Dr. Sylvia A. Earle, PhD, is an explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, the leader of the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, and a chair of Google Earth advisory council for the ocean. She is a charter member of the Ocean Futures Society Advisory Board and the former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as a founder of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. She lives in Oakland, California.