Allison Fundis is a marine geologist, ocean explorer and chief operating officer for the Ocean Exploration Trust. She has led or participated in over 50 expeditions at sea across the world, and in 2021 was named as an Emerging Explorer by the National Geographic Society.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Fundis holds a MS in Marine Geology from the University of Florida and a BA in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic. Prior to earning her master's degree, Fundis was a high school chemistry and biology teacher at the University School of Nashville in Tennessee.[2][4]

Career

In 2010, Fundis worked for the National Science Foundation-funded Ocean Observatories Initiative at the University of Washington. During this time, she helped plan and install the largest cabled seafloor observatory in the US.[2][4]

Fundis joined the Ocean Exploration Trust in 2013 and currently acts as the chief operating officer. Alongside a team of scientists, educators and engineers, Fundis leads annual missions aboard the trust's exploration vessel Nautilus.[2][3] The vessel's telepresence systems enable expeditions to be live-streamed so as to engage the public and the scientific community.[1][2][5]

In 2019, Fundis co-led a three-week expedition with Robert Ballard to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance. A common theory posits that Earhart crash-landed on Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific Ocean. In response, Fundis and her team conducted an exhaustive search for any evidence of a plane in the water surrounding the island. Although no such evidence was found, the complete exploration of this area was an important step in furthering the conclusion of this mystery.[6][7][8]

Awards

Fundis was recognized in 2019 as an Innovation & Technology delegate for the Academy of Achievement and as an IF/THEN ambassador by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2020, she was induced as a Fellow National of the Explorers Club and is a member of National Geographic Society's 2021 class of Emerging Explorers.[2][3]

References

  1. 1 2 "| IF/THEN® Collection". www.ifthencollection.org. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Allison Fundis | Nautilus Live". nautiluslive.org. 2011-10-24. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  3. 1 2 3 "Allison Fundis - National Geographic Society". explorer-directory.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  4. 1 2 "Allison Fundis". ooicruises.ocean.washington.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  5. ↑ "Telepresence | Nautilus Live". nautiluslive.org. 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  6. ↑ News, The Lily. "He found the Titanic. Now this explorer is on a mission to solve Amelia Earhart's disappearance". www.thelily.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  7. ↑ "This Ocean Explorer Is Close to Solving the Mystery of Amelia Earhart". Condé Nast Traveler. 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  8. ↑ Pattillo, Ali. "Allison Fundis is America's best hope for protecting our oceans". Inverse. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.