Reservations Available for Foundation Luncheon with Dr. Sylvia Earle

Reservations are now available for a Gulf Coast Community Foundation luncheon featuring oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, founder and president of Mission Blue and a National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence since 1999.

Earle will headline Gulf Coast’s annual Better Together event on March 13, 2020, at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota. Reservations are $75, which includes lunch and valet parking, and can be made online at GulfCoastCF.org/BetterTogether.

A world-famous ocean scientist who has logged more than 7,500 hours under water and is affectionately called “Her Deepness” by colleagues and the media, Earle will discuss the topic Saving Our Seas. “Sylvia Earle is one of the most respected ocean scientists of all time,” said Mark S. Pritchett, President | CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “She understands so well how our oceans sustain our planet and what we must do to protect them, before it’s too late. Our Gulf Coast communities must hear Dr. Earle’s urgent message.”

                Sylvia Earle is an oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer with a lifetime of experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for corporate and nonprofit organizations. Her pioneering career includes many firsts—from first person to walk solo on the bottom of the sea under a quarter-mile of water to first woman to serve as Chief Scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Earle has led more than 100 expeditions, authored more than 225 publications, and earned more than 30 honorary degrees. Among more than 100 national and international awards and honors, she was named TIME Magazine’s first “Hero for the Planet,” a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, and a 2013 winner of the Hubbard Medal by National Geographic. Earle’s research concerns the ecology and conservation of marine ecosystems and development of technology for access to the deep sea.

                Earle’s ties to Florida’s Gulf Coast go back to her childhood, when her family moved from New Jersey to Dunedin in Pinellas County and the Gulf of Mexico became her backyard. She attended St. Petersburg College before going on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and her master’s and PhD from Duke University. Her storied scientific career included a stint as interim director of Cape Haze Marine Laboratory, now Mote Marine Laboratory, in the mid-1960s and continued involvement with Mote in subsequent decades.

                Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s annual Better Together event welcomes thought leaders to the Gulf Coast region to educate community members on important issues and pitch big ideas for transformation. Earle’s keynote is part of Gulf Coast’s 25th anniversary celebration and occurs during a year when the foundation is leading important work to develop and promote solutions to improve our region’s environmental water quality.