In 2015, Noah became the first human to see more than half of the planet’s bird species in a single, year-long, round-the-world birding trip. Anything could have happened, and a lot did. He was scourged by blood-sucking leeches, suffered fevers and sleep deprivation, survived airline snafus and car breakdowns and mudslides and torrential floods, skirted war zones, and had the time of his life. Birding on seven continents and carrying only a pack on his back, Noah enlisted the enthusiastic support of local birders to tick more than 6,000 species, including Adelie Penguins in Antarctica, a Harpy Eagle in Brazil, a Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Thailand, and a Green-breasted Pitta in Uganda.

Noah is Associate Editor of Birding magazine, the author of six well-regarded books about birds, a penguin scientist, and a regular contributor of photography and articles to all major bird magazines as well as other media.has hiked the 2,665-mile Pacific Crest Trail in four months, is a competitive tennis player, has run five marathons, and guides in the Antarctic and high Arctic. He has traveled to Earth’s polar regions more than 40 times as a guide and for research, and is fascinated by the birds of high latitudes.

More about Noah here.

Nick had learned to fly as a kid and was now a commercially-rated pilot with about 1000 hours flight time. Christina, an anthropologist and, at the time, director of the Iroquois Museum in Howes Cave, NY., had to give up her position and learn to fly to be able to accompany Nick.

Join us to hear about their preparations to make the flight; their impressions of people and places they met on the way; and both the light-hearted and harrowing moments in the cockpit. The whole experience led them to found a business enabling pilots from around the world to fly small aircraft in the African bush.

Following on the launch of his book, How To Speak Whale, Tom Mustill, author and wildlife filmmaker, will reveal how a close encounter with a humpback whale inspired him to spend years exploring the cutting edge of marine biological research, where scientists are combining underwater robots and new advances in artificial intelligence to decode the communications of whales and dolphins and attempt the first ever two way communication.

Researching his book took him from the cloud rainforests in the mountains of Hawaii to the Blue Serengeti of Monterey Bay, swimming with singing Humpbacks off Dominica and dissecting giant Sperm Whales in Kent.

He will also be happy to talk about his other film work - from filming bats deep underground in Mayan tombs, kangaroos giving birth at night in the outback and giraffes being transported across the Nile.

Tune in if you've ever wanted to speak to your dog, or wondered how we might decode the conversations of other species! 

Jennifer will take us on her 2016 countrywide trip to this fascinating country that was once Persia, reminding us of their storied history, represented in art and architecture, and sharing her experience of feeling welcome and intrigued by the similarities and differences between Persian and western culture. We will visit the cities of Tabriz and Tehran in the north; Kerman, Shiraz, and other small sites in the south; and end our travels in beautiful Isfahan, seat of the Safavid Dynasty.

Cathy, GIS Scientist at the Appalachian Mountain Club, will explore the streams of the Maine Woods Initiative and their work to protect and enhance brook trout and Atlantic salmon habitats. This work was in part sponsored by a HTC Permanent Fund grant.

Learn about how the AMC is mapping the small upland streams (which are under-estimated by national-scale stream maps) and connecting these species to high-quality spawning habitat which is their historic habitat range and to which they have not been able to travel for a hundred years.

This evening we feature underwater explorer Tara Roberts who, in June 2022, was awarded the Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year. The subject of her talk was also featured in a podcast, and was the National Geographic Magazine cover story in March 2022.  Tara’s story is both scientific and deeply personal, as we will hear.

Sneak peek here.

After spending much of his life in Africa and East Asia, the combination of political upheaval and the pandemic made Neal want to get back to his roots and see first-hand what he could learn about this moment in America’s history by traversing her first thoroughfares via her first mode of transport - the canoe. Drawing inspiration from Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, Neal will share his experiences and observations of his 2-year, 22-river, 7500-mile canoe trip from the Columbia River in Oregon all the way to New York Harbor (the wrong way - the hard way!).

Bob Headland became involved in polar research in 1977 with the British Antarctic Survey. He was for many years the Archivist of the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge University, and remains an Associate there. He has made scores of trips to both the Arctic and Antarctic. He is an expert on South Georgia Island and has written several books on South Georgia as well as books on Antarctic voyages from the earliest ones to the present.

Bob became involved with the Antarctic Heritage Trust to maintain the huts from the early explorations. His major publication is ‘A Chronology of Antarctic Exploration’. He is a member of the Institute of Historical Research of the University of London, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, former President of the Antarctic Club, and a recipient of the Polar Medal from the Queen.

Join Arctic Explorer Captain Sean P. Meagher on an adventure in Greenland. Featuring video and photos, this talk will explore the natural beauty, wildlife, history, culture and future of one of the most unique places on this planet.

Captain Sean P. Meagher has 33 years’ experience navigating diverse places such as the Northwest Passage, the North Pole, South Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and Antarctica.

This most extraordinary race is a three day cross country ski marathon through the magnificent backcountry of Greenland's west coast. Departing from the small town of Sisimiut, 65 km north of the Arctic Circle, racers ski 160 km. over three days, nights are spent camping on the snowfields. Given the terrain and harsh conditions, the Arctic Circle Race has long been considered “the toughest ski race in the world”.

A week spent working in Yangon (Rangoon) and Lashio in 2017, convening scholars and Buddhists with Generals and Tribal Leaders, at a tenuous time when the Rohingya crisis was newly escalating and Aung San Suu Kyi's fragile democracy was in power (for the moment) proved to be nothing short of exceptional. As Burmese-born author and former UN Peacekeeper Thant Myint U states: "and so we are left with the same question --what to do about Burma? The answer lies in part in seeing Burma differently."

​Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn: Ski-Touring the Haute Route

Switzerland boasts over 150 Alpine Club “huts” in those famous Alps, many of them near the peaks. This provides endless choices for trekking hut-to-hut. In winter, this means skiing across glaciers, climbing up and over cols (saddles on ridges), and occasionally schussing the powder on the way down. The most-famous of the high routes between huts goes from Chamonix, France to Zermatt, Switzerland; and it is referred to as simply “the” Haute Route. Join Bruce on his first ski mountaineering trip as he and his mates and guide spend 5 days with skis, skins, crampons, ski-couteaux, piolets, sun-glasses, ropes, rösti, and red wine—on the best trip of his life!

traversing the NW Passage from East to West (his was the 216th vessel to do so) and again from West to East (where his was the third private ship and 9th vessel of any kind to have made the journey.)

Tonight's talk is co-sponsored with the Harvard Business School Alumni of Boston.

He's also the author of Critical Hours -- Search and Rescue in the White Mountains (UPNE, 2018). Based on his years of experience documenting accidents, Sandy will cover key ways accidents come about, and what could have been done to prevent them. 

 Prepare to be entertained as Tinaand Frank Singsby recount stories of their unconvential honeymoon in Svalbard camping with polar bears. And be amazed at the heights Ken Maclaurin will go to to reach the highest points on all 7 continents.

Global Rescue identifies, monitors, and responds to potential threats; provides medical, security, intelligence, and crisis response services; and performs field rescues, sending critical care paramedics and military special forces veterans to the site of an emergency.

It provided services to its members during major events including the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, the 2011 tsunami in Japan, and the 2013 civil unrest in Egypt.

As founder and CEO of Global Rescue, Dan Richards has seen it all! Join us as Dan shares stories about dramatic rescues in many parts of the world and under seemingly insurmountable circumstances.

Crossing 22,040 km over ten months, Kate’s Breaking the Cycle in Africa Expedition was not only a physical quest, but an odyssey to highlight the development needs and activities of war-torn and poverty-stricken nations.

Kate will also speak about her latest challenge, Breaking the Cycle South Pole, which will include the first bicycle crossing of the Antarctic continent via the South Pole (2021-22). Preparations so far have included polar training expeditions in Svalbard, Northeast Greenland and Arctic Canada, and in 2018/19/20, a preparatory expedition on each continent (except Antarctica).
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These challenging expeditions are integral with Kate’s Breaking the Cycle Education program that aims to help "prepare our future leaders to make informed decisions to create a better world".

Trevor Wallace is an expedition filmmaker and Vice President of Research and Education at the Explorers Club. His films focus on expanding human curiosity about the wild and remote corners of the world.

For the past 5 years he has been working with Dr. Gino Caspari on the archaeological docu-series Frozen Corpses Golden Treasures, which is set to be released in 2021. 
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Trevor will be sharing with the Club about his years excavating the oldest Scythian tomb in Siberia and working as a guide in the Arctic. He will talk about the lessons he learned living out in the field for months at a time, documenting discoveries that have rewritten history.

As the youngest Vice President in the 116 year history of The Explorers Club, he will talk about being part of this incredible legacy and forging a new path for the next generation of explorers.

In 2018 he was awarded the Explorers’ Club “New Explorer of the Year” distinction.