Sylvia Earle - Education and Career

Education and Career

Earle received a B.S. degree from Florida State University (1955) and a M.S. (1956) and Ph.D. (1966) from Duke University. 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), Radcliffe Institute Scholar (1967–1969) and Research Fellow or Associate at Harvard University (1967–1981).

Earle led the first team of women aquanauts during the Tektite Project in 1970. In 1979, she made an open-ocean JIM suit dive to the sea floor near Oahu, setting a women's depth record of 381 metres (1,250 ft). She also holds the women's depth record for a solo dive in a submersible: 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).

From 1980 to 1984 she served on NACOA (the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere). In 1982 she founded Deep Ocean Engineering along with her husband, engineer and submersible designer Graham Hawkes, to design, operate, support, and consult on piloted and robotic sub sea systems. In 1987 The Deep Ocean Engineering team designed and built the Deep Rover research submarine, which operates down to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). She left the company in 1990 to accept an appointment as a chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In 1992 she founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER Marine) to further advance marine engineering. The company, now run by her daughter Elizabeth, continues to design, build and operate equipment for deep ocean environments.

Since 1998, Earle has been an explorer in residence at the National Geographic Society. In 2011, she received an honorary doctorate from Smith College, and delivered the commencement address at Warren Wilson College.