The Amazing Sylvia Earle
Hi friends of women in science,
Audubon recently posted on Facebook about Sylvia Earle, and I followed up to learn more.
She won the TED prize in 2009, and I highly recommend the video of her talk on the desperate need to take action to save the ocean (link is here). You will see gorgeous photography of seas and their creatures, and hear an eloquent conservation plea, if you watch.
Earle has led more than 50 expeditions to study the ocean over her more than 40 years in the field. She was captain of the first all-female team to live underwater, and they received a While House reception, not to mention a ticker tape parade, upon their return. She has been Chief Scientist of NOAA in the 1990's and is currently affiliated with the National Geographic Society. If you like Google Earth's ocean floor views, thank Sylvia Earle who urged them to complete the project Google Earth by considering the sea.
Her TED biography quotes her as saying, "I'm haunted by the thought of what Ray Anderson calls ‘tomorrow's child,' asking why we didn't do something on our watch to save sharks and bluefin tuna and squids and coral reefs and the living ocean while there still was time. Well, now is that time."
cheers,
Laura
Hi Amanda and Elaine,
Did you happen to watch the Melissa Harris-Perry show (see the previous posting this week for details?) I was impressed by the black woman from Wildlife Federation. It cracked me up that she told Harris-Perry that people said to her, "Black women don't camp." Evidently she gets a double take when she visits congressional staffers with messages about conservation. Talk about stereotypes! If I can figure out how to contact her, I'd love to get her to guest post on the forum.
cheers,
Laura
Dear Laura,
I agree with Elaine, would love to see more field biologists here. There are some amazing women going into the field and making important discoveries, trying to fight global warming, etc.
ARL
Hi Laura,
I'm glad to see a woman in organismal biology on here, well biological oceanography, but close. So often, it's all molecules when we women ought to pay attention to our world and its organisms and there are lots who do. Thanks for covering her!
ENR
