Dispatches from the Field, a new digital program designed to bring The Explorers Club community closer—wherever you are.
Each session kicks off with a 10-minute talk from a Featured Speaker, streamed live to the public on explorers.org and our YouTube channel.
This will be followed by Campfire sessions—intimate, Members-Only breakout groups where you can connect, share ideas, and build relationships.
This edition features Peter Girguis FN’22, to present “Sea Monsters Throughout the Ages: Fables and Facts”
There have always been tales of deep-sea monsters. For as long as we humans have ventured into the ocean, our imaginations have conjured images of serpents, krakens, leviathans, and other creatures. Humankind’s conviction that sea monsters are real is so powerful that even today rumors abound of sea monsters lurking in the depths. Are these declarations true? Do giants roam the deep sea? As a deep-sea scientist and amateur sea-monster historian, we will explore the fables and facts of sea monsters through a sociological, literary, and scientific lens. From sea monsters on ancient maps to newly discovered creatures of the deep, we will explore the depths of our ocean and imagination. Sea monsters, both real and imagined, tell us much about life in the deep sea, and even more about humankind.
Members only – click here to register.
Peter Girguis
Peter Girguis is a Professor at Harvard University. He studies deep-sea microbes and animals, and how they shape ocean health. He also develops novel underwater sensors to enable scientists around the world to have access to such tools. He joined Harvard University in 2005. He has authored or co-authored over 150 publications. His honors include the 2007 and 2011 Lindbergh Foundation Award for Science & Sustainability, the 2018 Lowell Thomas Award for groundbreaking advances in Marine Technology, the 2020 Petra Shattuck Award for Distinguished Teaching, and the 2024 Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Science and Exploration.
