Newsletter - WINGS WorldQuest

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Newsletter
Fall 2013
Milbry Polk and Leila Hadley
Luce. Photo by Karen Zieff.
Liz Bennett at Hillary and Dan
Wallace's party. Photo by Bree
Polk-Bauman.
Susan Eaton, Milbry Polk, Lynne Danaher. Danaher returns her flag to travel on expedition with
Eaton, who will be snorkelling the Northwest Passage. Photo by Pat and Rosemarie Keough.
Dear Friends,
I am writing to tell you that I am returning to Wings WorldQuest as Executive Director
after a two-year sabbatical.
My whole life has been about exploration. I have led expeditions in the Middle East,
North Africa, Asia and the Arctic. I read and write extensively about exploration history,
Board Chair Karen Zieff,
and have created a platform for the little-known but extraordinary contributions of
women explorers to world knowledge.
Hazzah of Lion Guardians, with
Stephanie Dolrenry, and Leela
Mary Britt, Wings Treasurer, at
Hazzah's event.
It has become clear to me over the last two years that Wings, now more than ever, is
critical to the exploration and scientific community.
Wings began modestly. When in the field I became curious about what other women
had done in exploration. At that time I rarely encountered women in the field. This
prompted me to start an Oral History project, where I found five elderly, extraordinary
women explorers, recorded their stories, and helped place their archives. CBS
Sunday Morning’s profile of me spurred me to write a history of women explorers,
authored with my friend Mary Tiegreen, titled Women of Discovery. Leila Hadley Luce
and I then founded Wings WorldQuest to support women explorers. Over ten years,
with the help of an amazing board and informed advisors, we identified nearly 70
outstanding women who were elected as Fellows. Our annual Galas raised nearly
half a million dollars, which we awarded to these Fellows, and used to support a
Constanza Ceruti climbing in
Alaska.
robust education program. During those years an additional 30 women, and Fellows,
carried the Wings Flag into the field on more than 50 expeditions. Wings education
programs in America and abroad reached tens of thousands of adults and children.
Since starting my sabbatical, the last two years have been busy. I was co-chair of a
major conference entitled Affordable World Security in Washington DC; I led a Flag
expedition (Wings, The Explorers Club and the Royal Canadian Geographic) to North
Western Greenland; I lectured in Southern Chile and explored the fjords; I lectured in
the Andaman Islands and southern India, and journeyed to Kenya to visit our Fellows
research sites. During this time I maintained contact with our Fellows, helping them
secure grants, making connections and keeping alive the community we created.
Most recently I co-chaired the Explorers Club Annual Dinner.
Grace Kalema-Zilusoka at her
research site in Uganda.
Our Goals are:
1.To build and expand our extraordinary worldwide community.
2. To establish an office in NYC, which will be a center for women explorers. A plea:
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Fellows and others please send me copies of your books for this room. It is vital to
showcase the groundbreaking discoveries of our Fellows, Flag Carriers and all
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1.To build and expand our extraordinary worldwide community.
2. To establish an office in NYC, which will be a center for women explorers. A plea:
Fellows and others please send me copies of your books for this room. It is vital to
showcase the groundbreaking discoveries of our Fellows, Flag Carriers and all
women explorers.
3. To rebuild our website to enhance our reach around the globe, both as a virtual
community and as a resource portal for education.
4. To convene the first Fellows Forum to gather Fellows, Flag Carriers and
supporters for a 2-day exchange of ideas, discoveries and networking in May, 2013.
Wings has real value, now more than ever. I welcome you all to join me in this new
adventure!
Wings M&Ms designed by Hillary
Wallace. Photo by Bree PolkBauman.
Wings WorldQuest Board
Karen Zieff, Chair
Claire Werner, Secretary
Mary Britt, Treasurer
Milbry
Milbry Polk, Executive
Director/Co-Founder/Fellow
SAVE THE DATE
Ann Bancroft, Fellow
Susan Hannah
Wings Worldquest Gala May 9, 2014
Julia Mair
Fellows Forum May 10, 2014
Diane Terry
In the spring of 2013 Wings initiated a series of talks in NYC
Maya Tolstoy, Fellow
Maya Tolstoy spoke about her discoveries regarding tsunamis and earthquakes off
Maud Welles
the NW Coast of North America. Hosted by Maud Welles.
Elizabeth Bennett spoke about her conservation work in Borneo. Hosted by Hillary
and Dan Wallace.
Thanks to our 2013 supporters
Felicity Aston spoke about her expedition crossing Antarctica. Hosted by Ted
Janulis.
Plym Foundation
Leela Hazzah spoke on her work with Lion Guardians in Kenya. Hosted by Ashley
Ann Bancroft
Jurgensen at Top of the Garden.
Hillary Wallace
Liz Gilbert spoke about her latest journey in Africa. Hosted by The Explorers Club.
Lisa Woodward
Upcoming Events
Caleb & Julia Dula Educational
Foundation
Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka will speak about her work with gorillas. Hosted by Ted
Janulis.
Tawani Foundation
Alison Chace Brown
Ted Janulis
Cherry Provost
Jane Poynter will speak about her latest work on the Mars Mission. Hosted by Diane
Terry.
Rob & Urling Searle
Ann Bancroft
Edie Widder will talk about her search for the Giant Squid. Hosted by Ashley
Jurgensen at Top of the Garden.
Maud Welles
Cecily Selby
News from Fellows and Flag Carriers
Elizabeth Johnson
Felicity Aston just published her latest book Alone in Antarctica.
Hollis Salzman
Emily Zuber returned a flag from her expedition to Mexico exploring what may be one
of the deepest and longest caves in the world. She passed her flag to Lynn Danaher
at the Explorers Club in NY for Lynn’s Marquesas Rock Art Expedition.
Edie Widder “I have said for a long time now that I think we have been exploring the
oceans wrong, that we are scaring the animals away using camera platforms with
bright white lights and noisy thrusters,” Widder designed a camera and
bioluminescent sphere to attract and film the Giant Squid for the first time. Her
expedition and discovery have been featured in major magazines and news
channels across America.
Irina Tolstoy
Kristie Hepburn
Mary Britt
Mary McBride
Mary Moore
Mindy Gabler
Patrick Toth
Sandra Krasovec
Susan Hannah
Sabriye Tenberken’s two programs, a school for the blind in Lhasa, Tibet, and a
school for social entrepreneurs in Kerala, Southern India, are thriving. Four of
Sabriye’s students in Lhasa took University exams, becoming the first blind students
in China to take exams with sighted students. At Kanthari, Sabriye helps participants
to chase their dreams and make them real. Her graduates are now creating
successful programs in Asia, Africa and Europe.
Constanza Ceruti has finished her autobiography detailing the rigors of being the
only female high altitude archaeologist in Argentina. She continues to climb and is
working on a worldwide sacred mountain research project. [insert image] going on
mountaineering expeditions in the last year to Sardinia, the Yukon, Austrian Alps,
Southern Patagonia and Thailand.
William Buell
Will Roseman
Ashley Jurgensen
Birch Walthen Lenox School
David Moody & Eileen Guilfoyle
Newsletter designed by Mary McBride
Maureen Clemmons perseveres with her study of ancient Egypt and her theory that
the pyramids were built using wind power. There is a great You Tube of an interview
she gave in February 2013- Google it!
Ana Pinto led a National Geographic tour of prehistoric sites in southern France and
NW Spain. Otherwise, her extraordinary career in the prehistoric caves of northern
Spain has been put on hold due to the economic crisis in Spain.
Selma Huxley Barkham has been honored and bestowed with a Gold medal in San
Sebastian, Spain for her discovery of the 16th century Basque fishing site in Red
Bay, Labrador, which was recently designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. See
http://www.cbc.ca/nl/features/redbay/index.html
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Erin Pettit was named an Emerging Explorer for 2013 at National Geographic.
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Selma Huxley Barkham has been honored and bestowed with a Gold medal in San
Sebastian, Spain for her discovery of the 16th century Basque fishing site in Red
Bay, Labrador, which was recently designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. See
http://www.cbc.ca/nl/features/redbay/index.html
Erin Pettit was named an Emerging Explorer for 2013 at National Geographic.
Kate Harris is holed up in a remote cabin in the Yukon writing a book about her epic
Cycling Silk Expedition across Asia. Congratulations to Kate who just got married.
Anna Cummins launched the Plastic Beach Project to systematically analyze plastic
pollution on beaches along the West Coast and to develop a Plastic Pollution Report
Card to better determine which beaches need additional beach cleanup.
Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka was featured in a CCTV documentary Faces of Africa
series entitled: Gorillas in Our Midst
http://english.cntv.cn/program/facesofafrica/20130204/100515.shtml.
Andrea Polli recently edited a book about the Arctic and Antarctic Far-Field-DigitalCulture-Climate.
Rosemarie Keough received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her
extraordinary work in exploration photography, film making and publishing. Her latest
book with husband Pat is The Inside Passage.
Laphams Quarterly issue The Sea, featured Marie Tharp and her groundbreaking
discovery of the Mid Atlantic Ridge, which was the proof of plate tectonics.
Aimee Morgana was also featured in Lapham’s Quarterly for her unique work in
animal communication.
Leela Hazzah won the 2013 St. Andrews Prize for her work founding and running
Lion Guardians in Kenya and is now branching out into Tanzania.
Alexandra Morton is continuing her crusade against farmed salmon. See
information on a documentary made about her work documenting disease
spreading in salmon http://salmonconfidential.ca
Helen Thayer continues her worldwide Adventure Classroom and her books are
now available in 9 languages, including Chinese. She writes "I recently walked 900
miles through 4 Sahara countries with the Berber tribe as they searched for water.
This became a study of the Berber tribe and the ever-increasing water problems
many Sahara groups face. I'm leaving soon to walk 1,500 miles through northern
India to document the various cultures there."
Milbry Polk led an expedition to Northern Greenland last August and gave a
presentation of the results at Rosemarie Keough’s Salt Spring Island Symposium in
September.
Waikiki Aquarium hosted an invasive algae clean-up honoring Dr. Isabella Abbott.
Meg Lowman has a new book, Treetops at Risk: Challenges of Global Canopy
Ecology and Conservation and continues her groundbreaking work in the remnants
of Ethiopian forests.
Terrie William's book on the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, KP2, was awarded
the 2013 AAAS prize for scientific writing. She has developed a new wildlife tracking
collar for large mammals that shows both location and movement patterns and, for
the first time, behavior and energetic costs of wild animals. It is being used on
mountain lions to predict hunting patterns and also the potential for human-lion
conflicts. Her next round of expeditions to the Antarctic begins in 2014 to continue
her work with Weddell seals who hunt in darkness. Finally she says her "work on
elephant thermoregulation and the effects of drought in Africa that was supported by
my award from Wings was published by the Journal of Experimental Biology this
year."
Diana Beresford-Kroeger is the subject of a BBC documentary for her work saving
the old trees and forests of the world.
EDUCATION
Wings continues its collaboration with the Birch Lenox Waltham School in New York
to bring women explorers to talk to the students.
17 West 17th Street, 9th Floor • New York • NY 10011 • Phone: 646.839.5907
info@wingsworldquest.org • www.wingsworldquest.org
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