Sylvia Alice Earle (born August 30, 1935) is an American marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer, writer, and lecturer. She has been a National Geographic Explorer at Large (formerly Explorer in Residence) since 1998. Earle was the first chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and was named by Time Magazine as its first Hero for the Planet in 1998.

Earle is part of the group Ocean Elders, which works to protect the ocean and its wildlife.

Earle became widely known when she appeared in Seaspiracy (2021), a Netflix Original documentary created by British filmmaker Ali Tabrizi.

Earle follows a vegetarian diet. She explains that carnivorous fish have high levels of harmful chemicals, that large fish populations have decreased by 90%, and that the health of the oceans influences her food choices. She also describes the seafood industry as "factory ships vacuuming up fish and everything else in their path. That's like using bulldozers to kill songbirds."

During a talk at the Good Food Conference in California, Earle warned about the loss of fish populations. She noted that while coastal communities have eaten seafood for many years, the commercial fishing industry is no longer sustainable. She encouraged people to switch to plant-based diets as a way to help the environment.

Early life and education

Sylvia Earle was born in 1935 in Gibbstown, a part of Greenwich Township in Gloucester County, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Alice Freas (Richie) Earle and Lewis Reade Earle. Both of her parents enjoyed spending time outdoors and encouraged her interest in nature. When Sylvia was a child, her family moved to Dunedin, a city on the western coast of Florida. She earned an associate degree from St. Petersburg Jr. College in 1952, a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University in 1955, a Master of Science degree in 1956, and a Doctorate of Phycology from Duke University in 1966.

Sylvia Earle’s work has been directly influenced by Rachel Carson. In the introduction to the 2018 edition of Carson’s 1951 book, The Sea Around Us, Sylvia praises Carson’s ability to imagine and describe the natural world. She writes that Carson’s writing shows deep understanding of the feelings of fish, birds, and other animals. Carson’s words make it seem as though she could move through the air or water, gliding above and below the ocean’s surface. Sylvia describes how Carson’s writing gives the sense that Carson was part of the living ocean.

Career

Earle was a Radcliffe Institute Scholar from 1967 to 1969 and a research fellow at Harvard University from 1967 to 1981. After earning her Ph.D. in 1966, she worked as a research fellow at Harvard for one year before returning to Florida as the resident director of the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory.

She was a research associate at the University of California, Berkeley from 1969 to 1981. In 1969, she applied to join the Tektite Project, an underwater research station 50 feet below the ocean surface near the Virgin Islands. Scientists lived there for weeks to study the ocean. Even though she had more than 1,000 hours of underwater research experience, she was not chosen for the program. The next year, she was selected to lead the first all-female team of aquanauts in Tektite II.

From 1979 to 1986, she was the Curator of Phycology at the California Academy of Sciences. In 1979, she made an untethered dive using a JIM suit to the ocean floor near Oahu. She reached a depth of 381 meters (1,250 feet), a record for women that still stands today. She also began her work as Curator of Phycology at the California Academy of Sciences in 1979.

Between 1980 and 1984, she served on the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere.

In 1982, she and her husband, Graham Hawkes, an engineer and submersible designer, started Deep Ocean Engineering. The company designed and operated underwater systems. In 1985, they built the Deep Rover research submarine, which can dive to 1,000 meters (3,300 feet). By 1986, Deep Rover had been tested, and Earle joined a team training in the Bahamas.

In 1990, she left Deep Ocean Engineering to become Chief Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a position she held until 1992. She was the first woman to hold that role. During her time there, she led research trips in 1991 to study the environmental damage from Iraq’s destruction of Kuwaiti oil wells during the Persian Gulf War.

In 1992, she founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER Marine), which now operates under the leadership of her daughter, Elizabeth. The company designs and builds equipment for deep-ocean environments.

In 1998, she was named National Geographic Explorer in Residence and later became "Explorer at Large." She is sometimes called "Her Deepness" or "The Sturgeon General."

From 1998 to 2002, she led the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, a program funded by the National Geographic Society and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund to study U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries. During this time, she also chaired the Harte Research Institute for the Gulf of Mexico Studies and the Advisory Council for the Ocean in Google Earth. She used the DeepWorker 2000 submersible to study fish and ocean resources in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

In 2001, she received the Robin W. Winks Award from the National Parks Conservation Association for promoting understanding of national parks.

In 2009, she founded Mission Blue (also called the Sylvia Earle Alliance and Deep Search). That same year, she received the TED Prize, which supported her ocean advocacy work.

Because of her experience with oil spills, she was asked to advise during the Deepwater Horizon Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. That year, she also gave a 14-minute speech at The Hague International Model United Nations Conference.

In July 2012, she led an expedition to NOAA’s Aquarius underwater laboratory near Key Largo, Florida. The trip, called "Celebrating 50 Years of Living Beneath The Sea," honored the 50th anniversary of Jacques Cousteau’s Conshelf I project and studied coral reefs and ocean health. Mark Patterson co-led the expedition with her, and the team included underwater filmmaker D.J. Roller and oceanographer M. Dale Stokes.

In September 2012, she appeared in the comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon to discuss the closing of the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory.

In 2013, the Science Laureates of the United States Act was introduced in Congress. A commentator suggested Earle could be a nominee for the Science Laureate position if the act passed.

In 2018, the Seattle Aquarium honored her with its first Lifetime Achievement Award and renamed its medal in her honor.

She also serves on the Marine Conservation Institute’s board. With TED’s support, she launched Mission Blue, which aims to create marine protected areas called "Hope Spots" worldwide. Mission Blue’s goal is to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. Over 200 organizations support this mission, including global companies and research teams.

Mission Blue and its partners conduct expeditions to Hope Spots around the world. As of 2020, the organization had created 122 Hope Spots. Past expeditions included locations in Cuba, Belize, the Galápagos Islands, Costa Rica, and the South African Coast. ESRI’s ArcGIS platform provides detailed maps of these areas, such as the Tribugá Gulf, Little Cayman, and Galápagos National Park. A Netflix documentary titled Mission Blue was released in 2014, focusing on her life and work.

In 2016, she appeared in the featurette Plankton Rules the World!, which was shown with The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

In 2019, an article in Hakai Magazine described "Hope Spots" as areas critical to ocean health due to biodiversity, unique habitats, or cultural/economic value. Seamounts, underwater mountains, are also targeted by mining companies for precious metals.

In 2020, Aurora Expeditions announced a new ship named The Sylvia Earle after her.

She supports the 30X30 movement, which aims to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030, up from 6% as of 2021. She also advocates for adding "ecocide" to the International Criminal Court’s list of crimes, stating that protecting the environment is essential for human survival.

In June 2024, she met with Philippine officials, including DENR Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga, Ambassador MaryKay Carlson, and Senator Loren Legarda, to discuss marine biodiversity

Accomplishments and honors

• 1970: Received the U.S. Department of Interior Conservation Service Award and the Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year honor
• 1976: Won the NOGI Award for Science
• 1980: Earned the Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award
• 1981: Named a Knight of the Order of the Golden Ark by the Prince of the Netherlands
• 1986: Set a record for the deepest solo dive by a woman and matched the overall record with Graham Hawkes
• 1990: Received the Society of Woman Geographers gold medal
• 1991: Awarded the American Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award
• 1996: Honored with the Lindbergh Foundation award, the Explorers Club Medal, and became a Zonta International Honorary Member
• 1997: Received the SeaKeeper Award at The International SeaKeepers Society's Bal de la Mer event
• 1998: Recognized as a UN Global 500 Laureate and named National Wildlife Federation Conservationist of the Year
• 2000: Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, Library of Congress Living Legend, and Women Divers Hall of Fame
• 2001: Received the Robin W. Winks Award For Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks
• 2004: Awarded the International Banksia Award, the Richard Hopper Day Memorial Medal from the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, and the Barnard College medal
• 2005: Received the John P. McGovern Science and Society Award from Sigma Xi
• 2009: Won the Artiglio Award (Premio Artiglio 2009) and the TED Prize
• 2009: Received the National Audubon Society's Rachel Carson Award, an honor for distinguished American women environmentalists
• 2010: Awarded the Roy Chapman Andrews Distinguished Explorer Award by the Roy Chapman Andrews Society in Beloit, WI
• 2010: Received the Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science
• 2011: Honored with an honorary doctorate from Smith College, gave a commencement address at Warren Wilson College, and received the Medal of Honor from the Dominican Republic
• 2013: Received an honorary doctorate from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the Hubbard Medal, the National Geographic Society's highest honor, "for distinction in exploration, discovery and research"
• 2014: Won the Walter Cronkite Award, the UN Lifetime Achievement Award (Champions of the Earth), Glamour Woman of the Year, and became the first woman celebrated at an Explorers Club Tribute Ceremony
• 2017: Received the Rachel Carson Prize and the Lewis Thomas Prize
• 2017: Awarded the Perfect World Foundation Award as Conservationist of the Year 2017 and the Prize "The Fragile Rhino"
• 2018: Received the Seattle Aquarium Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2018: Won the Princess of Asturias Award of Concord (Concordia)
• 2018: Earned a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Edinburgh
• 2020: Aurora Expeditions announced an expedition ship would be named the Sylvia Earle
• 2023: Received the Stibitz-Wilson Award from the American Computer & Robotics Museum
• 2026: Honored with the Legacy Shiftmaker Award at Harvard Art Museums

Publications

Earle has written more than 150 publications.

• Earle, Sylvia & Al Giddings (1980). Exploring the Deep Frontier: The Adventure of Man in the Sea. National Geographic Society. ISBN 0-87044-343-7.
• Earle, Sylvia (1996). Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-449-91065-2.
• Earle, Sylvia (1999). Dive!: My Adventure in the Deep Frontier. National Geographic Children's Books. ISBN 0-7922-7144-0.
• Earle, Sylvia (1999). Wild Ocean: America's Parks Under the Sea. National Geographic Society. ISBN 0-7922-7471-7.
• Earle, Sylvia (2000). Sea Critters. National Geographic Children's Books. ISBN 0-439-28575-5.
• Ellen, Prager & Earle, Sylvia (2000). The Oceans. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-138177-5.
• Earle, Sylvia (2001). Hello, Fish!: Visiting the Coral Reef. National Geographic Children's Books. ISBN 0-7922-6697-8.
• Earle, Sylvia (2001). National Geographic Atlas of the Ocean: The Deep Frontier. National Geographic. ISBN 0-7922-6426-6.
• Earle, Sylvia (2003). Jump into Science: Coral Reefs. National Geographic Children's Books. ISBN 0-7922-6953-5.
• Earle, Sylvia & Linda K. Glover (2008). Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas (National Geographic Atlas). National Geographic. ISBN 978-1-4262-0319-0.
• Earle, Sylvia (2009). The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One. National Geographic Books. ISBN 978-1-4262-0541-5.
• Co-authored (2011). The Protection and Management of the Sargasso Sea: The golden floating rainforest of the Atlantic Ocean. Summary Science and Supporting Evidence Case. Sargasso Sea Alliance.
• Earle, Sylvia (2012). The Sweet Spot in Time. Why the Ocean Matters to Everyone, Everywhere. Virginia Quarterly Review, Fall.
• Earle, Sylvia (2014). Blue Hope: Exploring and Caring for Earth's Magnificent Ocean. National Geographic. ISBN 9781426213953.