Celebrate the Women Blazing Paths in the Name of Exploration

Footprints: Our Human Story

Friday, November 5th

10:30 AM — 12:00 PM

From our ancient ancestors to the next generation, meet women who are exploring what it was, is, and will be to be human. Our journey to follow the footprints of our human story begins in the ancient world where archaeology can pull back the veil of time to understand where we came from. Photography, ethnography and anthropology shed light on the modern day, and our diverse, changing world. Finally we look ahead, considering the patterns of history and where we can go from here.

• Denéa Buckingham — Host
• Alegra Ally
• Michele Westmorland (pictured)
• Alicia Stevens
• Varvara Busova

Disappearances

Friday, November 5th

12:30 PM — 2:00 PM

From Alpine skiers to WWII battleships, even the most advanced tools and seasoned explorers are vulnerable to the inherent dangers of exploration. What happens when planes meant to fly miles above the ground end up on the bottom of the seafloor? When natural disasters strand adventurers in the harsh wilderness? What becomes of these people and vessels when they disappear from the grid completely? Where did they go and what are their stories? Join our panel Disappearances to meet the incredible women who, by seeking out what is lost, solve the mysteries of people, planes, and boats that have vanished from plain sight. Tune in to find out how their work has deepened our understanding of science, history, and what drives us to explore in the first place.

• Elizabeth Weidner — Host
• Valerie Moore
• Susan Purvis (pictured)
• Synnøve Marie Kvam Strømsvåg

In Danger! Places Worth Preserving

Friday, November 5th

2:30 PM — 4:00 PM

Session 4: In Danger! Places Worth Preserving Our world is changing faster than it has ever before. Melting glaciers, habitat destruction, sea levels rising and rivers vanishing, future generations will inhabit a world very different from today’s. Meet the explorers preserving and documenting the world as we know it, and discover places that may be gone tomorrow.

• Brianna Rowe — Host
• Alison M. Jones
• Ulyana Nadia Horodyskyj
• Meg Lowman (pictured)
• Bethan John

Far Reaches

Saturday, November 6th

9:30 AM — 11:00 AM

Embedded in the definition of exploration is the will to push ourselves to the far reaches of this planet, and to the far reaches of our capabilities and imagination. In this panel, four women embody this intertwined concept of exploration through their journeys across mountain ranges, over ice-ridden sea routes, down into active volcanoes and deep into underground lakes

• Latonia Hartery — Host
• Kristin Gates (pictured)
• Ulla Lohmann
• Vickie Siegel

Women of  the Deep

Saturday, November 6th

11:30 AM — 1:00 PM

Women of the Explorers Club who are exploring the ocean from top to bottom, and shore to shore, will share their stories about their lives researching our blue planet and what they have discovered about the sea around us, and themselves, as women in ocean exploration.

• Martha Shaw — Host
• Aulani Wilhelm (pictured)
• Meaghan Brosnan
• Mara G. Haseltine
• Elizabeth Weidner
• Cynthia Matzke

Where the Wild Things Are

Saturday, November 6th

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM

Our search for aliveness leads us time again to animals, to the wild, to our origins in nature. As our natural places are extinguished, as our kin suffer, our own sense of rootedness and wholeness has diminished. More than ever, we must turn to animals and the wild, to find our way back through strength, integrity and courage to the mystery of being one species among millions, acting in accord with the land. We must ask ourselves: how can we protect the wild and what is wild within us? Meet explorers who have worked bravely to rewild the earth, to care for wildlife, to engage and embolden youth as protectors, who have investigated what it means to belong with the wild defending it as one would their beloved. What makes them successful in their endeavors? How have they persevered amid the sorrow of so much loss of nature?

• Cayte Bosler — Host
• Kris Tompkins
• Gabriela Zoneshine
• Callie Broaduss (pictured)

Sacred Journeys 

Saturday, November 6th

3:30 PM — 5:00 PM

Everything has the potential to become sacred — a temple, a stone, the night sky, a towering tree — and opportunities abound to experience their mystery and power. Meet explorers who have investigated centuries-old oracles, shamans and traditional healers, cliffside shrines, mystical ceremonies, and miracles at the water’s edge. What made their journeys sacred, and how are their discoveries impacting their own lives and our world?

• Catherine Nixon Cooke — Host
• Amy Greeson (pictured)
• Susan Grimaldi
• Phyllis Hischier
• Deana Weibel

Creatively Healing the Planet

Saturday, November 6th

5:15 PM — 6:45 PM

From climate change, to extreme storms and water shortages, we earth beings face an epic challenge to come together to push for new stories and technologies to heal our planet. From a media celebrity using education to reach the next generation about the wonder of our ocean sea life, to a Seed Huntress saving our plant heritage, to a pioneer saving our most ancient forests, to scaling investment in locally grown food to a medical doctor with innovation in modern medicine, our panel seeks to paint a broad landscape of ways we can come together to creatively heal our shared Mother Earth

• Jenifer Austin — Host
• Sharon Kwok (pictured)
• Joan Maloof
• Dr. Kirsten Johnson
• Sefra Alexandra
• Brandi Decarli