Sylvia Earle - Accomplishments

Accomplishments

Earle has led more than 60 expeditions worldwide involving in excess of 7,000 hours underwater in connection with her research. 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.

Earle 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!

In 1986, Earle tied the world solo dive depth record in a sub (and setting the record for a woman), going 1000m in Deep Ocean Engineering's Deep Rover, tying the record set by her then husband Graham Hawkes.

Earle was named Time magazine's first "hero for the planet" in 1998. She is a Knight in the Netherlands' Order of the Golden Ark.

She was instrumental in adding a new feature of displaying oceans in version 5.0 of Google Earth.

Earle founded Deep Search (also known as the Sylvia Earle Alliance, Deep Search Foundation, and Mission Blue Foundation), a non-profit foundation for protecting and exploring the Earth's oceans. In addition, she serves on several boards, including Marine Conservation Institute.

At The Hague International Model United Nations Conference, Earle gave a 14-minute speech in front of 3,500 delegates, and United Nations ambassadors. In July 2012, Earle will co-lead an expedition to NOAA's Aquarius underwater laboratory, located off Key Largo, Florida. The expedition, entitled "Celebrating 50 Years Of Living Beneath The Sea", will commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Jacques Cousteau's Conshelf I project and investigate coral reefs and ocean health. Mark Patterson will co-lead the expedition with Earle. Their aquanaut team will also include underwater filmmaker D.J. Roller and oceanographer M. Dale Stokes.

Earle made a cameo appearance in the daily cartoon strip Sherman's Lagoon in the week starting 17 September 2012, to discuss the closing of the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory.