World Ocean Week
In Partnership With
Together with the Explorer’s Club, we’ve brought together an exciting crew of ocean explorers, researchers and conservationists to take students into our planet’s final frontier. Join in all week long to meet and learn from those on the frontlines of exploring, documenting, understanding and protecting our ocean. We live on a blue planet, come explore it with us!
Andy is an Emmy Award winning cinematographer and television presenter whose filming adventurers have taken him around the world. He uses the newest camera technology and innovative filming techniques to show a different side of the planet’s most feared and misunderstood predators. Andy specialize in filming sharks, but his projects have included king cobras, killer whales and polar bears. He has more than 100 film credits to his name for the world’s top networks, including National Geographic, BBC, Discovery, Animal Planet and more. His life-long mission is to inspire people to care about our planet and its vanishing wildlife.
Join deep-sea explorer Victor Vescovo to learn what it takes explore the very deepest places on Planet Earth: the technology, team, training, and planning. Why do we do it, what did we find, and what do we hope to learn in the future?
Victor has skied to both poles and climbed the highest peaks on each continent. He is also an accomplished pilot of jet fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and, most recently, manned submersibles. He is now the first person in history to have been to the top of all the world’s continents as well as the bottom of all its oceans.
After travelling 47,000 miles and completing 39 dives, the Five Deeps Expedition has reached its successful conclusion: the first manned descent to the deepest point of each of the world’s five oceans.
Andreas B. Heide is a Norwegian marine biologist, sailor, filmmaker, and former military diver and parachutist. He uses his Arctic sailing vessel Barba as a platform for scientific collaboration and storytelling within a broader context of ocean conservation. Andreas has led numerous high-latitude expeditions, working with a wide network of scientists, educational institutions, and storytellers from across the globe. His work blends adventure, research, and visual storytelling, with a focus on whales, ocean wildlife, and the rapidly changing polar environment. Through the Barba project, he creates impactful content across film, digital media, and immersive formats, aiming to inspire ocean stewardship and connect international audiences with the challenges and beauty of the marine world.
I Am River is a children’s book and environmental education initiative that helps young learners build a personal connection with the St. Lawrence River. By centering the River as the narrator of its own story, our book encourages children to see it as a living, speaking entity – making ecological concepts accessible and personally meaningful. Our hands-on workshops ensure that children don’t just learn about the River, they interact with the concepts, strengthening their sense of place, responsibility, and knowledge.
Join us as we explore how putting tech on marine life is revealing their hidden lives like never before! The Beltran Lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz studies how environmental change shapes animal movement, behavior, physiology, and population dynamics in marine predators. The lab is led by Roxanne Beltran, Explorer’s Club 50 awardee and National Geographic Young Explorer.
Technological advances in animal-borne sensors are transforming our ability to study life in the open ocean, revealing remarkable variation in how individual animals move, forage, reproduce, and respond to environmental change. In this talk, we will highlight how the Beltran Lab combines six decades of long-term research on northern elephant seals with biologging, environmental data, and demographic approaches to understand the traits and behaviors that influence fitness and population resilience.
Join the current Around the Americas team live on the ocean as they connect with the the crew from the first Around the Americas Expedition (2009/2010) for an inspiring classroom experience of their extraordinary journey. In this special session, crew members from the first expedition will reflect on the voyage’s remarkable accomplishments and lasting impact.
The Around the Americas Expedition is a 14-month voyage, that just launched in May. They are circumnavigating North and South America aboard the 48-foot sailboat, One Ocean. The mission focuses on scientific research, education, and community outreach to raise awareness about ocean health. Building on Captain Mark Schrader’s original 2009–2010 journey, the expedition will compare oceanic changes over the past 15 years.
Dr. Katy Croff Bell is a deep-sea explorer who is developing new ways to better understand the ocean and make it more accessible to everyone around the world. She is the founder and president of the Ocean Discovery League and a National Geographic Explorer. Katy earned her bachelor’s from MIT in ocean engineering, master’s from the University of Southampton in maritime archaeology, and Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island in geological oceanography. She has led more than 40 expeditions worldwide and discovered dozens of ancient shipwrecks, new organisms, and ecosystems.
Imani Black is the Founder and CEO of Minorities in Aquaculture, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access and representation for women of color in the seafood and aquaculture industries. A trained aquaculturist with a master’s in environmental science, she has hands-on experience in oyster production and workforce development. In this session, Imani will introduce students to the world of aquaculture—what it is, why it matters, and the wide range of careers it offers. Through her story, she’ll show how passion for the environment can turn into meaningful, impactful careers in the blue economy.
Join us for a virtual field trip to the incredible Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys and meet some sea turtles!
The Turtle Hospital opened its doors 1986 with four main goals: 1) rehab injured sea turtles and return them to their natural habitat, 2) educate the public through outreach programs and visit local schools, 3) conduct and assist with research aiding to sea turtles (in conjunction with state universities), and 4) work toward environmental legislation making the beaches and water safe and clean for sea turtles. The Turtle Hospital contains up-to-date equipment needed to perform a variety of surgeries on different species and sizes of sea turtles. There are 7 species of sea turtles throughout the entire world. Five of the seven are found in Florida: Green, Loggerhead, Leatherback, Hawksbill, and Kemp’s Ridley.
Paige is a polar and deep-sea biologist whose work is expanding what is possible in some of Earth’s most remote and least accessible marine environments. Her discoveries on hadal amphipods, abyssal snailfish, Antarctic invertebrates, and Arctic ecosystems reflect her belief that exploration carries a responsibility: to seek understanding, to return with knowledge, and to share it openly. She is the co-founder and director of Polar BLAST, a research initiative that transforms vessels of opportunity into platforms for Arctic and Antarctic exploration uniting advanced subsea technology with species discovery, policy engagement, and public outreach. Through this work, she ensures that every voyage delivers meaningful science, rigorous data, and accelerates biodiversity discovery while striving to broaden participation and inspire others to understand and protect the world around them.
Nicole has explored from the heights of outer space to the depths of our oceans. A veteran NASA Astronaut, her experience includes two spaceflights and 104 days living and working in space on both the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). She performed one spacewalk, was the first person to fly the robotic arm to capture the free flying HTV cargo vehicle, she was the last crew member to fly to and from their ISS mission on a Space Shuttle, and she was a member of the crew of the final flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-133. A personal highlight of Nicole’s spaceflight was painting the first watercolor in space.
Nicole is also a NASA Aquanaut, who in preparation for spaceflight and along with her NEEMO9 crew, lived and worked during an 18-day and longest saturation mission to date on the Aquarius undersea habitat.
As an Artist, and now retired from NASA, Nicole combines her artwork and spaceflight experience to inspire creative thinking about solutions to our planetary challenges, to raise awareness of the surprising interplay between science and art, and to promote the amazing work being done every day in space to improve life right here on Earth. She is the founder of the Space for Art Foundation.
Join us for a very special World Ocean Week hangout with the incomparable Sylvia Earle! She’s spent decades exploring our ocean, breaking boundaries and spreading awareness!
Marine biologist Sylvia Earle is an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. Named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet,” Sylvia has pioneered research on marine ecosystems, with a special focus on exploration, conservation, and the development of new technologies for effectively accessing the deep sea and other remote environments. She is former chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and founder of SEAlliance, which partnered with National Geographic on Mission Blue to further global initiatives aimed at restoring health and productivity to the ocean. Earle has led more than a hundred expeditions, logged over 7,000 hours underwater, and has authored more than 190 scientific, technical, and popular publications.
Gabriela is a marine biologist and shark conservationist who integrates science, policy, and community engagement to shift perceptions of sharks and promote sustainable fishing practices along Honduras’ coast. She is the founder and director of ilili, the first Honduran non-profit dedicated to marine conservation through the lens of sharks and rays. From establishing the first shark fisheries baseline, to working with the fisheries department to promote legislation that supports fishers to creating new citizen science initiatives, ilili’s work is filling critical gaps and inspiring the new generation of shark champions in Central America. A passionate and strategic leader, Gabriela champions solutions that benefit both people and nature, driving a future where coastal communities thrive alongside healthy shark populations.
In November 2025, Mark Evans launched his Oman 3165 expedition, a seventy day journey by kayak along the coastline of Oman in celebration of World Maritime Day. His goal is to capture stories of innovation and biodiversity, celebrating Oman’s rich maritime heritage and using communication technology to inspire the next generation of ocean caretakers for a sustainable future.
He paused the expedition in January after reaching Ras Duqm an will resume again in the fall. Join in as Mark will share his adventures along the coast to date, including 360 imagery, night camera traps in the desert and more! Mark has lived in Arabia for over 25 years, and is now based in Scotland. He was awarded the MBE by Her Majesty the Queen for his work using challenging outdoor journeys for personal development and learning.
Meet Jess and Miriam, they’re the Seas the Day Ocean Rowing Team! They recently secured a World Record, becoming the first all women team to row non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific Ocean. Over 165 days, they rowed 8,213 nautical miles from Peru to Australia. Join in as they share stories and media from this epic journey across the largest body of water on our planet!
Jamal has been passionate about manatee conservation since he was 11 years old, and later jumped at the opportunity to join manatee scientists at Sea to Shore Alliance to assist with manatee captures and health assessments. In his time at S2S he has risen in the ranks from Field Assistant to eventually become Program Coordinator for the Belize Manatee Conservation Program.
He was recently select as one of the Explorers Club 50 and was a 2018 National Geographic Photo Ark EDGE Fellow. In recognition of his efforts, Jamal has been named an Oceana Ocean Hero, Belize National Hero (Meritorious Service Award), and World Wildlife Fund Planet Hero.
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