Celebrating the work of Sylvia Earle, environmentalist and Zonta International Honorary Member

As Women’s History Month continues, we celebrate Dr. Sylvia Earle, an environmentalist and Zonta International Honorary Member.

Dr. Earle has made historical contributions and advancements in the fields of oceanography, marine biology, conservation and ocean floor exploration. Some of her awards include: the National Women's Hall of Fame, Library of Congress Living Legend, Glamour’s 2014 Woman of the Year, The Perfect World Foundation’s 2017 Conservationist of the Year and Time’s first Hero of the Planet. Additional accomplishments include: named Chief Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, led National Geographic Society’s Sustainable Seas Expeditions, broke the women’s diving depth record and co-founded two deep-sea exploration engineering companies.

Zonta welcomed Dr. Earle as an International Honorary Member in 1997 at an inter-city event sponsored by the Zonta Club of Washington, D.C. As Dr. Earle presented, targeting her slides and stories specifically to Zontians, she left quite an impression. “[We] sat there with our mouths open,” said past International Treasurer Donna Lane. 

Dr. Earle is currently focusing her efforts on marine conservation. Through her non-profit, Mission Blue, she plans to combat the negative impacts of overfishing and pollution while protecting 30% of the globe’s oceans by 2030. 

This Women’s History Month, we applaud Dr. Earle’s commitment to the responsible use of oceanic resources. With her internationally renowned work to preserve the seas for future generations, Dr. Earle has already made history and will continue to do so.

Read more about Sylvia Earle in this NBC News article.

12 March 2021