Chair: Steve Elkins
Vice Chair for Programs: Jess Pheonix
Vice Chair for Membership: Maria Baltazzi
Secretary: Robyn J Mitchell
Treasurer: David S Press
Social Media Coordinator: Bibi Renessen
Andrea Donnellan, Dr. Owen P. Doonan IV, Danielle Eubank, Chris Kostman, Kevin Lee, Russel E. Matthews, and Lisa Sonne
Manager Instrument Systems Implementation and Concepts Section, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Andrea Donnellan studies earthquakes using remote sensing and computational modeling and analysis. She is manager of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Instrument Systems Implementation and Concepts Section. Donnellan is an commercial instrument rated land and sea pilot with flights in the US, Mexico, Canada, and Africa, a small UAS pilot, and a certified scuba diver. Donnellan has conducted field work in California, Bolivia, Mongolia, and Antarctica and has a glacier named after her in the Sentinel Range, Antarctica for her work on that continent.
Professor of Archaeology and Art History, Cal State University Northridge
Director, Sinop Kale Archaeological Excavations
Owen Doonan has been an active field archaeologist for more than 30 years, having dug in Greece, Israel, Italy, Spain and Turkey. He has directed the Sinop (Turkey) Regional Archeological Project since 1996 and the Sinop Kale excavations since 2015. An advocate for close partnership between field investigators and host communities his project seeks to build strong positive relationships between the people of Sinop and the international network of scholar-explorers and students on his team. His work is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Geographic Society, Getty Villa and Alexander con Humboldt Foundation.
Recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, Creative Climate Award nominee, “I conceived One Artist Five Oceans, a 20-year project where I sailed and painted every ocean on earth to raise climate awareness. I enjoy public speaking and have spoken at conferences and universities in Japan, Korea, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, The United States, Spain, Syria and Italy. I am a serious environmental advocate and enjoy being “the carrot” rather than “the stick”. I am a keen organic gardener, and enjoy the diversity of wildflowers and trees I am currently learning about in California. I love being a member of The Explorer’s Club and am very excited about serving on the executive committee of the Southern California Chapter.”
https://www.danielleeubank.com
Instagram: @eubankart
Chief Adventure Officer, AdventureCORPS, Inc. and Race Director, Badwater Ultramarathons
Chris Kostman is a pioneer athlete and event organizer in the world of ultra-endurance sports. Besides competing in events as diverse at the Race Across America and the Triple Ironman, he has over thirty years of experience producing and hosting endurance sports and adventure travel events across the USA as well is in the Mustang Region of Nepal, Yunan province of China, and in Armenia. Trained and educated as an archaeologist at U.C. Berkeley (earning BA and MA degrees), he has led or worked on expeditions and excavations both undersea and on land in the Middle East and South Asia. Chris grew up sailing and has certifications as a technical SCUBA diver, standup paddleboard coach, and Wilderness First Responder. Nominated by his late mentor Willard Bascom along with Hervey de Maigret, Chris has proudly been a fellow of The Explorers Club since 1998.
McKendree University
CEO Kint & Associates, Inc. / OCUPS Board Member (Orange County Underwater Photographic Society)
Kevin Lee has SCUBA dived seven continents (including the 29F/-2C polar waters of Antarctica and Arctic), and is a widely published photographer of marine life, particularly heterobranchia, one, Placida kevinleei, which is named after him. He enthusiastically supports marine biology research. While backpacking three years around the world, visiting over 40 countries, he spent 14 months in India, meeting the Dalai Lama and Mother Theresa, climbed Kilimanjaro & Mt. Kenya, and trekked twice to Everest Base Camp and around the Annapurna Circuit.
President, Air/Sea Heritage Foundation
Celebrating his 30th anniversary as a Member of the Explorers Club this year, Russ Matthews (FN ’91) is a historian and filmmaker specializing in aviation and maritime subjects. As the President and Co-founder of Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to nautical and aerospace history and archaeology, Matthews has led or been a part of more than twenty expeditions to find, study and/or document significant plane and shipwrecks around the world from the Pacific to the Adriatic and is proud to have carried the Explorers Club flag on three of them. He has written, produced and directed numerous narrative and feature films and co-authored several non-fiction books, articles and papers. Matthews is currently planning a return expedition to search for the wreck of Samoan Clipper, a pioneering Pan American Airways flying boat lost near Pago Pago, American Samoa in 1938. He is a diver and a pilot as well as an avid hiker, sailor and downhill skier.
(Graduated from her undergraduate program at the University of San Diego in May, and will hopefully continue on to a PhD program next year.)
“Since I can remember, I have been amazed and curious about the ocean and its inhabitants, especially when it pertains to coral reef ecosystems. With the lust for travel installed in me at a young age, I cannot help but constantly plan my next trip to some corner of the world I have yet to explore (my bucket list is quite extensive). I took a gap year before starting my undergraduate program, in which I solo traveled to five different continents, working, volunteering, and enjoying my time along the way.
At my university, I have conducted
working with metal concentrations in estuarine environments and spatiotemporal variability of foraminifera off the San Diego coast. I have also lead as a shipboard scientist and student leader on multiple research cruises conducting geological data collection of the seafloor. Recently graduated, I look forward to my next chapter in life before continuing my education at a PhD program.”
Instagram: @bibirenessen
Co-Founder Charity Checks and Charitable Literacy, Possibilitator
Land, Air, and Sea! Lisa TE Sonne loves exploring, and sharing stories about remarkable people, discoveries, and places to inspire and educate the public (via print, internet, radio, television, and movies.) She has enjoyed assignments on all seven continents, and with TEC members, she’s helped map caves, survey land, photograph Bhutanese festivals, track whales (TEC Flag Expedition,) Moon bounce via ham radio, direct footage of the first expedition to reach the sunken Bismarck, and more. While on assignment for National Geographic TV, she became the “first woman in the world to fly underwater” via Graham Hawkes’ pioneering Deep Flight Aviator, and for LIFE Magazine, she stayed in Star City, Russia and went weightless with Astronauts and Cosmonauts to report on their training. Sonne produced a science series for kids and wrote science articles for Time for Kids and National Geographic for Kids; produced and wrote for Faces of Culture, an LA Emmy-winning anthropology PBS series used in universities; wrote for the Academy Award-winning Broken Rainbow about the Hopi and Navajo; and helped conceive and launch Space.com.
Executive Director and Co-Founder of Marine Genome Project
Daniel Ortega is a biologist, an extreme explorer, and underwater cave explorer. Daniel is steadfast in his desire to protect marine genetic information from being lost to the passage of time. He leads MGP’s scientific research dive team. Daniels is a shareholder and contributor to the UN Ocean Decade Initiative. He is also a PADI Master Instructor, holding multiple technical and cave diving certifications through GUE. Daniel has over 12 years of full time diving experience, logging thousands of hours underwater in all types of conditions and environments. Throughout the last 5 years of teaching he has trained hundreds of students and countless professional level divers. Daniel holds a BS. in Biological Sciences focusing on (Conservation Biology) from Arizona State University and is currently pursing a Masters In Biological Sciences at Arizona State University.
Jeremy is a leading photographer, cinematographer, and editor. His award-winning documentary and digital media producing work has led him to the Arctic, the Himalayas, regions of Africa and South America, and beyond. He continually travels the world producing exciting and informative content for TV Networks, Nations, NGOs, Charities, and Social Enterprises who truly make a positive impact on their communities.
Jeremy has produced, written, shot & directed exciting and informative TV programming for National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and many other top networks. He produces impactful media content for global NGOs, charities, and research organizations to assure all their stories are documented and showcased for the world. Additionally, Jeremy creates the best content possible to enable these groups to successfully meet their important yearly fundraising goals. Jeremy provides script-to-screen solutions with a powerful top-of-the-line professional look and sound. Whether shooting on location or in the studio, Jeremy will create the exact feel that conveys your message.
Instagram: @jeremy_la_zelle
Malorie Mackey is a writer and host based in Los Angeles, CA. After having professionally written on the topics of travel, adventure, and tourism for close to a decade, Malorie found that she wanted more out of her adventures, so she began volunteering on scientific expeditions. Her adventures have brought her from working on archaeology in Battambang, Cambodia to working with South African penguins on Robben Island. While she loves volunteering on wildlife field research projects (with a specific love of penguins), Malorie’s true passions lie in the ‘why’, uncovering the most obscure and unusual of topics. Malorie currently hosts the podcast and show Weird World Adventures, which showcases the strangest and most unique places and traditions around the world, and she is currently beginning her journey to get her Masters in Anthropology with a specialization in Folklore, Mythology, and Occult Studies
Dakota Bailey graduate with her MA in Egyptology program at the University of Manchester. When she isn’t transliterating and translating hieroglyphs, she can be found on the creative journey of an actor and producer in Los Angeles. She is thrilled and proud to be a new member of The Explorers Club and looks forward to taking advantage of this dream come true.
Linkedin Dakota Bailey
Working in the field of 3D scanning and advanced imaging, I have had the privilege of working on a wide range of creative and scientific projects. My projects have been recognized with awards for my immersive documentaries, which have been featured in Virtual Reality and other formats such as Fulldome projection and IMAX. The exciting part of this immersive medium is that the same data that I collect for visual storytelling can also be used for conservation and to do real science. I have been honored to have worked with many esteemed academics, including archeologists, Egyptologists, geologists, and environmental scientists, who have relied on my skills to further their research. My work has focused on both built heritage and living heritage, and I am proud of my contributions to mapping climbing routes and other hard sciences such as geology, astronomy and physics. Additionally, I have taught underwater photogrammetry as portion of the scientific diver certification. I am excited for future opportunities to continue to grow and expand our knowledge of new exploration!
Jack of all trades - Currently employed as a civilian in the US Air Force
Seeking employment in the environmental conservation field
In 2022, Madison embarked on a 1,700 mile solo kayak expedition from Minneapolis MN to York Factory MB, up on the Hudson Bay. Along the way, she partnered with the state of ND to take PFAS water quality samples on the surface waters she was traveling, the first data of its kind for the state. This citizen science project lit a fire in her for conservation work, and drove her to become a passionate advocate for our wild places. She hopes to organize more citizen science projects on her future expeditions to better the lands she travels through.
Madison is currently pursuing a degree in Conservation Biology and Ecology at Arizona State University. In her spare time, she volunteers with her local search and rescue, stewards a Little Free Library, and oversees a travel blog of her expeditions. She has a love for photography and hopes to get a minor in Media Arts. When she needs a break, she gets away on wild adventures, from long distance hiking to bikepacking and beyond.
Avery Schuyler Nunn is an environmental science journalist based in the Laguna area. Her love for the planet and its creatures was fostered at a young age, as she bounded barefoot through the moss lined woods of Pennsylvania and rode waves in Ocean City, New Jersey. She earned her Master of Science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2021, and has both written and photographed for National Geographic, Scientific American, Popular Science, Smithsonian Magazine, and others in the years since. Avery primarily covers stories centered on advances in marine biological and geological research, and can often be found freediving in the local kelp forests with her camera.
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