Table of contents for Spring 2025 in The Explorers Journal

THE EXPLORERS JOURNAL IS PRINTED ON FSC®-CERTIFIED, 100% POST-CONSUMER RECYCLED PAPER STOCK. AS WE EMBRACE UV PRINT TECHNOLOGY, OUR VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND (VOC) EMISSIONS CONTINUE TO SHIFT TO VIRTUALLY ZERO. THE QUARTERLY IS PRINTED IN CANADA BY HEMLOCK, A CARBON-NEUTRAL GREEN PRINTER. THE EXPLORERS CLUB IS COMMITTED TO ELIMINATING SINGLE-USE PLASTICS. THE USE OF PAPER ENVELOPES IN PLACE OF PLASTIC MAILERS IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY DONORS TO THE WORLD OCEANS WEEK PROGRAM. ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT ESTIMATES WERE MADE USING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PAPER NETWORK PAPER CALCULATOR VERSION 4.0. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: WWW.PAPERCALCULATOR.ORG. FSC® IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CALCULATIONS ON SAVING RESOURCES BY CHOOSING THIS PAPER.…

Dear Fellow Explorers, We have been travelling with Adventure Canada for years and it has been nothing short of extraordinary. In 2016 Expedition Leader Stefan Kindberg, Adventure Canada CEO Cedar Swan and I started a wonderful program in conjunction with The Explorers Club, entitled Young Explorers. Every summer, a group of bright young researchers embarks on an expedition with us, conducting fieldwork that shapes their future careers in exploration, science, and leadership. Many have gone on to key roles within Adventure Canada and The Explorers Club itself as well as embarking on promising careers. This summer, I’ll be back on board, along with Stefan, Explorers Club President Emerita Faanya Rose, Executive Director Will Roseman, Trevor Wallace, VP of Grants, the 2025 Young Explorers Cohort and fellow members—all of us eager…

160 PP • NEW YORK: RIZZOLI, 2024 • ISBN-10: 084783090X • ISBN-13: 978-0847830909 • $60 Martin Broen’s Light in the Underworld is a majestic visual accomplishment. Cenotes, natural sinkholes that occur when the limestone bedrock collapses, have been used as water sources throughout Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula for millennia, providing water not only for the extensive rainforest above but also for the millions of people who live above the labyrinth. Using the wizardry of light, Broen illuminates these dark and fragmented pathways carved through the porous limestone karst. As fellow underwater photographer Alex Mustard writes of Broen’s images in his foreword, “The groundbreaking imagery” captures “scenes from our planet that 99.9 percent of people will never see.” For the Maya, Broen writes, “the sinkholes were not only a fundamental part of…

“MEMBERS OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB ARE A SOURCE OF GREAT INSPIRATION AS I CONTINUE TO EXPLORE THE WORLD. TO ENSURE THAT THE MISSION OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB CONTINUES, I HAVE INCLUDED A GIFT TO THE CLUB IN MY ESTATE PLANNING. I ENCOURAGE MY FELLOW MEMBERS TO DO LIKEWISE.”—David S. Press LM’18, Legacy Society Co-Chair Mark R. Allio • John G. Alexander • Alan B. Albright • Robert J. Atwater • Capt. Norman L. Baker* • Barbara Ballard • Robert D. Ballard, PhD • Samuel B. Ballen* • Mark Gregory Bayuk • Daniel A. Bennett • Josh Bernstein • Bruce Blanchard • John R. Bockstoce, DPhil • Jack Aaron Boggs* • Bjorn G. Bolstad* • Capt. Bruce M. Bongar, PhD • Brian M. Boom, PhD • Jill Botway • Garrett R.…

In January, our board reelected Richard Wiese, my predecessor, to lead the Club once again as president. I feel very strongly that I am leaving the Club in capable hands. In so many ways, Richard’s initiatives and direction for the Club during his last tenure as Explorers Club President set my own up for success. Under his leadership, the Club began hosting the Global Exploration Summit, or GLEX, which celebrated its fifth edition in Porto and the Azores this past June. The Explorers Club 50 (EC50), another of his initiatives, just announced its fifth class of honorees. That makes 250 incredible explorers who we have highlighted, platformed, and brought into the Club through the program. Given his track record, I am sure Richard will continue to push our organization forward,…

At the first glimmer of dawn over southern Bhutan, I stood at the edge of a quiet clearing, where the rustling of prayer flags in a cool, ancient breeze framed a view of Gelephu’s rolling plains. Here, the kingdom readies for its most ambitious undertaking in modern history: Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC). For decades, Bhutan has gauged progress by a yardstick unique among nations: Gross National Happiness (GNH). First articulated by its fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, GNH holds that true development transcends economics, encompassing spiritual, cultural, and environmental well-being. This guiding ethos helped propel Bhutan from an isolated Himalayan realm into a globally admired, carbon-negative country. Now, under the watchful stewardship of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck—an honorary director of The Explorers Club—Bhutan advances GNH into bold new terrain…

As we usher in spring this edition, we contemplate notions of renewal and possibility—be it in exploring strange new worlds or imagining innovative ways to enhance life on our planet that benefits all. For our cover story, award-winning photographer Martin Broen takes a dive into the Maya underworld, a labyrinth of passages coursing their way through the limestone karst, the bedrock of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. With his dramatic lighting, Broen reveals the otherworldly nature of a place the Maya have long known as Xibalba, the sacred realm of gods and ancestors. For decades, Explorers Club members have been mapping this vast network of cave systems—among them Sam Meacham and his team, who, as of February, have mapped more than 524 kilometers of passages within Sistema Ox Bel Ha (Mayan for…

BIRUTÉ MARY GALDIKAS, KNOWN AS ONE OF THE “TRIMATES” OR “LEAKEY’S ANGELS,” IS WORLD-RENOWNED FOR HER GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION WORK WITH WILD ORANGUTANS IN THEIR NATURAL, TROPICAL HABITAT OF BORNEO. THIS YEAR’S RECIPIENT OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB MEDAL, GALDIKAS HOLDS A PHD IN ANTHROPOLOGY FROM UCLA. SHE IS A PROFESSOR AT SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY. RICHARD WIESE, A FELLOW OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 1989 AND CURRENTLY ITS INCOMING PRESIDENT, IS THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND HOST OF THE MULTIPLE EMMY AWARD-WINNING ABC AND PBS PROGRAM BORN TO EXPLORE. In the annals of modern primatology, few names carry the weight of Biruté Galdikas, who, alongside Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, was part of the now-legendary initiative by paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey to place pioneering women in the field to study our closest…

beer-battered horsetail & spruce-tip salad SERVES 4-6 OUT HERE ON THE EDGE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, SPRING DOESN’T ARRIVE ALL AT ONCE—ESPECIALLY AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. CHEF PAUL AND I WERE TREKKING THROUGH A SPRUCE BOG WHEN WE SPOTTED SOMETHING OFTEN EASY TO MISS: A MOST ANCIENT OF PLANTS, ASPARAGUS-LIKE HORSETAILS (EQUISETUM) AT THEIR PEAK FOR EATING. PAUL PUT TOGETHER A DELIGHTFUL SALAD THAT REALLY LETS THEIR DELICATE, ALMOST PRIMORDIAL FLAVOR SHINE—THE CRISPY HORSETAILS COMPLEMENTED BY THE CITRUS-BOMB OF THE SPRUCE TIPS AND A SWEET VINAIGRETTE. INGREDIENTS: For the vinaigrette ½ cup rice or dandelion vinegar,¼ cup light soy sauce1 tbsp honey pinch of salt For the beer-battered horsetail 1 cup beer1 cup all-purpose flour pinch of salt1 cup young horsetail spears, cleaned neutral, high-heat oil for frying For the salad…

THE EXPLORERS CLUB 46 EAST 70TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10021 WWW.EXPLORERS.ORG | 212-628-8383 AFRICA Francois Malherbe africa@explorers.org ALASKA Mead Treadwell alaska@explorers.org ATLANTA Mark Hay atlanta@explorers.org AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND Todd Tai anzec@explorers.org BHUTAN Matthew DeSantis bhutan@explorers.org CANADA Jett Britnell canada@explorers.org CHICAGO/GREAT LAKES Deana Weibel, PhD chicago@explorers.org CONTINENTAL EUROPE Ief Winckelmans continentaleurope@explorers.org EAST & SOUTH ASIA Steven R. Schwankert eastandsouthasia@explorers.org FLORIDA Tina Chiarelli, PhD, FRGS florida@explorers.org GEORGE ROGERS CLARK Cindy Pennington georgerogersclark@explorers.org GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND Rory Golden greatbritainireland@explorers.org GREATER PIEDMONT James Borton greaterpiedmont@explorers.org HAWAII Gary Bowersox hawaii@explorers.org HONG KONG Adam Francis hongkong@explorers.org LATIN AMERICA Cristián Pérez-Navarro latam@explorers.org MIDDLE EAST Aron Arngrímsson middleeast@explorers.org NEW ENGLAND Lizzie Rosenberger Thome newengland@explorers.org NORTH PACIFIC ALASKA Joshua C. Lewis & Victoria M. Becwar-Lewis northpacificalaska@explorers.org NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Jimmy Friedman northerncalifornia@explorers.org NORWAY Synnøve Marie Kvam Strømsvåg…

RENOWNED PALEONTOLOGIST AND RECIPIENT OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB MEDAL, KENNETH LACOVARA IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS 2005 DISCOVERY OF DREADNOUGHTUS (D. SCHRANI)—A 65-TON, 77-MILLION-YEAR-OLD TITANOSAUR UNEARTHED IN PATAGONIA, ONE OF THE LARGEST LAND ANIMALS TO HAVE EVER ROAMED THE EARTH. WE CAUGHT UP WITH THE FOUNDING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ROWAN UNIVERSITY’S NEWLY OPENED EDELMAN FOSSIL PARK & MUSEUM TO TALK FOSSILS AND MATTERS OF SIZE. JC: What were you thinking when you first found Dreadnoughtus? KL: When I unearthed a 1.9-meter femur in the desolate badlands of Patagonia, I suspected I’d discovered a new species of colossal plant-eater. That evening, under the blazing southern stars, I stared at the first few of the 145 bones we’d eventually unearth, wondering: “Who are you? Where did you come from? What happened to…