Terry Garcia was the Executive Vice President and Chief Science and Exploration Officer for the National Geographic Society for seventeen years and was responsible for the Society’s core mission programs, including those that supported and managed more than 300 scientific field research, conservation, and exploration projects annually. Under his leadership, the Society’s science, exploration, and education programs experienced significant growth in both global impact and prominence. In June 2010, he was appointed by President Obama to serve on the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. He investigated the root causes of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and made recommendations on how to prevent future incidents. In 2011, he received Peru’s highest civilian award, La Orden del Sol del Perú, for his role in helping repatriate a collection of ancient artifacts taken from Machu Picchu in 1912. Prior to joining National Geographic, Terry was the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere for the US Department of Commerce, and the Deputy Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He also served as NOAA’s General Counsel from 1994 to 1996. Terry is currently the President of Exploration Ventures, a company providing strategic advice and counsel to global clients in a range of sectors.

Chris Rainier is a documentary photographer and filmmaker and a National Geographic Explorer. In the early 1980s, Chris was Ansel Adams’ last photographic assistant and helped Adams with the use of his photography to help conserve many of the American National Parks. In 2002, he was awarded the Lowell Thomas Award by The Explorers Club and in 2014, he was elected a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society for his work in cultural preservation. Chris was a National Geographic Society Fellow as director of the All Roads Photography Program and co-director of the Enduring Voices Project, both focused on the preservation of traditional cultural knowledge. He has led expeditions to all seven continents and the North Pole and was one of several skydivers to set the world record for skydiving over Mount Everest. In 2000, Rainier led an expedition by camel into the heart of the Sahara Desert. Chris’ photographs and books are archived in the collections of museums including The International Center of Photography New York, The George Eastman House Museum in Rochester, New York, The Australian National Museum, The United Nations, UBC Anthropology Museum in Canada, The Field Museum Chicago, the National Geographic Society and The Royal Geographical Society. He is the co-founder and CEO of The Cultural Sanctuaries Foundation, a global charitable foundation focused on preserving traditional culture and land.