Honorary Chair
Sir Edmund Hillary 1919-2008
President
Daniel A. Bennett
Honorary President
Don Walsh, Ph.D.
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Honorary Chair Sir Edmund Hillary 1919-2008 |
President Daniel A. Bennett |
Honorary President Don Walsh, Ph.D. |
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EXPEDITIONS
Explorers.org is honored to introduce a new point of contact with our members on flag expeditions. Explorers Club members have carried the flag on hundreds of expeditions since 1918 and shared the results of their flag expeditions upon return from the field. Now for the first time explorers.org will bring you communications from the field, while an expedition is in progress. Expedition leaders:
INTERVIEW with Kenneth Kamler, MD, FR'84
Expedition Objectives
The mission is a joint project of NOAA and NASA and is conducted at NOAA's Aquarius habitat, an underwater research facility off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, USA.
Interview Date: October 13, 2004 EXPLORERS.ORG: What is your current position (in compass terms if appropriate, and in geographic terms)? KAMLER: I am currently preparing to leave for Florida. Once there, on Sunday I'm going to be diving to the Aquarius capsule, ten miles off Key Largo, sixty-three feet under water. EXPLORERS.ORG: What will be the focus of your efforts? KAMLER: I'll dive to capsule and then, inside the capsule, I'll conduct a mock operation, sowing up a simulated patient's injured hand. The operation will be tele-mentored by a surgeon from St.Joseph's Hospital in Ontario, Canada. In other words, the surgeon in Ontario will guide me through the steps of the operation. EXPLORERS.ORG: What are the chief challenges you see ahead? KAMLER: Limited time available because of nitrogen saturation: the compressed air in the capsule is like the air in diving tanks. Also the capsule is cramped and equipment and supplies are limited. EXPLORERS.ORG: Are there any insights you wish to share? KAMLER: These techniques can be applied not only underwater and in space, but in any remote environment. I am planning to use the techniques in Bhutan, where a medical van will travel throughout the country and use tele-medicine to augment the expertise of the medical team in the van.
INTERVIEW with Mikael Strandberg MI'03
Expedition Objectives
Interview Date: September 16, 2004 EXPLORERS.ORG: Are you currently in transit? And what is your current position (in compass terms if appropriate, and in geographic terms)? STRANDBERG: We're having a restday at N 64°19'25.99 and E 154°20'04.3 on our paddling from the Kulu Riveer towards the little settlement of Zyryanka. From Zyryaanka we will continue by ski heading north to Ambarchik Bay. EXPLORERS.ORG: What is the current focus of your efforts? STRANDBERG: Today's focus is catching as much fish as possible to gain more weight before the arrival of winter. EXPLORERS.ORG: At this point in the expedition, what are the chief challenges you see ahead? STRANDBERG: Making it to Zyryanka before the arrival of the ice. Because if we will not make it there, we will have to spend the winter in the middle of nowhere (temperatures go below -80°C here) with only hunting and fishing as means to survive. EXPLORERS.ORG: Are there any insights you wish to share, from your experiences thus far? STRANDBERG: Kolyma River is probably the wildest and most beautiful river on the globe.
INTERVIEW with Gary Warren Bowersox FN'95
Expedition Objectives
Interview Date: August 1, 2004 EXPLORERS.ORG: Are you currently in transit? And what is your current position (in compass terms if appropriate, and in geographic terms)? BOWERSOX: The expedition group is in transit at the ancient lapis lazuli mines located at Sar-e-Sang, Badakhshan, Afghanistan (36 degrees 10 minutes north, 70 degrees 50 minutes east). EXPLORERS.ORG: What is the current focus of your efforts? BOWERSOX: Today's focus was to determine the current status of the ancient mines (over 7,000 years old) and search for gems and minerals in the area. We have collected some interesting samples to be tested later. EXPLORERS.ORG: At this point in the expedition, what are the chief challenges you see ahead? BOWERSOX: We have had many concerns over land mines. Traveling via the Khyber Pass we were on alert for elements of the Taliban and Al Qaida. The chief challenges ahead will be the replacement of our guide and making contact with our Tajikistan team members. We have lost contact for some unknown reason. EXPLORERS.ORG: Are there any insights you wish to share, from your experiences thus far? BOWERSOX: Reconstruction of Afghanistan is progressing with roads and schools being constructed. Of concern is the increase in poppy fields. Disturbing is the fact that assistance is being given to improve water resouces and channels to poppy growers while the gem and mineral miners are being threatened by the new government to nationalize the gem mines that they have been discovering, developing, and operating for over thirty years.
INTERVIEW with Peter Foley MN'03
Expedition Objectives
Interview Date: June 21, 2004 EXPLORERS.ORG: Are you currently in transit? And what is your current position (in compass terms if appropriate, and in geographic terms)? FOLEY: Just got back to Bangkok from Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan. I used Jing Hong, the capital of Xishuangbanna prefecture, as my home base for a while and hiked and biked around the area of Meng Hai to the west (near the Burmese border) and Mengyan and Menglan to the southest near the Lao border. EXPLORERS.ORG: What is the current focus of your efforts? FOLEY: I will be working setting up the Global Village which is part of the International Aids Conference to be held here in Bangkok from July 11 to 15. EXPLORERS.ORG: At this point in the expedition, what are the chief challenges you see ahead? FOLEY: I learned a lot from my first foray into Yunnan. One rather uncomfortable lesson was that the world map I downloaded to my GPS just wasn't accurate enough when I was off the road and trekking in the mountains. I will be working with some GPS experts in Chiengmai after the International Aids Conference is over. Then I will start the ultimate objective of the exploration, which is staying in the mountains for a couple of weeks with the Jing Po people located in western Yunnan. I am trying to get a fix on how much the extremely pernicious heroin trafficking in this area (Ruili, the border crossing between Burma and China) is having on this minority group. The Jingpo are part of the larger group of people known as the Kachin in Burma. During mountain treks outside Dali and Lijiang I noticed that I was affected by the altitude and needed to do some serious fitness training here in Bangkok. The mountains I was climbing were only 10,000 and 12,000 feet. In the territory of the Jingpo I expect to be at that altitude long and often. EXPLORERS.ORG: Are there any insights you wish to share, from your experiences thus far? FOLEY: It has become obvious already on this exploration that China will increasingly influence the direction of the lives of the indigeneous peoples I have visited thus far: the Dai, the Bai, the Naczi, the Yi, the Lahu, the Hani, the Mausu, and the Lisu. It has also become obvious that China faces an extremely serious problem in stemming heroin addiction and drug trafficking in Yunnan. Especially disturbing is the fact that I found much evidence of heroin use among the young population, many of whom were from minority ethnic groups. Yunnan Province is the home of most of China's minority ethnic populations. Minorities make up over a third of the total population of the province. I am proud to say the Explorers Club flag has been with me every step of the way. August will be, by far, the most rigorous of my trekking. I look forward to reporting that journey to you in some detail.
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