Legendary Ocean Explorer Causes Waves at SUU

Published: February 14, 2014 | Read Time: 2 minutes

How did you become a scientist Sylvia Earle, National Geographic explorer-in-residence, was once asked. “It’s really easy,” she replied, “you start out as a little kid and then you never grow up.”

It is with this mantra that Her Deepness became a famed oceanographer and has logged more than 7,000 underwater hours and has set the record for solo diving in 1,000-meter depth. Coming to the surface, Earle will visit Southern Utah University on Tuesday, February 18.

With a research emphasis on marine ecosystems with special priority to exploration and conservation, Earle has been named a “Living Legend" by the Library of Congress, and first "Hero for the Planet" by Time magazine.

When she is not in the water, this extraordinary woman has authored more than 190 publications, lectured 80 plus countries, and appeared in hundreds of radio and television productions and her next sojourn will be to

Along with her underwater adventures, Earle has made a monumental impact on the changing conditions of our earth’s oceans. Her focus is on developing a global network of areas on the land and in the ocean to guard the living systems that provide the reinforcements of global processes, from maintaining biodiversity and yielding basic life support services to providing stability and resiliency in response to increasing climate change.

While visiting landlocked Cedar City, Earle will be the guest speaker for SUU Convocation Lecture Series at 11:30 a.m. in the Gilbert Great Hall located within the Hunter Conference Center. This event is free and open to the public.  

But it’s not just University students that will benefit from Earle’s depth of expertise. While in Cedar City she will be conducting classes with local educators, an occasion that according to Deb Hill, dean of the College of Education & Human Development, will “open a world to the children they teach that they never knew existed.”

She went on to explain that for these noncoastal children, an ocean is a concept that many will never have a chance to personally experience. “By bringing this expert into those youngster’s classroom she’ll open their minds to ideas and concepts that they knew could be explored. Just imagine the inspiration she’ll give those young boys and girls.”

This event is sponsored by the SUU Convocations Lecture Series. In this academic year alone, the series has brought to campus top scholars, musicians, philosophers, scientists, educators, authors, and activists with a total of 21,161 miles flown by the speakers. The goal of the series is to increase understanding and opportunity for personal, academic and professional growth across the University and the region. 

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