“In my dreams, a monstrous wall of green water races my way, hissing, roaring, towering, inescapable, sweeping me into a cascading aquatic mayhem. I am lifted, tumbled, churned, pushed, and fall, gasping, clawing for air. My toes touch sand; a sweet breeze soothes my lungs. I stand, choking, face the next advancing wall, and leap into it exhilarated!”
Her words mesmerize, her work astounds. Sylvia Earle is one of the most decorated American scientists and yet most of us have never heard her name. Born in 1935 to working class parents, Sylvia was always called to the water. Though her family couldn’t afford a college education, they encouraged their daughter to question the world around her and respect all living things. These little lessons helped Sylvia earn a scholarship to Florida State University where she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in 1955. While most girls her age were getting married and moving to the burbs, Sylvia set her sights on moving underwater.
Fascinated by scuba technology and the up close study of marine life, Sylvia went on to get her Masters degree and PhD in botany. She became the ultimate working mom when she did an exploratory dive at four months pregnant. Her work brought her to the deepest depths of the Indian Ocean, the Bahamas, and beyond. But this gutsy gal’s true test came when she applied for the Tektite Project.
Tektite was an underwater living program created by NASA. A team of aquanauts would literally live in an underwater structure for two weeks. Though she was more qualified than any of her male counterparts, she was rejected from the program because, “the people in charge just couldn’t cope with the idea of men and women living together underwater.”
Rather than give up, Sylvia led her own all female underwater living expedition entitled Tektite II. It’s this kind of determination and unflinching belief in herself that makes her truly gutsy. Besides having penned more than 125 publications (including a stint at National Geographic) and gone on nearly 400 dives, Sylvia was also “green” before it was trendy. From 1998 to 2002 she led a study to understand the environmental impact of oil spills and is now a leading expert in the field.
Her books are filled with wonderment, her knowledge is vast, and her bravery knows no bounds. Sylvia Earle is a true American inspiration and even Time magazine dubbed her the first, “Hero for the Planet.” But to Sylvia, it’s just another day at the office. She once said, “Our past, our present, and whatever remains of our future, absolutely depend on what we do now.”
