Earle’s explorer-scientist career felt more humble than glamorous.
Marine biologist, Sylvia Earle was among nine recipients of a 2014 Glamour Woman of the Year award, on November 10, 2014.
Earle is the first marine biologist to be so honored, and one of fewer than 20 women scientists, engineers, and doctors receiving the award since the first awards were presented in 1990, by Glamour Magazine, a British fashion magazine.
Science writer, Maria Weinstock, described the event:
Her Deepness. The Sturgeon General. And now: Glamour Girl.
On Monday night, renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle earned a new moniker when she joined eight others in receiving a 2014 Glamour Woman of the Year Award at a celebrity-packed Carnegie Hall.
Since 1990, Glamour [Magazine] has set aside one evening each autumn to fête the remarkable accomplishments of women in areas ranging from politics to activism to business to the arts. Other 2014 awardees included U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, actors Laverne Cox and Lupita Nyong’o, and women’s rights activist Chelsea Clinton.
Earle earned a special lifetime achievement award for more than 50 years of exploration, research and advocacy on behalf of Earth’s oceans. Fewer than 20 recipients throughout the history of these awards have been scientists, engineers or doctors. On Monday, in a rousing celebration of one of the most beloved glass-ceiling shatterers in the history of modern science, Earle became the first marine biologist to be honored.
“I’m a scientist and, generally speaking, do not feel very glamorous,” remarked Earle, clad in elegantly sequined black, upon taking the stage to address a sea of famous faces, from Jodie Foster to Whoopie Goldberg to Hillary Clinton to Stephen Colbert. “But there are some exceptions to that—like diving into the ocean at night. There really is a galaxy of life down there. And most of it has yet to be seen, let alone explored.”
I learned about Earle’s selection before most, when the Woman of the Year producers asked me to participate in the ceremony about a week before the 2014 honorees were announced. I had been inspired several years ago to create a minifigure in Earle’s likeness out of Lego pieces, and the fig became part of my growing “Scitweeps” collection of science and technology personalities depicted in that medium. So I sent Earle’s doppelganger on a trip to New York, where actress Keri Russell presented her to a beaming audience as evidence of the aquanaut’s singular ability to move people with her dual messages of concern and optimism for the future of our world.
“The real Dr. Earle, though she stands only 5’2?, is a giant,” Russell said. “For more than five decades, she’s been taking record-setting dives, including a two-week stint living at the bottom of the sea. All for us. All so that we can know more about the planet we desperately need to save.”
Picture source: Creative Commons
To see videos of Earle’s speech and introductory remarks by Kerri Russell, read the rest of article here.
To see more, click the next page numbers to see the following:
- Earle’s 2009 TED award wish to build “Hope Spots” in the ocean
- Trailer for “Mission Blue” on developing “Hope Spots”
- How to see Hope Spots in the Ocean on Google Maps
