from Duke University. Sylvia Earle-nur09015

Career

Earle was a Radcliffe Institute Scholar (1967–1969). Earle was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

(1967–1981). After receiving her Ph.D. in 1966, Earle spent a year as a research fellow at Harvard, then returned to Florida as the resident director of the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory. Earle was a research associate at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

(1969–1981). In 1969, she applied to join the Tektite Project, an installation fifty feet below the surface of the sea off the coast of the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

which allowed scientists to live submersed in their area of study for up to several weeks. Although she had logged more than 1,000 research hours underwater, Earle was rejected from the program. The next year, she was selected to lead the first all-female team of

aquanauts An aquanaut is any person who remains underwater, breathing at the ambient pressure for long enough for the concentration of the inert components of the breathing gas dissolved in the body tissues to reach equilibrium, in a state known as satura ...

in Tektite II. Earle was the Curator of

at the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

(1979–1986). In 1979, she made an open-ocean

JIM suit The JIM suit is an atmospheric diving suit (ADS), which is designed to maintain an interior pressure of one atmosphere despite exterior pressures, eliminating the majority of physiological dangers associated with deep diving. Because there is no n ...

dive, untethered, to the sea ocean floor near

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

. She set the women's depth record of which still holds to date. In 1979 she also began her tenure as the Curator of Phycology at the

, where she served until 1986. From 1980 to 1984, she served on the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere. Sylvia Earle-nur08002

In 1982 she and her later husband, Graham Hawkes, an engineer and submersible designer, founded Deep Ocean Engineering to design, operate, support and consult on piloted and robotic subsea systems.New York Times
"SCIENTIST AT WORK: Graham Hawkes; Racing to the Bottom Of the Deep, Black Sea"
William J. Broad, 1993 August 3 (accessed 30 Juli 2012) In 1985, the Deep Ocean Engineering team designed and built the ''Deep Rover'' research submarine, which operates down to . By 1986, ''Deep Rover'' had been tested and Earle joined the team conducting training off Lee Stocking Island in

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

. Earle left the company in 1990 to accept an appointment as Chief Scientist at the

, where she stayed until 1992. She was the first woman to hold that position. During this post, given her expertise on the impact of oil spills, Earle was called upon to lead several research trips during the Persian Gulf War in 1991 to determine the environmental damage caused by Iraq's destruction of Kuwaiti oil wells. In 1992, Earle founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research ( DOER Marine) to further advance marine engineering. The company, now run by Earle's daughter Elizabeth, designs, builds, and operates equipment for deep-ocean environments. Since 1998, Earle has been a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. She is sometimes called "Her Deepness" or "The Sturgeon General". From 1998 to 2002, she led the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, a five-year program sponsored by the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...

and funded by the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund to study the United States National Marine Sanctuary. During this time, Earle was a leader of the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, council chair for the Harte Research Institute for the Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and chair of the Advisory Council for the Ocean in Google Earth. She also provided the DeepWorker 2000 submersible used to quantify the species of fish as well as the space resources utilized within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. In 2001, Earle received the

National Parks Conservation Association The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is the only independent, nonpartisan membership organization devoted exclusively to advocacy on behalf of the National Parks System. Its mission is "to protect and enhance America's National Pa ...

's Robin W. Winks Award For Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks. Earle founded

Mission Blue The Mission blue (''Icaricia icarioides missionensis'') is a blue or lycaenid butterfly subspecies native to the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States. The butterfly has been declared as endangered by the US federal government. It is a su ...

(also known as the Sylvia Earle Alliance, Deep Search Foundation, and Deep Search) in 2009. In 2009, she also received the million dollar TED prize which allowed her to continue her ocean advocacy work. Given her past experience with the ''

Exxon Valdez ''Oriental Nicety'', formerly ''Exxon Valdez'', ''Exxon Mediterranean'', ''SeaRiver Mediterranean'', ''S/R Mediterranean'', ''Mediterranean'', and ''Dong Fang Ocean'', was an oil tanker that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince Wi ...

'' and '' Mega Borg'' oil spills, Earle was called to consult during the

Deepwater Horizon Disaster The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...

in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

in 2010. During this year she also gave a 14-minute speech in front of 3,500 delegates and United Nations ambassadors at The Hague International Model United Nations Conference. In July 2012, Earle led an expedition to NOAA's

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainme ...

underwater laboratory, located off

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected by ...

, Florida. The expedition, entitled "Celebrating 50 Years of Living Beneath The Sea", commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of Jacques Cousteau's Conshelf I project and investigated

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s and ocean health. Mark Patterson co-led the expedition with Earle. Their aquanaut team also included underwater filmmaker D.J. Roller and oceanographer M. Dale Suckers. Earle made a cameo appearance in the daily

cartoon strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st c ...

Sherman's Lagoon ''Sherman's Lagoon'' is a daily comic strip by Jim Toomey that is widely syndicated in newspapers worldwide after its first appearance in the '' Escondido Times-Advocate'' of Escondido, California, on May 13, 1991. The story of Sherman's Lagoo ...

in the week starting September 17, 2012, to discuss the closing of the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory. In May 2013, the Science Laureates of the United States Act of 2013 (H.R. 1891; 113th Congress) was introduced into Congress. Earle was listed by one commentator as a possible nominee for the position of Science Laureate, if the act were to pass. In January 2018, the

Seattle Aquarium The Seattle Aquarium is a public aquarium in Seattle, Washington, United States, located on Pier 59 on the Elliott Bay waterfront. It opened in 1977 and has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). History Plans for a ci ...

granted its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to Earle and renamed the Seattle Aquarium Medal in her honor. The Aquarium's first Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Earle. Alongside her work at Mission Blue, she also serves on several boards, including the Marine Conservation Institute. With TED's support, she launched Mission Blue, which aims to establish

marine protected area Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conse ...

s (dubbed "Hope Spots") around the globe. Mission Blue's vision is to achieve 30% protection of the ocean by 2030, and more than two hundred organisations have supported them in this mission to date (2019). These supporters range from large, global companies to small, bespoke research teams. With Mission Blue and its partners, Earle leads expeditions to

Hope Spots Hope Spots are ecologically unique areas of the ocean designated for protection under a global conservation campaign overseen by Mission Blue, a non-profit organization founded by Sylvia Earle with her 2009 TED prize wish. Hope Spots can be Mar ...

around the globe. The organization has continued to grow with Earle's work and the help of her team. As of 2020, Mission Blue has created 122 Hope Spots around the world. Past expeditions include

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

in 2009,

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

in January 2010, the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...

in April 2010, Costa Rica and the Central American Dome in early 2014 and the South African Coast in late 2014. A series of geographic information StoryMaps are available through ESRI’s ArcGIS which illustrat
examples of Mission Blue hope spots
around the world in great detail including: 1 Tribugá Gulf Hope Spot, 2 Little Cayman Hope Spot, and 3 Galápagos National Park Expedition. In August 2014, a

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

exclusive documentary titled 'Mission Blue' was released. It focuses on Earle's life and career as her Mission Blue campaign to create a global network of

marine protected areas Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conserv ...

. In 2016, Earle appeared in the

featurette In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film. Medium-length film ...

''Plankton Rules the World!'', which coincided with '' The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water''. The featurette was shown at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara. In the 2019 articl
California Seamounts Are Sylvia Earle’s Newest “Hope Spots”
featured in Hakai Magazine, Hope Spots are described as “areas critical to the health of the ocean for any number of reasons: an abundance or diversity of species, a unique habitat or ecosystem, or significant cultural or economic value to a community.” Seamounts are also described as destinations for mining companies in search of undersea precious metals. In January 2020, Aurora Expeditions announced their second ship would be named ''The Sylvia Earle'' after the marine biologist. Earle is one of the supporters of th
30X30
movement; one which aims to protect 30% of seawaters by 2030, which would be a significant increase from only 6% (as of 2021).

Accomplishments and honors

* 1970: U.S. Department of Interior Conservation Service Award and ''Los Angeles Times'' Woman of the Year * 1976:

NOGI Award The NOGI Awards is an award presented annually by the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (AUAS) to diving luminaries and is "considered the Oscar of the ocean world." Selection of recipients is based on their record of accomplishments and ...

for Science * 1980:

Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

Lowell Thomas Award * 1981: Ordained as a Knight of the

Order of the Golden Ark The Most Excellent Order of the Golden Ark ( nl, Orde van de Gouden Ark) is a Dutch order of merit established in 1971 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. It is awarded to people for major contributions to nature conservation. Although not ...

by the Prince of the Netherlands * 1986: Set the women's record for a world solo dive depth and tie the overall record with Graham Hawkes * 1990:

Society of Woman Geographers The Society of Woman Geographers was established in 1925 at a time when women were excluded from membership in most professional organizations, such as the Explorers Club, who would not admit women until 1981. It is based in Washington, D.C., and h ...

gold medal * 1991: American Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award * 1996: Lindbergh Foundation award, the Explorers Club Medal and Zonta International Honorary Member * 1997: SeaKeeper Award at The International SeaKeepers Society's Bal de la Mer * 1998: UN Global 500 Laureate and National Wildlife Federation Conservationist of the Year * 2000: National Women's Hall of Fame, Library of Congress Living Legend,

Women Divers Hall of Fame The Women Divers Hall of Fame (WDHOF) is an international honor society. Its purpose is to honor the accomplishments of women divers, and their contributions to various fields of underwater diving. Full membership is restricted to nominees who h ...

* 2001:

Robin W. Winks Robin W. Winks (December 5, 1930 in Indiana – April 7, 2003 in New Haven, Connecticut) was an American academic, historian, diplomat, writer on the subject of fiction, especially detective novels, and advocate for the National Parks. After j ...

Award For Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks * 2004: International

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range ...

Award, the Richard Hopper Day Memorial Medal from the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, and the Barnard College medal * 2005: John P. McGovern Science and Society Award from

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...

* 2009: Artiglio Award (Premio Artiglio 2009) and

TED Prize TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

* 2009: The National Audubon Society's prestigious

Rachel Carson Award The Rachel Carson Award is awarded each spring by the National Audubon Society's Women in Conservation to recognize "women whose immense talent, expertise, and energy greatly advance conservation and the environmental movement locally and globally" ...

, a premier award honoring distinguished American women environmentalists. * 2010: The

Roy Chapman Andrews Roy Chapman Andrews (January 26, 1884 – March 11, 1960) was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He led a series of expeditions through the politically disturbed ...

Distinguished Explorer Award from the Roy Chapman Andrews Society in Beloit, WI. * 2010:

Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science The Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science is an award presented by the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) to individuals who have become “concurrently accomplished as researchers and/or educators, and as widely recogni ...

* 2011: Honorary doctorate from Smith College and commencement address at

Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campu ...

, Medal of Honor from the Dominican Republic * 2013: Honorary doctorate from the

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Nelson Mandela University (formerly known as ''Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU)'' ) and before that - the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), the Port Elizabeth Technikon and Vista University's Port Elizabeth campus. This South Afr ...

and the Hubbard Medal, the National Geographic Society's highest honor, "for distinction in exploration, discovery and research" * 2014: Walter Cronkite Award, UN Lifetime Achievement Award (

Champions of the Earth The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established Champions of the Earth in 2005 as an annual awards programme to recognize outstanding environmental leaders from the public and private sectors, and from civil society. Award details T ...

), Glamour Woman of the Year, and the first woman to be celebrated at an Explorers Club Tribute Ceremony * 2017: Rachel Carson Prize,

Lewis Thomas Prize The Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science, named for its first recipient, Lewis Thomas, is an annual literary prize awarded by The Rockefeller University to scientists or physicians deemed to have accomplished a significant literary achieveme ...

. * 2017:

The Perfect World Foundation The Perfect World Foundation is a non-governmental organisation that raises awareness and supports efforts to prevent the global ecological crisis. The organization was founded by Ragnhild Jacobsson and Lars Valentin Jacobsson in 2010. The organ ...

Award The Conservationist of the year 2017 & the Prize "The Fragile Rhino" * 2018:

Lifetime Achievement Award * 2018:

Princess of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards ( es, Premios Princesa de Asturias, links=no, ast, Premios Princesa d'Asturies, links=no), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 ( es, Premios Príncipe de Asturias, links=no), are a series of a ...

of Concord (Concordia) * 2018:

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

*2020: Aurora Expeditions announced their expedition ship would be named the ''Sylvia Earle.''

Publications

Earle has authored more than 150 publications. * * * * * * * * * * * * Co-author (2011). ''The Protection and Management of the Sargasso Sea: The golden floating rainforest of the Atlantic Ocean. Summary Science and Supporting Evidence Case. ''Sargasso Sea Alliance. * Earle, Sylvia (2012). ''The Sweet Spot in Time. Why the Ocean Matters to Everyone, Everywhere.'' Virginia Quarterly Review, Fall. *

References

External links

National Geographic Profile

Sylvia Earle on Literati.net

* ttp://www.impactmania.com/article/sylvia-earle/ Sylvia Earle interviewby impactmania * *
TED Prize Wish: Sylvia Earle's TED Prize wish to protect our oceans
(TED2009)

Video

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Earle, Sylvia 1935 births Living people American oceanographers Aquanauts Duke University alumni Florida State University alumni Harvard Fellows People from Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey University of California, Berkeley staff Women marine biologists American environmentalists American women environmentalists Writers from Oakland, California Female explorers American explorers Professional divers Members of the Society of Woman Geographers Women oceanographers Conservation biologists 20th-century American biologists 20th-century earth scientists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American biologists 21st-century earth scientists 21st-century American women scientists Scientists from New Jersey Scientists from Florida