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Gretel Ehrlich, 2011 WINGS Elected Fellow

"Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are...there is nothing in nature that can't be taken as a sign of both morality and invigoration." — Gretel Ehrlich

Writer, Explorer

Born: 1946-01-21

Hometown: Santa Barbara, California

Education: Bennington College, UCLA Film School

Achievements

Expeditions: Throughout a 20 year period, Ehrlich has explored and lived in the Himalayas, Western China, Greenland and the Arctic. Her permanent home is in Wyoming.

Biography

Considered one of the great environmental writers of our time, Gretel Ehrlich is the author of 11 books, including This Cold Heaven and The Future of Ice: A Journey into Cold, which focus on life in the Arctic in a time of global warming, and A Match to the Heart, which chronicles her ordeal and recovery after having been struck by lightning in 1991. Ehrlich received a National Geographic Expeditions Grant for the 2007 International Polar Year, and traveled the Arctic by skin boat, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopter, reindeer, and dogsled. She lived among the Inuit people who, as the Arctic warms and melts, are witnessing the destruction of their ecosystem and their way of life. In addition to educating readers with her scientific and cultural expertise, she probes the spiritual qualities of her subject with a pen that is both lyric and mystical. She has been awarded Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Whiting Foundation and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, etc.  

Read full bio on Gretel's website

"The thawing edge, Gretel Ehrlich’s Empire of Ice" NATGEO NewsWatch interview with Ford Cochran

Empire of Ice Video Interview on YouTube:

Fun Facts

Awards and Recognition

2010 PEN Henry David Thoreau Prize, Bellagio Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Whiting Award, Harold B. Vurcell Award, grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and two Expedition Council Grants from the National Geographic Sociey.

Publications

In the Empire of Ice: Encounters in a Changing Landscape, 2010; The Future of Ice: A Journey into Cold, 2004; This Cole Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland, 2001; John Muir: Nature's Visionary, 2000; A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck by Lightening; Arctic Heart: A Poem Cycle, 1992; Islands, the Universe, Home, 1991; Drinking Dry Clouds: Stories from Wyoming, 1991; Heart Mountain, 1988; The Solace of Open Spaces, 1985

Catherine Powers, 2011 Women of Discovery Earth Award

"Leave no stone unturned. Euripides" — Catherine Powers

Paleontologist

Born: 1976-12-07

Hometown: Denver, Colorado

Education: Ph.D., Geology

Achievements

Discoveries: Environmental distribution of bryozoans to assess environmental stress during end-Permian and end-Triassic mass extinctions.

Expeditions: Europe, western United States

Biography

Catherine Powers is an evolutionary paleontologist who focuses on long-term biodiversity trends in the fossil record and the processes that drive them. She is especially interested in the relationship between mass extinctions and the environmental and geographical distribution of marine organisms prior and following these biotic events. Her doctoral research centered on the end-Permian (ca. 251 Ma) and end-Triassic (ca. 200 Ma) mass extinction events, both considered two of the largest extinctions in the history of life. She used marine stenolaemate bryozoans as a proxy for assessing extinction-related environmental change during the Permian to Jurassic interval and to evaluate the long-term evolutionary impact of the end-Permian and end-Triassic mass extinctions on bryozoan evolution. The data and results from her research have important implications for mass extinction research and current understanding of bryozoan evolution. Extinction intensity in different marine environments characterized by bryozoan environmental trends can be linked to proposed mass extinction mechanisms and used to assess the validity of each. Future scenarios about the possible cause of a mass extinction must now account for disparity in environmental degradation along marine shelves. The environmental impact of the Late Permian and end-Triassic extinctions also now provides a context for the major evolutionary changes that took place within Phylum Bryozoa during the early Mesozoic. 

ARTICLES ON CATHERINE'S WORK....

Science Magazine; Mass Extinctions: Out With a Whimper Not a Bang, by Phil Berardelli on 7 November 2007

Fun Facts

Favorite Item to have in the field: Hammer, Hand lens, chocolate, a good book

Heroes: My husband, Peter

Awards and Recognition

Paleontologial Society Stephen J. Gould Student Grant, 2006 Yale Peabody Museum Schuchert and Dunbar Grant, 2005 USC Department of Earth Sciences Graduate Student Research Grant, 2005 American Museum of Natural History Lerner-Gray Award, 2004 Paleontological Society Stephen J. Gould Student Grant, 2004 Geological Society of America Student Research Grant, 2004 USC Department of Earch Sciences Graduate Student Research Grant, 2003

Publications

Peer-reviewed research papers

Milbry Polk, 2010 WINGS Elected Fellow

"Find your passion, get connected, keep learning and questioning." — Milbry Catherine Polk

Founder, Wings WorldQuest/Writer

Hometown: Palisades, New York

Education: BA Anthropology Harvard University

Achievements

Discoveries: The long history of women explorers.

Expeditions: Western Desert, Egypt, Greenland, India, Tibet, Alaska, Saudi Arabia, Yemen Prince William Sound, Alaska; Western Desert of Egypt (National Geographic); Yemen; Southern Sudan; Saudi Arabia; Iran; Pakistan; Burma; John River, Alaska; Nepal; Brazilian coast; Greenland, Baffin Island (Students on Ice), Devon Island (Adventure Canada), India (American Museum of Natural History); Chinese Tibet, Andaman Sea.

Biography

Milbry Polk is the Co-Founder of Wings WorldQuest, the preeminent organization supporting women explorers throughout the world. She is the author/editor of a dozen books including; Women of Discovery, The looting of the Iraqi Museum, Baghdad, Egyptian Mummies, has contributed chapters to several books including the recent The Great Explorers (2010), and she is the reviews editor for The Explorers Journal. She lectures frequently and serves on the boards of museums, theater, news and arts organizations. Her photographs have been exhibited widely and she has been published in numerous magazines. Her own explorations have been in the Middle East and Asia and more recently in the Arctic and Tibet. She is a Fellow of Wings WorldQuest, The Explorers Club, The Royal Geographical Society and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. 

Visit Milbry's Website...  www.milbrypolk.com 

Follow the Blog Brave New World!

Fun Facts

Favorite Item to have in the field: Camera, Bandana, Rope, Baggies

Heroes: Alexander the Great, all Wings Fellows

Awards and Recognition

2010 Fellow, Wings WorldQuest 2007 Women’s Environmental Leadership Award, Unity College, Maine 2005 Honorary Fellow, FRCGS (Hon) The Royal Canadian Geographical Society 2005 Arden Seminars Scholarship 2003 Leader of the 21st Century, WomensENews.org 1986 Outstanding Woman of the Year 1979 Robert Flaherty New York State Arts Grant (Film)

Publications

The Great Explorers (Thames and Hudson 2010) Contributor “Marianne North”
Norwegian National Schools Curriculum contributor 2009
Pennsylvania SSAT Contributor 2007-2010
Discovery Talk “Explorers” Card Game (US GAMES 2008)
The Quest (Lulu 2008) novel/ paintings by Cynthia James
They Lived to Tell the Tale (Explorers Club and Lyons Press 2007) Contributor
Adventurous Dreams, Adventurous Lives (Rocky Mountain Books, 2007) Contributor
Explorers Journal Reviews and Contributing Editor (1998-present)
The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad Co-Editor (2005 Abrams)
“100 Best First Person Exploration Books of 20th Century” The Explorers Journal
As Told at the Explorers Club by George Plimpton (Lyons Press 2003) contributor
Exploration Series Editor (Chelsea House Publications 2004) Gertrude Bell, Alexandra David-Neel, Sylvia Earle, Mary Kingsley, Annie Alexander, Sue Hendrickson
Frauen erkunden die Welt (National Geographic/Friederking & Thaler 2004)
Women of Discovery Calendar (Rizzoli) 2003
Women of Discovery (Clarkson Potter, 2001)
Library Journal Award Best Books of 2001
School Library Journal Best Books 2002
Egyptian Mummies (Dutton/Penguin. 1997)
Margaret A. Edwards Award 1998 Best Books
YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 1998
The History of Arabian Transportation Cambridge Univ Press
"Legacy" Public Television series on World History RESEARCHER (1982)
"ROLLOVER" Feature Film SCRIPT CONSULTANT (1979)
"MARGARET MEAD; PORTRAIT OF A FRIEND" Film by Rouch and Marshall (1979)

Inside Passage Expedition

Five expeditions, each two to four weeks in length, brought Rosemarieand Pat Keough, their cameras, and WINGS WorldQuest Flag #17 to the beautiful maritime maze of the Inside Passage. The navigable waterway winds along the coasts of northern Washington, British Columbia, and southeast Alaska through a labyrinth of islands, interconnected channels, straits, sounds, and fjords.

Location: 
Northern Washington, British Columbia, and Southeast Alaska
Leader: 
Rosemarie Keough and Pat Keough
Team: 

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Explorer & Photographer:  Rosemarie Keough, Explorer & Photographer:  Pat Keough

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Purpose: 

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Phototgraphing the landscape and people of the Inside Passage. To create a portfolio of work that portrays the beauty and diversity of this unique area.

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Learning Goal: 

To create a portfolio of work that portrays the beauty and diversity of this unique area.

Findings: 

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An extensive archive of images of the Inside Passage has been accumulated.  From this archive, 345 outstanding pictures have been selected for publication in a portfolio which will travel to exhibitions and lectures, and will be used in various articles about the region.  In addition to their hopes that the resulting portfolio will bring enjoyment through appreciation of the stunning images they have captured, the Keoughs also endeavor to have their work inspire change.  The Inside Passage is predominantly defined by the natural wonders that it harbors, yet increasingly these habitats are coming under threat due to detrimental human activity in the area.  The Keough’s portfolio can begin the journey towards change by stimulating discussion and calls for protection.

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Websites: 

www.keough-art.com

Columbia River Expedition

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Alison M. Jones, Director and Lead Photographer for the non-profit organization No Water No Life, carriedWINGSWorldQuest Flag #13 to the Upper Columbia River Basin. Her team explored Canada’s15% portion of the 40-million-year-old, transboundary Columbia River Basin; opened a photo exhibit; and met with stakeholders. Her focus

Location: 
Upper Columbia River Basin, Canada
Leader: 
Alison M. Jones
Team: 

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Project Director/Photographer: Alison M. Jones, Researcher/Canadian Liaison: Kalista Pruden, Project Coordinator: Robin MacEwan, Science Advisor: Dr. Robin Sears, Base Manager:  Jasmine Graf, Researcher:  Erin Vintenner, Exhibit Consultant:  Mark Lukes

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Purpose: 

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Research and share imagery of the Columbia River Basin’s freshwater values, degradation and management. To raise awareness of global freshwater issues and to foster partnerships upstream and downstream.

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Learning Goal: 

The goals were to raise awareness of freshwater issues; foster stewardship partnerships; and document local conservation and freshwater management solutions.

Findings: 

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Alison believes that, through No Water No Life, she has helped establish upstream and downstream partnerships that will become critical links in future holistic approaches to preserving the values and functions of a watershed.  She found that scientists and stake- holders alike are eager to be interviewed and to share their data. Her team has succeeded in dispensing information and publicity to watershed agencies and individual stewards, and has introduced stakeholders to each other, often across national boundaries. Through creative partnerships, all stakeholders involved will become stronger advocates for the preservation of this critical landscape.

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British Columbia Expedition

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As first light crept onto land during the last days of September 2008, Heather Bryan, with WINGS WorldQuest Flag #17, and her co-workers loaded into a small research vessel.  They traveled up the rocky shore of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest peering through binoculars for signs of wildlife. Gulls, bald eagles, and other birds in the estuary fed on the pulse of nutrients left by spawning salmon, and bears were seen feeding hungrily on the fish carcasses, too. Once on land, the research team split into groups to

Location: 
British Columbia, Canada
Leader: 
Heather Bryan
Team: 

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Heather Bryan, PhD candidate, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Dr. Chris Darimont, Rainforest Wolf Project Co-principal Investigator, Dr. Paul Paquet, Rainforest Wolf Project Co-principal Investigator, Dr. Judit Smits, Veterinary Pathology, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Doug Brown, Local Knowledge Expert/Research Technician, Brian Falconer, Ship Captain, Research Assistants: Chris Genovali, Rosemary Bryan, Misty MacDuffee, Saffrina Welch, Chris Wilmers

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Purpose: 

 

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Collecting data on the activity and health of wolves.

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Learning Goal: 

To understand the role of disease distribution over time in wolf populations

Findings: 

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RESEARCH RESULTS

Having returned from their expedition, the team will hunker down to analyze the scat samples for evidence of parasites. The information obtained will complete a three-year dataset on parasites in wolves across the coastal landscape. To complement data on parasites in wolf feces, they collected information on disease from domestic dogs during last year’s field season. Dogs share many diseases with wolves, and may therefore be considered ‘sentinels of disease’ in wolves. Results from their study of disease in wolves and dogs will be published in a scientific journal, as well as on the Raincoast Conservation Foundation’s website (www.raincoast.org). As in other years, the team will share information with scientists, First Nations leaders in coastal BC, public health officials, and wildlife veterinarians. Another aspect of their work will be to investigate hormones in hair samples as indicators of the health status of wildlife. Hormones, which are deposited in hair, may provide a window into long-term physiological, social and physical stress perceived by wolves and other wildlife. Their research will contribute to several recent and on-going studies that are developing this potentially valuable, non-invasive technique.

In addition to scientific findings, a rewarding and important part of Heather’s work is outreach. Every year, the group makes presentations about wolf ecology to youth groups. Last year they reached an estimated 200 youth, and they plan to continue their educational activities in the coming year.

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British Columbia Expedition

<!--StartFragment-->

As first light crept onto land during the last days of September 2008, Heather Bryan, with WINGS WorldQuest Flag #17, and her co-workers loaded into a small research vessel.  They traveled up the rocky shore of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest peering through binoculars for signs of wildlife. Gulls, bald eagles, and other birds in the estuary fed on the pulse of nutrients left by spawning salmon, and bears were seen feeding hungrily on the fish carcasses, too. Once on land, the research team split into groups to

Location: 
British Columbia, Canada
Leader: 
Heather Bryan
Team: 

<!--StartFragment-->

Heather Bryan, PhD candidate, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Dr. Chris Darimont, Rainforest Wolf Project Co-principal Investigator, Dr. Paul Paquet, Rainforest Wolf Project Co-principal Investigator, Dr. Judit Smits, Veterinary Pathology, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Doug Brown, Local Knowledge Expert/Research Technician, Brian Falconer, Ship Captain, Research Assistants: Chris Genovali, Rosemary Bryan, Misty MacDuffee, Saffrina Welch, Chris Wilmers

<!--EndFragment-->

Purpose: 

 

<!--StartFragment-->

Collecting data on the activity and health of wolves.

<!--EndFragment-->

 

 

Learning Goal: 

To understand the role of disease distribution over time in wolf populations

Findings: 

<!--StartFragment-->

RESEARCH RESULTS

Having returned from their expedition, the team will hunker down to analyze the scat samples for evidence of parasites. The information obtained will complete a three-year dataset on parasites in wolves across the coastal landscape. To complement data on parasites in wolf feces, they collected information on disease from domestic dogs during last year’s field season. Dogs share many diseases with wolves, and may therefore be considered ‘sentinels of disease’ in wolves. Results from their study of disease in wolves and dogs will be published in a scientific journal, as well as on the Raincoast Conservation Foundation’s website (www.raincoast.org). As in other years, the team will share information with scientists, First Nations leaders in coastal BC, public health officials, and wildlife veterinarians. Another aspect of their work will be to investigate hormones in hair samples as indicators of the health status of wildlife. Hormones, which are deposited in hair, may provide a window into long-term physiological, social and physical stress perceived by wolves and other wildlife. Their research will contribute to several recent and on-going studies that are developing this potentially valuable, non-invasive technique.

In addition to scientific findings, a rewarding and important part of Heather’s work is outreach. Every year, the group makes presentations about wolf ecology to youth groups. Last year they reached an estimated 200 youth, and they plan to continue their educational activities in the coming year.

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Susan Shaw, 2009 WINGS Elected Fellow

"Follow your convictions, seek ways to advance in your field and show leadership because you are needed." — Susan Shaw

Environmental Toxicologist; Founder/Director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute

Born: 1943-01-01

Hometown: Amarillo, TX, and New York, NY

Education: DrPH in Public Health/ Environmental Health Sciences

Achievements

Discoveries: First scientist to document the widespread contamination of marine mammals and fish in the Northwest Atlantic by toxic flame retardant chemicals used in consumer products

Expeditions: Seal ledges and islands of the Northwest Atlantic, Gulf of Maine, Pacific Northwest coast

Biography

An outspoken and influential voice on ocean pollution, Dr. Shaw dove in the Gulf oil slick in May and observed first-hand how oil and dispersants are impacting life in the water column. The experience prompted her to call for a collaborative, Gulf-wide effort to track effects as the toxins ripple through the food web.

For two decades, Shaw has conducted large-scale ecotoxicological investigations on the effects of hundreds of environmental chemicals in marine animals. She is credited as the first scientist to show that flame retardant chemicals in consumer products have contaminated marine mammals and commercially important fish stocks in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Her research has influenced policy decisions in the US and abroad, including the Maine legislature’s decision to ban the neurotoxic flame retardant decabromodiphenyl ether (Deca), and the subsequent US phase-out of the chemical.

In 2009, Shaw published the first comprehensive review of flame retardant chemicals in marine ecosystems of the American continents. She serves on the International Panel on Chemical Pollution, a select group of scientists urging policymakers to improve management of toxic chemicals.

Shaw is a keynote speaker on the ocean crisis and chemical pollution in the US, Europe, and Asia, and is amplifying the ocean message as Chair of the International Explorers Club’s State of the Oceans Forums. She has recently been nominated to be a Woodrow Wilson visiting fellow.

Fun Facts

Favorite Item to have in the field: Seaworthy vessel, favorable winds, good friends, marine mammals

Heroes: Rachel Carson for her courage and unflinching honesty, Elisabeth Mann Borgese for her vision of peace in the oceans, and Sylvia Earle for her impassioned leadership as an ocean advocate

Vera Cooper Rubin, 2004 Women of Discovery Air & Space Award

"Don't quit. You can do it." — Vera Cooper Rubin

Astronomer

Born: 1928-01-01

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

Education: PhD in Astronomy

Achievements

Discoveries: Discovering that most of the matter in the universe is "dark matter."

Expeditions: Into space, using telescopes in the USA and Chile. Also, visited astronomers and telescopes at the South Pole.

Biography

Vera Cooper Rubin, the second daughter of Philip and Rose Cooper, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 23, 1928. As a child she exhibited a naive fascination for the stars which later, as an astronomer, would motivate her to pursue answers to questions that most scientists believed were obvious. Research she contributed to the study of the universe has disproved previously accepted theories and has left scientists struggling with the most baffling questions yet.

Vera graduated from Vassar College in 1948 with a bachelors degree in Astronomy and accompanied her new husband Bob Rubin, a physicist, to Cornell University. She completed her Master's degree there in 1951. At this time the Big Bang theory was becoming widely accepted. Vera presented her master's thesis to the American Astronomical Society in which she suggested that galaxies might be rotating around an unknown center, not just expanding out as described in the Big Bang theory. There was no scientific theory to explain this finding and as a 22 year old woman her ideas quickly earned a her negative reputation.

 

She completed her doctorate at Georgetown University in 1954 by taking night classes while her parents watched her 2 children and her husband waited in the car as Vera did not know how to drive. Her doctorate work showed that galaxies were not evenly distributed in the universe, but that in some areas there are more, and in some there are less. Again this went against the predictions of the big bang theory of an evenly distributed universe. ( More research gave her observations validity 15 years later.)

 

Fun Facts

Favorite Item to have in the field: A telescope

Heroes: Maria Mitchell, 1818-1888, the first US woman astronomer

Jane Poynter, 2009 WINGS Elected Fellow

"Everyone is afraid at times. Learn to use your fear - it can fuel you to do more than you ever imagined possible." — Jane Poynter

Sustainability consultant, author, TV host, technology company president, environmental non-profit president

Born: 1962-01-01

Hometown: Tucson, AZ

Education: Life

Achievements

Discoveries: Artificial miniature biospheres work. Produced the first animals to complete their life cycles in space.

Expeditions: The first two-year mission of Biosphere 2, 1991-1993. Onboard the R.V. Heraclitus for the Sri Lanka to Egypt leg of the Round the Tropic World Expedition,1984.

Biography

Jane Poynter, explorer, author, Biospherian and President of Paragon Space Development Corporation, an aerospace firm that designs environments for extreme situations, is engaged in laying the groundwork for human space settlement. Founding Paragon grew out of her experience as a Biospherian, one of eight individuals chosen to live sealed for two years inside Biosphere 2, a bubble in Arizona, to learn if it was possible to replicate earth environments beyond earth. Through Paragon, Poynter works with aerospace organizations designing experiments for the Shuttle and the International Space Station. The company also designs life support systems for astronauts and Navy deep-sea divers. She has served as SPACEHAB's Chief Scientist for its Ecosystem in Space experiment; she holds a patent for the Autonomous Biological System; was Chief Scientist for Carbon Sequestration for the Seawater Foundation, a non-profit that is developing untreated seawater-based agroforestry projects in coastal deserts; and works with designing systems for carbon credit trading.

Jane is one of only eight people ever in history to live sealed in an artificial world for two years. Jane's preparation for Biosphere 2 involved training to survive in the Australian Outback and onboard a concrete research boat in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. She was part of the Biosphere from the start, ultimately managing the farm where the crew grew its food.

Fun Facts

Favorite Item to have in the field: Binoculars, hand lens, wind-up flash light, camera, good book, mp3 player

Heroes: The great biologist Eugene O. Wilson; Queen Elizabeth I of England, the woman who united and built a nation; and Clair Francis, a woman from my hometown in England who sailed solo across the Atlantic.