Keith C. Clarke, Geography
Base of Operations: Santa Barbara, California
Education: B.A. (Hons) Middlesex Polytechnic, London; B.S., Hood College; MA and Ph.D., University of Michigan; Ph.D., City University of New York
A member of the Committee for Research and Exploration since 2006, Keith Clarke is a professor in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has been a member of the National Research Council's Mapping Sciences Committee since 2003 and is the current chair.
Trained in scientific and quantitative geography, Dr. Clarke has worked on the integration of the computer into the methods and equipment used for analysis and exploration. Specializing in analytical cartography and geographic information systems, he has conducted fieldwork on disease mapping in Africa, Maya settlements in Central America, and glaciers in Lapland. While a Resident Fellow at the Explorers Club, Dr. Clarke led the mapping for a flag-bearing expedition to Hudson's Bay, and climbed the Mexican volcano Popocatepetl. His research stretches from computer modeling of land use change to detailed mapping of terrain with LIDAR.
Dr. Clarke is the former North American editor of the International Journal of Geographical Information Systems and is series editor for the Prentice Hall Series in Geographic Information Science. He is the author of three textbooks and more than a hundred articles and papers in the fields of cartography, remote sensing, and geographic information systems. In 2005 Dr. Clarke received the John Wesley Powell Award, the highest non-government award given by the United States Geological Survey. He spent the 2006-7 academic year in London as a Leverhulme Visiting Scholar and in Italy as a Fulbright Distinguished Fellow.
Steve M. Colman, Geology
Base of Operations: Duluth, Minnesota
Education: B.S., University of Notre Dame; M.S., Pennsylvania State University; Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder
Professor of Geosciences and director of the Large Lakes Observatory (LLO) at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Steve Colman studies the history and evolution of the large lakes of the world.
Before joining LLO in 2004, Colman had a long career as a research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). His work with the USGS, beginning in Denver, was mostly related to the use of glacial deposits and other unconsolidated sediments to reconstruct past environmental conditions. Colman transferred to the Atlantic Marine Geology office of the USGS in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1983, where he used unconsolidated sediments to reconstruct past conditions, primarily in estuaries and lakes, using oceanographic methods. In addition to estimating rates of coastal erosion, sediment accumulation, anthropogenic disturbance, and nutrient cycling, his research has increasingly focused on reconstructing past climates.
Colman's principal study sites have been the Chesapeake Bay, Lake Michigan, Lake Baikal (Russia), Lake Titicaca (Bolivia-Peru), and a variety of lakes in the western United States. He has published more than a hundred scientific articles in leading journals, including Science and Nature.
In addition to his positions with the USGS, Colman spent a year as a visiting scientist with the Past Global Changes project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme in Bern, Switzerland. He also spent 18 months at the National Science Foundation (NSF) as program manager for the Paleoclimate and Earth System History Programs.
Colman has served many scholarly societies, including the Geological Society of America (as a division chair and as councilor) and the American Quaternary Association (as a councilor). He has served on many advisory boards (NSF, University of Colorado, International Continental Drilling Program) and on editorial boards of journals (Quaternary Science Reviews, Quaternary International).
Colman has won several awards, including the Kirk Bryan Award from the Geological Society of America and the Chandler-Misener Award from the International Association for Great Lakes Research.
Scott V. Edwards, Biology
Base of Operations: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Education: B.A., Harvard University; Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
Scott Edwards had been interested in ornithology since about age eight, but it wasn't until he took a year off from college to conduct volunteer fieldwork and museum research that he considered biology as a career.
After Edwards returned to college, he switched his major to biology and joined a laboratory conducting research in molecular systematics of mammals. There he contributed to a project investigating relationships in the African mole rat family Bathyergidae.
During 1986 and 1987, Edwards spent four months volunteering for a study on birds of paradise in Papua New Guinea, after which he conducted his own field research in Australia. Today he continues to study avian biogeography down under.
For Edwards's postdoctoral work, he spent two years at the Center for Mammalian Genetics at the University of Florida. There he studied the evolution and diversity of genes that help fight diseases in birds and many other animals, including humans.
In December 2003 Edwards joined the faculty at Harvard University's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and became Curator of Birds in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. There he trains students to study the history and evolution of species—mainly birds—using modern molecular biological approaches.
John Francis
Base of Operations: Washington, D.C.
Education: B.S., University of Washington; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
Now vice president for research, conservation, and exploration at the National Geographic Society, John Francis began his career as a behavioral ecologist at nineteen and over the next fifteen years studied over half of all seal and sea lion species. After earning his Ph.D., he spent five years as a postdoctoral fellow and research associate at the Smithsonian Institution.
Two grants from the National Geographic Society allowed Francis to study the little-known Juan Fernández fur seal from the isolated islands near Chile. A film of this research was the beginning of a career in wildlife filmmaking.
In six years with National Geographic Television, Francis covered everything from chimps and tigers to whales and sharks. For much of this time, he also served on the Society's Committee for Research and Exploration, offering expertise on marine mammals.
Today Francis directs funding of these disciplines through the Society's Committee for Research and Exploration, Conservation Trust, and Expeditions Council and promotes these groups' efforts worldwide.
Nancy Knowlton, Marine Biology
Base of Operations: San Diego, California
Education: B.S., Harvard University; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Nancy Knowlton is director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the University of California's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where she also is a professor of marine biology. In addition, she maintains a part-time position at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, where she pursues her research on coral reefs.
Known for her studies of marine diversity, Knowlton is largely responsible for the now widespread recognition that estimates of marine diversity are probably too low by a factor of ten.
Knowlton is a member of Conservation International's Marine Advisory Panel and the U.S. National Committee for the Census of Marine Life. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, the goal of which is to promote communication between scientists and the world at large.
Knowlton's work has been featured around the world in print, on the radio, and in film. She has provided advice on marine biodiversity issues to the World Bank, the Natural History Museum in London, and the Swedish and Taiwanese governments.
Dan Martin, Conservation
Base of Operations: Washington, D.C.
Education: B.A., Knox College, Illinois; Ph.D., Princeton University
As Senior Managing Director of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Dan Martin directs a global program of grantmaking in support of nature conservation in biodiversity "hotspot" areas. The fund is supported by the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility, the MacArthur Foundation, the Government of Japan, and Conservation International (which acts as managing partner).
Before taking on this responsibility, Dr. Martin served as senior director for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's environment program, leading the foundation's investigation of ocean science and marine conservation as well as developing a new institutional research program. He brings to the Committee for Research and Exploration an extensive background in health, education, nature conservation, and foundation management.
Martin joined the Moore Foundation after spending 15 years at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, where he was the founding director of its World Environment and Resources Program. He also designed and launched the foundation's population and reproductive health program and led its general program during the foundation's early years.
Martin previously served as president of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation in New York and as president of both the Cranbrook Educational Community, a complex of schools and museums in Michigan, and the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, a consortium of leading liberal arts colleges based in Chicago.
Earlier in his career, Martin was executive assistant at the Markle Foundation in New York (making grants in academic medicine) and assistant to the chancellor and assistant professor of political science at Vanderbilt University.
As an adjunct professor, Martin has taught at the Rush Medical School in Chicago and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He also served as a member of the Illinois Board of Regents and the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
A former U.S. Army intelligence officer, Martin has served on numerous nonprofit boards and advisory committees. He is a Life Trustee of Knox College, a member of the Board of Founders of the Costa Rica-USA Foundation, and he recently completed memberships on the Council of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, based in Switzerland, and the Board of Governors of the International Development Research Centre in Canada.
Scott E. Miller, Biology
Base of Operations: Washington, D.C.
Education: B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara; Ph.D., Harvard University
Acting chairman of the Department of Systematic Biology at the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Scott E. Miller has published more than 120 research publications in systematics (the science of classification), biogeography, and ecology.
Previously Miller led the natural science department and Hawaii Biological Survey at Bishop Museum in Hawaii. In Kenya he directed the biodiversity and conservation program at the International Centre of Insect Ecology and Physiology.
Miller is committed to applying biodiversity information from museum collections and systematics research to sustainable development.
Jan Nijman, Geography
Base of Operations: Miami, Florida
Education: B.A. and M.A., University of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder
Professor of geography and regional studies at the University of Miami, Jan Nijman concentrates his research on human geography, with special interests in global trends of urbanization and geopolitics.
Nijman's research on urbanization in recent years has involved extensive fieldwork around the world, particularly in Mumbai (Bombay); Accra, Ghana; Miami; and Amsterdam.
In addition to the Committee for Research and Exploration, a range of agencies have funded the Netherlands native. Among them are the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Association of American Geographers, the University of Miami, the Amsterdam Study Centre for the Metropolitan Environment, and the Guggenheim Foundation.
Nijman's writings have appeared in a wide range of journals. His books and monographs include The Geopolitics of Power and Conflict, The Global Moment in Urban Evolution, and The Global Crisis in Foreign Aid.
Stuart L. Pimm, Conservation Biology
Base of Operations: Durham, North Carolina
Education: B.S., Oxford University; Ph.D., New Mexico State University
Currently the Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke University, Stuart Pimm became a conservation biologist after watching species go extinct in Hawaii in the 1970s. That experience led to his commitment to study the scientific issues behind the global loss of biological diversity.
Pimm has written nearly 200 scientific papers, including three review articles in the journals Nature and Science. He has written three books: The World According to Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth, Food Webs, and The Balance of Nature? Ecological Issues in the Conservation of Species and Communities.
Pimm's research covers why (and how quickly) species become extinct, the global patterns of habitat loss and species extinction, the role of introduced species in causing extinction, and, importantly, the habitat-management consequences of this research.
The biologist's current work includes studying endangered species and ecosystem restoration in the Florida Everglades, setting priorities for protected areas in the Atlantic coast forest of Brazil and for savanna ecosystems in southern Africa, and tracking jaguars in the rain forests of Central America and fossas in the dry forests of Madagascar.
Pimm also carries the title of "extraordinary professor" at the Conservation Ecology Research Unit, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Peter H. Raven, Botany
Base of Operations: St. Louis, Missouri
Education: B.S., University of California, Berkeley; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Chair of the Committee for Research and Exploration, Peter H. Raven is one of the world's leading botanists and advocates of conservation and biodiversity. For three decades, he has headed the Missouri Botanical Garden, an institution he nurtured into a world-class center for botanical research and education, and horticultural display.
Described by Time magazine as a "Hero for the Planet," Raven champions research around the world to preserve endangered plants and is a leading advocate for conservation and a sustainable environment.
In recognition of his work in science and conservation, Raven is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the prestigious International Prize for Biology from the government of Japan and the U.S. National Medal of Science, the country's highest award for scientific accomplishment. He has held Guggenheim and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowships.
Raven was a member of President Bill Clinton's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. He also served for 12 years as home secretary of the National Academy of Sciences and is a member of the academies of science in Argentina, Brazil, China, Denmark, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, the U.K., and several other countries.
The author of numerous books and reports, both popular and scientific, Raven co-wrote Biology of Plants, an internationally best-selling textbook, now in its sixth edition. He also co-authored Environment, a leading textbook on the environment.
Elsa Redmond, Archaeology
Base of Operations: New York, New York
Education: B.S., Rice University, Texas; Ph.D., Yale University
Born and raised in Venezuela, Elsa Redmond visited the country's remote Amazonas territory with her father, who was a petroleum engineer and part-time bush pilot. This exposure to indigenous villages in the upper Orinoco River Basin spurred her interest in anthropology.
As an undergraduate, Redmond joined an archaeological survey project in Oaxaca, Mexico. Since that first field season in 1972, she has maintained her commitment to the archaeology of the Oaxaca Valley and its environs.
For her doctoral research, Redmond carried out a regional survey of neighboring areas with her husband, Charles Spencer. The project was designed to assess the hypothesis that the Zapotec Indians conquered the Cuicatlén Cañada between 300 and 100 B.C., as suggested by inscriptions at Monte Albé.
In the 1980s Redmond and Spencer investigated the origins of mound-building chiefdoms in the western plains (llanos) of Venezuela. Through regional survey, as well as mapping and excavations at seven sites in the high llanos and forested Andean piedmont, they established a sequence to document the development of warring and trading chiefdoms in the high llanos around A.D. 500 to 600.
Since 1991, when Redmond became a research associate in the Division of Anthropology at New York's American Museum of Natural History, she and Spencer have carried out eight years of fieldwork at three archaeological sites in the Oaxaca Valley.
These three sites span the period of Zapotec state formation at Monte Albén. The fieldwork Redmond and Spencer are completing has generated new data on the political strategies pursued by the emerging Monte Albén state.
The project was designed to assess the hypothesis that the Zapotec Indians conquered the Cuicatlén Cañada between 300 and 100 B.C., as suggested by inscriptions at Monte Albé.
Bruce D. Smith, Archaeology
Base of Operations: Washington, D.C.
Education: B.S. and Ph.D., University of Michigan
At the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, Bruce D. Smith is director of the Archaeobiology Program, curator of North American Archaeology, and senior research scientist in the Department of Anthropology.
Smith's research centers on the interaction between past human societies and their environments—particularly the spatial distribution of human settlements and subsistence activities on ancient landscapes, human patterns of reliance on plant and animal species, and human impacts on biotic communities. His research often considers major episodes of transition and change at a regional scale of analysis.
Through the 1970s much of Smith's research focused on the Mississippian period (A.D. 1000 to 1400) maize-farming societies, whose fortified mound centers were distributed along many of the river valley corridors of the eastern woodlands of what is now the United States.
In the late 1970s Smith's interest shifted from Mississippian societies in the eastern U.S. to the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture in the region (circa 3000 B.C.). He later developed a general model for the spatial organization and subsistence systems of Hopewellian Indian societies of the region, which by 300 B.C. to A.D. 200 had well-developed and regionally variable food production economies.
Smith's interests expanded in the mid-1990s to encompass the origins of agriculture worldwide and the initial domestication of plants and animals from both archaeological and biological perspectives.
Smith is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has served as secretary and president of the Society for American Archaeology, and serves in an editorial board capacity for a number of journals. His books have won the James Henry Breasted Prize from the American Historical Association, and the Society for American Archaeology's book award.
Patricia Wright, Anthropology
Base of Operations: Stony Brook, New York
Education: B.S., Hood College; Ph.D., City University of New York
A member of the Committee for Research and Exploration since 2000, Patricia Wright is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is also a professor of ecology and evolution in SUNY's graduate program. Since 1992 she has served as executive director of Stony Brook's Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments.
Based on her research in Peru's Manu National Park, Wright's dissertation on the behavior and ecology of the world's only nocturnal monkey—the owl monkey—has become a classic. After researching the reproductive physiology and behavior of tarsiers at North Carolina's Duke University Primate Center and in Malaysia and the Philippines, she became an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Anthropology at Duke.
In 1986, while on an exploratory expedition in Madagascar, Wright and colleagues discovered a species of lemur, the golden bamboo lemur. When this newfound species was threatened by timbering in the Ranomafana rain forest, Wright's attention turned to conservation.
Wright spearheaded an integrated conservation and development project at Ranomafana that encouraged protection and conservation of endemic flora and fauna as well as rural development, education, and health services.
Wright has also studied the behavioral ecology of nonhuman primates in South America, Asia, and Africa. Her African research, in Madagascar, has concentrated on a 17-year behavioral and demographic study of the Milne-Edwards sifaka.
In 1989 Wright became a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellow. In 1995 the president of Madagascar awarded her his country's National Medal of Honor. She has been a member of the National Geographic Society's Conservation Trust advisory board since 2002.
Melinda A. Zeder, Archaeology
Base of Operations: Washington, D.C.
Education: B.A., M.A., and Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Melinda Zeder traces her interest in Middle Eastern archaeology to the hours she spent as a child paging through the archaeological site reports her mother used as research material for a novel on ancient Egypt. Her interest in Middle Eastern pastoralists and their animals stems from her travels with nomadic tribes in Iran. There, she collected specimens for her undergraduate honors thesis on the micro-structure of domestic sheep bones.
Zeder's research career has been dedicated to examining the history of human interactions with animals in the Middle East, from the earliest domestication of animals through the development of specialized pastoral economies in early city-states.
For her Ph.D., which she received in 1985, Zeder studied animal bones from an ancient city in highland Iran to examine how urban consumers received animal products from pastoralist producers. She has also worked with problems of urbanism and animals in Bronze Age and Iron Age Israel, central Anatolia, and northeastern Syria. Her work in Syria examined the environmental impact of agriculture over a 6,000-year period, from the first introduction of domesticates into the region through the development of its first cities.
Zeder's most recent research focuses on the origins of animal domestication in the Near East. This work has resulted in breakthrough techniques for identifying the earliest evidence of animal domestication in the archaeological record. Zeder's efforts have also led to the discovery of the oldest directly dated instance of animal domestication in the Zagros Mountains of Iran 10,000 years ago.
Zeder holds the position of curator of Old World archaeology and zooarchaeology at the U.S. National Museum of Natural History. She is currently serving a second term as president of the International Council for Archaeozoology, a professional society representing researchers interested in the history of human interaction with animals.
Zeder is a winner of the American Anthropological Association's Gordon R. Willey Prize for outstanding publication in archaeology and the Society for American Archaeology's Fryxell Award for interdisciplinary research, in recognition of Zeder's lifetime achievement in zooarchaeology.
