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10,000 StrongAs of today, the National Geographic Society has issued 10,000 grants funding research and exploration since 1890—including, on the following pages, the ten National Geographic grant projects that, according to an internal panel, "have made the greatest difference in understanding the Earth."(Watch a video highlighting National Geographic-funded research projects.)Now—after a 120-year history of supporting the excavation of Machu Picchu, the discovery of the Titanic wreck, Jane Goodall's chimpanzee research, and much more—National Geographic is awarding its 10,000th grant. The funding goes to Krithi Karanth (pictured), a conservation biologist with Duke University and the India-based Centre for Wildlife Studies.Karanth will use her funding to assess human-wildlife conflicts in five parks in India's Western Ghats region, which is home to tigers, Asian elephants, and other endangered and threatened animals. (Learn more about Karanth and her work, in her own words.)"Krithi is emblematic of the direction of National Geographic in many ways," said John Francis, Vice President for Research, Conservation, and Exploration at National Geographic."She studies human interactions with declining and impacted wildlife, and she has had a rich personal history as a field biologist."A native of Bangalore, Karanth also represents the increasingly international nature of National Geographic grantees, Francis added. "About 40 percent of our grants are to non-North Americans, and every decade for the past four decades, we've increased that by 10 percent," he said.(The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)—Ker Than

Photograph by Sandesh Kadur, National Geographic