Table of contents for Fall 2023 in The Explorers Journal

BY USING PAPER MADE WITH 100% POST-CONSUMER RECYCLED CONTENT, THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES HAVE BEEN SAVED: TREES 37.1 FULLY GROWN WATER 2,900 GALLONS ENERGY 15,600,000 BTU SOLID WASTE 120 POUNDS GREENHOUSE GASES 16,000 POUNDS THE EXPLORERS JOURNAL IS PRODUCED WITH 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 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…

JOIN THE “EXPLORERS IMMORTALS” AND ENGRAVE YOUR NAME OR DEDICATION IN STONE ON NEW PAVERS FOR THE LEFRAK TERRACE AT EXPLORERS CLUB HEADQUARTERS. ADORN OUR LANDMARK OUTDOOR SPACE AND HELP PAY FOR URGENT WORK FOR PHASE II RENOVATIONS BY MAKING A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION OF $3,750 PER DEDICATED PAVER TO OUR LOWELL THOMAS BUILDING FUND. THE EXPLORERS CLUB WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING WHO HAVE PURCHASED A PAVER: Mark Allio, Joanna Allman, James H. Alexander, John G. Alexander, Darlene T. Anderson, Jeanne D. Andlinger, Barbara Annan, Robert J. Aresty, Robert Ashton, Atlanta Chapter, Robert J. Atwater, Robin Wheeler Azqueta, Norman L. Baker, George Basch, Andreas Bender, Josh Bernstein, John Bierley, Bruce Blanchard, John R. Bockstoce, Brian M. Boom, John R. Boreske Jr., Jill Botway, Gary W. Bowersox, Lawson W. Brigham,…

birch-smoked moose steak with cattail bannock and wild sorrel purée SERVES 4 CATTAIL IS ONE OF OUR FAVORITE WILD EDIBLES. FOR THIS DISH, WE ARE USING ITS POLLEN, AKA CATTAIL FLOUR. IN MID-SUMMER, FIND A CLEAN POND OR WETLAND WHERE CATTAILS GROW AND LOOK FOR THE OUTER MALE SPIKES, COVERED IN GOLDEN POLLEN, AND CAREFULLY SNIP THEM OFF, BEING CAREFUL NOT TO DAMAGE THE FLUFFY FEMALE SPIKES LOWER ON THE STALK. PLACE TIPS IN A CONTAINER AND SHAKE THE POLLEN OFF THEN SIFT IT TO REMOVE ANY INSECTS OR DEBRIS. (THE FLOUR SHOULD BE CLEAN, SMOOTH, AND GOLDEN.) STORE IN A GLASS JAR UNTIL NEEDED. FOR THIS DISH YOU WILL NEED ½ CUP. CATTAIL FLOUR STARS IN THIS DISH CHEF PAUL CAME UP WITH WHEN HE VISITED ME AT MY…

THE EXPLORERS CLUB 46 EAST 70TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10021 WWW.EXPLORERS.ORG | 212-628-8383 AFRICA Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka 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 Jeff 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 Joseph Dituri, PhD florida@explorers.org GEORGE ROGERS CLARK Cindy Pennington georgerogersclark@explorers.org GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND Mark Wood greatbritainireland@explorers.org Rory Golden, Vice Chair greatbritainireland@explorers.org GREATER PIEDMONT James Borton greaterpiedmont@explorers.org HAWAII Mark Blackburn hawaii@explorers.org HONG KONG Angélica Anglés hongkong@explorers.org LATIN AMERICA Cristián Pérez-Navarro latam@explorers.org MIDDLE EAST Aron Arngrimsson middleeast@explorers.org NEW ENGLAND Gregory Deyermenjian 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…

The fall season kicked off at The Explorers Club with a highly successful Climate Week, chaired by Alexander More and organized by his team, with the aid of Club staff. Just as I have noted about our recent Oceans Weeks, I am impressed with its shift in focus—moving away from just reporting on the dire circumstances we are facing to highlighting the many actions we are now taking! And as an organization, we are continuing to forge new and more lasting bonds with NGOs and agencies that share our vision and are working toward creating a more sustainable planet for us all. It was during Climate Week that we announced a historic partnership between The Explorers Club and UNESCO to put the need for nature conservation and cultural preservation in…

EVEREST QUEEN NOTCHES K2 On July 27, Lhakpa Sherpa, 49, a record-holding Nepali climber popularly known as the “Everest Queen,” stood atop 8,611-meter K2 in Pakistan, having abandoned her previous summit bid from above Camp III in 2010 when weather conditions on the peak—known in climbing circles as the “Savage Mountain”—greatly deteriorated, thwarting further progress. Lhakpa, who received this year’s Tenzing Norgay Award at The Explorers Club Annual Dinner in April, broke her own world record by standing atop Everest for a tenth time in May of 2022. Lhakpa, a Makalu Sherpani, first climbed Everest from the Nepal side in 2000, having trained under the watchful eye of legendary guide Babu Chiri Sherpa, who died after falling into a crevasse on Everest on April 29, 2001. TOPPING OUT ATOP ALL…

“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 CoChair 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.…

“As night falls over the Amazonian rainforest, the most exotic and vibrant sounds and colors awaken,” writes Projeto Mantis founder Leo Lanna in a marvelous essay this edition. “It is a magical transformation that, with each expedition, continues to reveal new and wonderful species and transform our view of the forest—and, in particular, of the mantises we study there.” As the days grow shorter heading into the winter, the notion of nightfall takes on a new dimension—especially in the High Arctic, which is cloaked in total darkness for nearly two months each year. Researchers there have long wondered just what happens to sea life during the long polar night, how it adapts to a world temporarily devoid of sunlight. Now they are beginning to find answers, thanks in large part…

HERE BEGINS THE DARK SEA BY MEREDITH F. SMALL 320 PP • NEW YORK: PEGASUS BOOKS, 2023 • ISBN-10: 1639364196 • ISBN-13: 978-1639364190 • $28.95 The 15th-century Venetian monk and cartographer Fra Mauro launched a revolution when he created a map that changed the way the world was depicted and understood. In Mauro’s day, Venice was the longest-lasting republic in the world—having been founded more than 750 years earlier—and had become a mercantile capital with a reach that expanded throughout the world. Venturing out from his base at the Camaldolese Monastery of St. Michael on the island of Murano in the Venetian Lagoon, Mauro, who had traveled extensively as a merchant and soldier before becoming a monk and mapmaker, would wander the city and interview sailors, explorers, and traders—crowdsourcing, if…

ROB MCCALLUM, 58, HAS BEEN BEHIND THE SCENES IN OCEAN EXPLORATION FOR NEARLY TWO DECADES, ENABLING EXPEDITIONS TO MAKE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES, AND OTHERS TO LIVE OUT THEIR DREAMS, THROUGH EYOS EXPEDITIONS. THE COMPANY HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN MAJOR SUBMARINE AND SHIPWRECK FINDS, AND DIVES TO EARTH’S DEEPEST POINT, 10,900 METERS IN CHALLENGER DEEP. MCCALLUM EVEN CONSULTED ON THE DOOMED OCEANGATE PROJECT DURING ITS EARLY STAGES BUT BOWED OUT WHEN HE REALIZED THAT DIVES ABOARD A CARBON FIBER-COMPOSITE SUBMERSIBLE, UNTESTED AND UNCERTIFIED, WERE TO BE SOLD TO UNSUSPECTING TOURISTS VISITING THE WRECK OF THE RMS TITANIC, WHICH RESTS IN 3,800 METERS OF WATER OFF THE COAST OF NEWFOUNDLAND. MCCALLUM RECENTLY SPOKE TO THE EXPLORERS JOURNAL ABOUT OCEANGATE AND OTHER THINGS DEEP-WATER RELATED. JC: You’ve done so much in deep-sea exploration. Pick…