Womanica

Eco-Warriors: Sylvia Earle

Episode Summary

Sylvia Earle (1935-present) is a leading advocate for ocean conservation and one of the world’s best known marine scientists. She has logged thousands of hours diving beneath the surface of the ocean, and brought the marvels of the deep sea to the surface–earning the nickname ‘Her Deepness’.

Episode Notes

Sylvia Earle (1935-present) is a leading advocate for ocean conservation and one of the world’s best known marine scientists. She has logged thousands of hours diving beneath the surface of the ocean, and brought the marvels of the deep sea to the surface–earning the nickname ‘Her Deepness’.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more.  Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures. 

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, and Ale Tejeda. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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Episode Transcription

Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Carmen Borca-Carrillo. I’m one of the writers and producers behind Womanica, as well as another Wonder Media Network show, As She Rises. 

As She Rises is about personalizing the elusive magnitude of climate change through the power of poetry and the stories of climate activists. The second season is out now. And since this month’s theme is Eco Warriors, the team behind As She Rises is taking over Womanica!

We’re highlighting Eco Warriors: women fighting for conservation and ecological justice.

Today, we’re talking about a leading advocate for ocean conservation who’s one of the world’s best known marine scientists. She has logged thousands of hours diving beneath the surface of the ocean, and brought the marvels of the deep sea to the surface - earning the nickname ‘Her Deepness’. Let’s talk about Sylvia Earle. 

Sylvia was born on August 30, 1935 in Gibbstown, New Jersey. As a kid, she spent hours by the pond in her backyard, filling jars with fish and tadpoles, then carefully documenting her findings in notebooks. 

She was a brilliant student and graduated high school at 16. She attended Florida State University on a scholarship. There, she studied botany and learned how to dive with SCUBA gear. She graduated three years later and continued her education at Duke, pursuing a masters in botany. After graduating at age 20, she stayed at Duke and began working towards her PhD. Her research was focused on algae, the plants that produce the most oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere. 

In 1964, while working towards her doctorate, Sylvia joined an expedition sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Along with a team of seventy all-male crew members, Sylvia traveled halfway across the world to dive into the Indian Ocean and document its sea life. She spent the next two years aboard the same research vessel, exploring the waters off of the Comoro [comm-oh-row]] Islands, Nairobi, Cairo and beyond. At the Comoro Islands, she discovered a bright pink plant that had never been documented before. She named it Humbrella, in honor of her teacher and mentor, Dr. Harold Humm.

In 1966, Sylvia received her PhD in botany. Her dissertation involved SCUBA diving off the Gulf of Mexico to document marine life. Her work became a landmark study in her field for decades to come. 

But Sylvia’s SCUBA expeditions were just beginning. In 1968, she joined the Man-in-Sea project, where participants lived underwater for extended periods. Sylvia was the first woman to do this experiment - and she was four months pregnant at the time! 

In 1969, Sylvia applied to be part of another underwater habitat project called the Tektite II project. When the review committee read her application, they were blown away by her credentials - she had over 1,000 hours diving and robust research experience. But the committee hadn’t considered that women would apply for this position - and they didn’t want male and female scientists living together underwater. 

Instead, the committee tasked Sylvia with leading an all female diving team. In the summer of 1970, Sylvia and four other women descended into an underwater habitat off the coast of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and spent two weeks documenting the sea life. 

Sylvia surfaced a star - she and her team were invited to the White House, and honored at a parade in Chicago.  She began speaking and writing about marine life, bringing her passion for the ocean to the public. 

Alongside her writing and speaking appearances, she continued  diving all over the world. In 1979, she set the world record for untethered diving, becoming the first woman to SCUBA 1,250 feet underwater. In 1980s, she co-founded Deep Ocean Engineering and Deep Ocean Technology. She even helped design the Deep Rover, a submersible that could hold one person and travel up to 3,000 feet underwater. 

Over the course of her career, Sylvia authored over 200 publications, lectured in over 80 countries, led over 100 marine expeditions, and spent over 7,000 hours underwater.

In 1990, Sylvia was the first woman to become the chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She was named Time Magazine’s first Hero for the Planet, and received the TED prize. 

Today, Sylvia continues  educating people about marine biodiversity and fighting to protect the world’s oceans. She founded a non-profit called Mission Blue, which works to build a network of marine protected areas called ‘Hope Spots’. 

For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast. Special thanks to Jenny and Liz Kaplan for inviting me to guest host this week. 

As always, we’ll be taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you on Monday!