Latest news with #NationalGeographicExplorer
Associated Press
6 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
The National Geographic Society and Cengage Group Celebrate Expanded Partnership with the Announcement of a New Interactive Student Experience at the Museum of Exploration
$15 million gift from Cengage Group will fund the National Geographic Learning Launchpad, a new educational experience at the National Geographic Museum of Exploration WASHINGTON, May 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Geographic Society and Cengage Group have expanded their long-term partnership with a $15 million gift in support of the National Geographic Museum of Exploration, opening in 2026. The National Geographic Learning Launchpad, powered by the Cengage Group, is an extraordinary interactive space that will inspire young people to connect with the concept of geographic thinking and to apply what they learn to their own lives. The National Geographic Learning Launchpad will be the first stop for the student groups visiting the Museum of Exploration at National Geographic Base Camp in Washington, D.C., setting the scene for their experience at the museum. The space — which includes an introductory corridor, interactive activity room and immersive projection room — presents geography as a way of thinking, understanding and interacting with the world. Visitors will learn to ask questions and seek knowledge, think critically and creatively to solve the world's most pressing problems and to understand the Explorer Mindset — a series of attributes, shared values and commitments that define what it means to be a National Geographic Explorer. 'Curiosity is at the heart of exploration, and education is how we nurture that spark,' said Jill Tiefenthaler, chief executive officer of the National Geographic Society. 'Thanks to the generosity of our partners at Cengage, we're able to create innovative, hands-on learning experiences like the National Geographic Learning Launchpad — bringing the fieldwork and projects of Explorers straight to students and inspiring the Explorer in everyone.' The dynamic partnership between National Geographic Society and Cengage launched in 2011, when the organizations came together to establish the National Geographic Learning brand and business. This strategic partnership provides Cengage the exclusive rights to develop and deliver National Geographic-branded learning products that engage tens of millions of learners around the world each year. National Geographic Learning products, which support learners and educators in both the English Language Teaching and Secondary education markets worldwide, immerse students in a range of subject areas, including science, social studies, language arts and math, featuring information from the unique viewpoint of Explorers and their multifaceted work. National Geographic Learning content reaches approximately 20 million students each year with Explorer-centered educational content across 109 countries, with over 600 individual Explorers featured in materials. These learning products highlight the Explorer's work in connection to the subject matter in ways that uniquely engage students and provide cross-cultural connections to other subject areas in an authentic, relevant way. In 2024, National Geographic and Cengage extended their National Geographic Learning partnership through 2040 to continue bringing the world to the classroom and the classroom to life with rich content and experiences. 'We are proud that our partnership with the National Geographic Society is expanding further as we explore all the ways we can change the typical classroom experience together and provide a window to the world for students,' said Michael Hansen, chief executive officer of Cengage Group. 'Our mission at Cengage Group is to provide education for employment – empowering learners with the skills and experiences they need to achieve their education and career goals. Our partnership with National Geographic helps us realize this ambition; by leveraging the insights, experiences and imagery of National Geographic Explorers we are able to better develop engaging and impactful educational experiences that prepare students to lead fulfilling lives in the real world. The opportunity to get students out of the classroom and into the world of an Explorer through the National Geographic Learning Launchpad is a remarkable next step for this collaboration.' The National Geographic Museum of Exploration, where the National Geographic Learning Launchpad will be housed, is currently under construction and will open in 2026. To find out more information and updates on Base Camp, visit us here. PRESS KIT About National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization that uses the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Since 1888, National Geographic has pushed the boundaries of exploration, investing in bold people and transformative ideas, providing more than 15,000 grants for work across all seven continents, reaching 3 million students each year through education offerings, and engaging audiences around the globe through signature experiences, stories and content. To learn more, visit or follow us on Instagram and Facebook. About Cengage Group Cengage Group, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education. Visit us at or find us on LinkedIn or X. About National Geographic Learning National Geographic Learning (NGL), part of Cengage Group, provides quality learning products for the K-12 and English Language Teaching education markets worldwide. NGL seeks to transform teaching and learning by bringing the world to the classroom and the classroom to life. We provide relevant content to inspire teachers and impact learners, including exclusive access to the insights, experiences and imagery of more than 600 National Geographic Explorers through our close partnership with the National Geographic Society. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE National Geographic Society
New York Post
09-05-2025
- Science
- New York Post
Over 99% of the deep ocean seafloor remains a mystery, study finds
Explorers know that the Earth's oceans are vast, covering about 71% of the surface of the globe. According to a new study, just 0.001% of the deep seafloor has been visually observed. The deep ocean seafloor is defined as depths of 200 meters or more below Earth's surface, where oxygen levels are low and sunlight is virtually nonexistent. The study, published in Science Advances, equates the area seen by human eyes to being even smaller than the state of Rhode Island. 'As we face accelerated threats to the deep ocean—from climate change to potential mining and resource exploitation—this limited exploration of such a vast region becomes a critical problem for both science and policy,' Katy Croff Bell, Ph.D., president of Ocean Discovery League, National Geographic Explorer and lead author of the study, said in a statement. Researchers said they arrived at the surprising figure based on a review of data from approximately 44,000 deep-sea dives conducted since 1958. 7 According to a new study, just 0.001% of the deep seafloor has been visually observed. Ocean Discovery League 7 The study, published in Science Advances, equates the area seen by human eyes to being even smaller than the state of Rhode Island. Ocean Discovery League While scientists note that not all dive records are publicly accessible, even if their estimates were off by a factor of ten, it would still mean that less than one-hundredth of 1% of the deep ocean floor has ever been visually documented. Due to the costs and the technology needed to explore at vast depths, only a few countries are equipped to scan the ocean floor. These countries include the United States, Japan, New Zealand, France, and Germany. 7 Due to the costs and the technology needed to explore at vast depths, only a few countries are equipped to scan the ocean floor. NOAA Ocean Exploration What's it like down there? In the deepest trenches, it is void of life, according to scientists. Organisms such as sea spiders and some crustaceans can be found among hydrothermal vents. Water pressure is so immense that animals unsuited to the punishing environment would be killed. Because of the lack of sunlight, organisms must rely on senses other than sight to get around. 7 In the deepest trenches, it is void of life, according to scientists. NOAA Ocean Exploration 7 Because of the lack of sunlight, organisms must rely on senses other than sight to get around. NOAA Ocean Exploration The limited knowledge of the oceans means entire ecosystems may remain undiscovered, and countless species are not well understood. 'There is so much of our ocean that remains a mystery,' said Ian Miller, Ph.D., chief science and innovation officer at the National Geographic Society. 'Deep-sea exploration led by scientists and local communities is crucial to better understanding the planet's largest ecosystem. Dr. Bell's goals to equip global coastal communities with cutting-edge research and technology will ensure a more representative analysis of the deep sea. If we have a better understanding of our ocean, we are better able to conserve and protect it.' 7 Previous studies have suggested that potentially millions of plants and animals remain undiscovered simply due to the sheer size and inaccessibility of the oceans. NOAA Ocean Exploration 7 The limited knowledge of the oceans means entire ecosystems may remain undiscovered, and countless species are not well understood. NOAA Ocean Exploration Previous studies have suggested that potentially millions of plants and animals remain undiscovered simply due to the sheer size and inaccessibility of the oceans. The study's authors argue that as technology advances and becomes more cost-effective, expanding efforts to explore the vast ecosystem become increasingly feasible and necessary. By investing in emerging tools and strategies, researchers believe the world can gain a much deeper understanding of Earth's most critical and least known ecosystem.
National Geographic
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- National Geographic
Fish flee for their lives in rare, chilling video of bottom trawling
As a cloud of destruction approaches, all the creatures in its path scramble desperately to get out of the way—fleeing for their lives. However fast they go, they can't outpace it. It looms closer and closer until it swallows them up. Although it may sound like a disaster movie, this is a scene from newly released rare footage of bottom trawling—a particularly destructive method of fishing in which a ship drags a heavy iron net across the seabed, blindly catching anything in its path. These vessels usually fish for just one species—cod, haddock, and halibut, among other animals. Anything else is dumped overboard. 'It's hard to imagine a more wasteful way to catch fish,' says David Attenborough in the new documentary Ocean with David Attenborough, which premieres on National Geographic on Saturday, June 7, at 9/8c and can be streamed globally the next day, World Oceans Day, on Disney+ and Hulu. 'Over three quarters of a trawler's catch may be thrown away.' The filmmakers knew they wanted to shine a light on the harm caused by bottom trawling in the documentary—Attenborough's statement piece on the health of our oceans. The number of animals killed unnecessarily by trawling was 'the thing we found most distressing,' says Keith Scholey, the documentary's co-director and executive producer at Silverback Films. Yet they couldn't find any clear footage of bottom trawling—so they had to find a way of filming it themselves. To capture the footage seen here, they got permission to mount cameras on the nets of a commercial trawler. 'We didn't really want to film it,' Scholey says, because that meant engaging with the destructive process. But the team decided that people need to see what really happens. They also filmed scallop dredging with scientists from the Marine Biological Association who were studying its impacts—and they agreed to make their footage of both trawling and dredging available to scientists 'so that no one ever has to [film] it again,' Scholey says. 'It's one of the most important things I've ever done in my career.' The impact of bottom trawling Enric Sala—a National Geographic Explorer and co-producer of Ocean with David Attenborough—has long studied the impacts of these fishing techniques. But even he was shocked by the footage, which shows not only the sea creatures' desperate attempts to escape the trawler but close-up images of their wriggling bodies after they're dumped onto the deck of the fishing vessel. 'I was outraged,' says Sala, who is also the founder of Pristine Seas, a National Geographic Society conservation program that has established 29 of the largest marine protected areas in the world. 'I hope that people will understand the truth about industrial fishing.' Some elements were too brutal to make the final cut. 'There's some terrible shots of all these spider crabs being crunched up because the dredge has these teeth,' Scholey says of the scallop dredging scene. It could have been even worse. When the videographers dropped cameras to check if an area was suitable to film dredging, they happened upon a piece of seafloor that trawlers avoid— perhaps because of the shape of the landscape. They were gobsmacked to see a total contrast from the trawled areas nearby. The seafloor was covered with a carpet of pink sea fans. It can take these delicate corals a year to grow just one centimeter. If dredged, this habitat would take decades to recover. Trawling 'is like using a lawnmower to chop down everything in sight,' writes Max Valentine, a senior scientist and campaign director of illegal fishing and transparency at Oceana, in an email. (Valentine wasn't involved in the film.) 'It also bulldozes the homes of other marine life.' According to the film, trawling destroys an area of the ocean floor nearly as large as the Amazon rainforest every year—these vessels plough the seabed over and over, without giving it any chance to recover. Studies estimate that bottom trawling releases up to 370 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, contributing to global warming. Some deep-sea coral and sponges could take centuries to recover but many fish populations can bounce back in under five years when trawling stops. Bottom trawling lands around 19 million tons of fish and invertebrates each year. That's nearly a quarter of all wild marine fish caught. Scientists estimate the total weight of large predatory fish in the ocean today is just 10 percent of what it was before modern industrial fishing. Surprisingly, however, bottom trawling and dredging is legal in most marine protected areas (MPAs). Solutions for bottom trawling One way to help the sea floor recover from trawling is to create marine protected areas where industrial fishing is banned. These can have a spillover effect as larvae born inside these protected areas drift on the current across the ocean—including into these devasted regions—boosting marine life populations there. Many small-scale fishers support MPAs that are closed to fishing when they see the benefits this spillover has in boosting the numbers of their catch. 'The worst enemy of fishing is overfishing, not protected areas,' Sala says. Conservationists and fishers both want the same thing: more fish in the sea. Sala and other experts say we need to fully protect 30 percent of the world's oceans from fishing for ecosystems to rebound and thrive. Currently, just 3 percent is fully protected. This would cost around $20 billion each year—around the same amount governments give as subsidies to the fishing industry. Ocean with David Attenborough aims to highlight how policy can lead to remarkable ocean recovery—for example, Scholey says, when the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in the 1980s. 'With a stroke of the pen, it ended,' he says, and some species bounced back from near extinction. 'The recovery of whales in my lifetime is unbelievable.' The filmmakers and other experts hope similar decisions will be made to protect the ocean from trawling at the upcoming United Nations Ocean Conference in June. 'It's important for governments to step up and stop bottom trawling—and enforce bans that are already in place,' Valentine says. 'What we're doing to the ocean is horrible, but we can bring it back,' Sala says. 'When we protect places, marine life comes back spectacularly. It turns deserts into beautiful jungles and forests and underwater forests.' Ocean with David Attenborough begins airing on National Geographic June 7 and streams globally the next day, World Oceans Day, on Disney+ and Hulu. The film is currently playing in select countries outside the U.S.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Deep ocean mystery: Just 0.001% of deep ocean seafloor has been visually explored
Explorers all well know that the Earth's oceans are vast – covering about 71% of the surface of the globe – but according to a new study, just 0.001% of the deep seafloor has been visually observed. The deep ocean seafloor is defined as depths of 200 meters or more below Earth's surface, where oxygen levels are low and sunlight is virtually nonexistent. The study, published in Science Advances, equates the area seen by human eyes to measuring in size to being even smaller than the state of Rhode Island. "As we face accelerated threats to the deep ocean—from climate change to potential mining and resource exploitation—this limited exploration of such a vast region becomes a critical problem for both science and policy," Dr. Katy Croff Bell, president of Ocean Discovery League, National Geographic Explorer and lead author of the study, said in a statement. Noaa Mission Finds Unexpected Discovery At Site Of Sunken Uss Yorktown Researchers said they arrived at the surprising figure based on a review of data from approximately 44,000 deep-sea dives conducted since 1958. While scientists note that not all dive records are publicly accessible, even if their estimates were off by a factor of ten, it would still mean that less than one-hundredth of 1% of the deep ocean floor has ever been visually documented. Due to the costs and the technology needed to explore at vast depths, only a few countries are equipped to scan the ocean floor, which primarily includes the United States, Japan, New Zealand, France and Germany. So, what's life like on the ocean floor? In the deepest trenches, it is void of life, with organisms such as seaspiders and some crustaceans found among the hydrothermal vents. The water pressure is so immense that a non-suited organism would be crushed and, because of the lack of sunlight, organisms must rely on senses other than sight to get around. The limited knowledge of the oceans means entire ecosystems may remain undiscovered, and countless species are not well understood. "There is so much of our ocean that remains a mystery," said Dr. Ian Miller, chief science and innovation officer at the National Geographic Society. "Deep-sea exploration led by scientists and local communities is crucial to better understanding the planet's largest ecosystem. Dr. Bell's goals to equip global coastal communities with cutting-edge research and technology will ensure a more representative analysis of the deep sea. If we have a better understanding of our ocean, we are better able to conserve and protect it." Previous studies have suggested that potentially millions of plants and animals remain undiscovered simply due to the sheer size and inaccessibility of the oceans. War Trophy From George Washington's Army Discovered Amid British Shipwreck The study's authors argue that as technology advances and becomes more cost-effective, expanding efforts to explore the vast ecosystem become increasingly feasible and necessary. By investing in emerging tools and strategies, researchers believe the world can gain a much deeper understanding of Earth's most critical and least known article source: Deep ocean mystery: Just 0.001% of deep ocean seafloor has been visually explored
Observer
29-04-2025
- Science
- Observer
ESO gets funding from National Geographic Society
MUSCAT: The Environment Society of Oman (ESO)'s executive director Suaad al Harthy has been awarded funding from the National Geographic Society to support a groundbreaking coral reef conservation and capacity-building project in Oman. Al Harthy, a National Geographic Explorer and recipient of the Society's 2024 Wayfinder Award presented by Kia, will use her grant to further ESO's leadership in Oman's environmental conservation. Using the funding, Al Harthy and ESO will pursue two primary objectives: coral reef conservation and capacity building to ensure the long-term sustainability of these critical ecosystems. ESO researchers will assess the health, recovery and resilience of coral reefs surrounding Muscat, including those within and beyond the Daymaniyat Islands Nature Reserve. The initiative also aims to empower female field scientists to lead in coral reef research and protection efforts. Technical support for the project is provided by New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). Coral reefs are biodiversity hotspots vital to fisheries, tourism, coastal protection and climate resilience. However, they are increasingly threatened by climate change, human activities and natural disturbances that undermine their ability to provide crucial environmental and economic benefits. ESO's project will contribute critical data to inform sustainable conservation strategies. A key component of the project is a coral reef monitoring workshop, scheduled for April 20–23, 2025, in Muscat. Organised in partnership with NYUAD, the workshop will bring together environmentalists, dive centre experts and academic researchers to strengthen Oman's reef monitoring capacity. Using the funding, Al Harthy and ESO will pursue two primary objectives: coral reef conservation and capacity building to ensure the long-term sustainability of these critical ecosystems. The workshop will be hosted at Oman Sail headquarters. Its brand, SeaOman – the country's leading marine leisure provider and a certified PADI 5* Instructor Development Centre – is supporting ESO by facilitating reef monitoring surveys. 'I am extremely grateful for this grant, which enables my colleagues and I to deepen our understanding of the recovery and resilience of coral reef sites around Muscat, while raising awareness of their importance to both marine biodiversity and Oman's coastal economy. A key pillar of this initiative is capacity building — particularly empowering female field scientists and volunteers to play a leading role in the long-term protection of these vital ecosystems,' she said. Marine conservation enthusiasts also attended a public talk by Prof John Burt, Marine Biologist at NYUAD, titled 'Corals in a Changing Climate: Lessons from the Arabian Gulf' on April 20, 2025. Details about upcoming ESO public events can be found on the organisation's official social media platforms.
