Swan Sit
Swan Sit is an independent consultant specializing in digital, marketing and strategy. Having spent the past decade of her career accelerating digital into legacy companies, she held 2 key roles as a Vice President at Nike — overseeing Global Digital Marketing during the Emmy-winning “Dream Crazy” campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, and running Digital Operations, Product, Supply Chain and Service for a $3B e-commerce business during the Air Jordan 11 Concord launch, the largest in online history. She led digital at Revlon and Elizabeth Arden, using it to pull them out of a turnaround, and ran online strategy for Esteé Lauder, increasing their global footprint from 165 to 435 websites in 5 years. From modernizing 100-year-old brands and partnering with unexpected influencers like Chelsea Handler, Iris Apfel and Gigi Gorgeous, to launching augmented reality makeovers and driving double-digit growth, Swan has demonstrated both the left- and right-brain skills required for a marketer that drives revenue. She was selected as a Brand Innovators 40 under 40 and Marketing Woman to Watch, and took home both Best Social Campaign and Best in Show at the Glossy Awards. You might recognize her as one of the faces in Twitter’s national “She Inspires Me” campaign during the Oscars.
Prior to beauty, Swan was a management consultant at Bain, owned an ad agency focused on emotional branding, was a product manager at Newell (she launched a factory in China during SARS) and created infamous marketing campaigns at Trilogy Software during the dotcom boom. Swan graduated with a BA in Economics from Harvard and an MBA from Columbia.
Swan does speaking engagements around the world on Marketing, Digital Transformation and Leadership in the Digital Age. She is a Board Director of a publicly-traded pharmaceuticals company, advises a variety of businesses and sits on the boards of industry and philanthropic organizations including AdWeek's Diversity and Inclusion Council, L2 Digital Think Tank, Women in Retail, Consumer Goods Technology Council, Impact Network, Foundation Rwanda and Worldview’s space think tank. Having traveled to 85+ countries, her favorites include Antarctica, North Korea, Mongolia, Rwanda, Bhutan, Myanmar and Tanzania for Kilimanjaro. She can often be found smashing a volleyball and chasing restaurant openings, or flying around on skis and horses - her two newest hobbies.
3 words to describe Nature?
Stilling. Wondrous. Challenging
3 things Nature taught you?
Self-reliance
Humility
Interconnectivity
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Any ocean or summit
Antarctica
Palawan
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Alive, calm, emotional
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Fresh, awake, adventurous
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Excited, nervous and... hot? :) I've ventured inside a (mostly) dormant one before
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Grateful, enchanted, like I should be grabbing my camera phone (though the pics never do it justice so we should just enjoy the show)
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited, full of anticipation, ready to dance
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Cozy, cuddly and craving a fireplace
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean, which is odd because I can't even swim! But it hasn't stopped me from scuba diving, snorkeling, wake boarding... basically I'm willing to do anything that has air or floatation, but surfing still evades me. The ocean makes me feel alive and whole; living by it is a life-long dream for me
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
8... not necessary in a constant daily state, but periodic ventures to a coast or the top of a mountain, or even the smell of nature or the ocean resets my soul
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was 4 years old, my father took me outside during a typhoon in Hong Kong. We didn't venture far - just out the front door - but I remember the howling wind and warm but slicing rain. And the indescribable smell of the storm I remember to this day. It was electric. I remember hanging onto my father's neck with both arms, my little body flapping in the raging wind. I was scared but also couldn't stop giggling. That's how I still feel going into all my adventures today.
Sven-Olof Lindblad
Sven-Olof Lindblad, founder of Lindblad Expeditions, was born in Switzerland. He traveled extensively with his father, renowned adventure-travel pioneer Lars-Eric Lindblad, who led the first non-scientific groups of travelers to Antarctica (1966). In 1979 he launched Special Expeditions, the adventure travel company that became Lindblad Expeditions. In 2004, Lindblad formed a strategic alliance with National Geographic that combines the strengths of two pioneers in global exploration, with the goal of inspiring people to explore and care about the planet.
Lindblad’s personal experience led to a commitment to environmentally responsible travel, which has resulted in numerous travel and environmental awards. He received international recognition for his innovative and successful model of tourism, receiving the “Commandeur de Notre Ordre de Merite Civil et Militaire d’Adolphe de Nassau” from Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg at the Grand-Ducal Place. He also had a newly discovered endemic species of moth in the Galapagos Islands, Undulambia lindbladi, named in honor of his conservation work.
Sven is an honorary member of the General Assembly of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands. He serves on the Board of The Safina Center, and on the Board of Trustees of Rare; is a founding Ocean Elder of the non-profit organization, Ocean Elders, which brings together global leaders to pursue the protection of the ocean’s habitat and wildlife, and serves on the Board of Advisors for Pristine Seas.
3 words to describe Nature?
Awesome. Remarkable. Essential
3 things Nature taught you?
Reverence
Respect
Joy
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Antarctica
Galapagos
Serengeti
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Serene
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Happy
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Amazed
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Soothed
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10 and more
Share with us a childhood nature memory.
First encountering a fin whale in a zodiac at very close range. Fear, wonder, awe all colliding as the experience unfolded.
Jon Bowermaster
Photo by Jennifer May
Writer, filmmaker and adventurer, Jon Bowermaster is a six-time grantee of the National Geographic Expeditions Council. One of the Society’s ‘Ocean Heroes,’ his first assignment for National Geographic Magazine was documenting a 3,741 mile crossing of Antarctica by dogsled. Jon has written a dozen books and produced/directed more than fifteen documentary films.
His Oceans 8 project took him and his teams around the world by sea kayak over the course of ten years (1999-2008), bringing back stories from the Aleutian Islands to French Polynesia, Gabon to Tasmania, and more, reporting on how the planet’s one ocean and its various coastlines are faring in today’s busy world.
Jon lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. He is the Executive Producer of Oceans 8 Films and President of One Ocean Media Foundation, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation and a Board Member of Mark Ruffalo’s Water Defense.
3 words to describe Nature?
BIG. ALL-ENCOMPASSING. AT-RISK
3 things Nature taught you?
HUMILITY
APPRECIATION OF QUIET
RESILIENCE
3 most treasured Nature spots?
ANYWHERE ON THE EDGE OF THE OCEAN
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
THAT PLACE WHERE BLUE-MEETS-BLUE: CALM
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
DARK AND MYSTERIOUS
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
VIOLENT
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
SUNRISE = EXCITED / SUNSET = AT PEACE
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
EXCITED AND A LITTLE FRIGHTENED
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
CALM
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
OCEAN
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
FIRST SAILINGS ON CRYSTAL BLUE LAKES OF THE NORTHERN MIDWEST; FIRST KAYAKS ON THE SAME BODIES OF WATER. AS AN EARLY TEENAGER.
Felicity Aston
Felicity Aston is the first and only woman in the world to ski across Antarctica alone. The 1,744km, 59-day journey completed in January 2012 also made her the first person in the world to traverse the continent purely by muscle power without the aid of kites or machines. In 2015 she was awarded the Queen’s Polar Medal for services in Antarctica and was appointed MBE for services to Polar Exploration.
In 2009 she led the 38-day, 911km Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition, the largest and most international women’s team ever to ski to the South Pole. The team included women from Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Singapore, New Zealand. Felicity was responsible for selecting and training this diverse, multicultural team of novice adventurers for one of the most arduous journeys on Earth. Her book about the expedition, ‘Call of the White: Taking the World to the South Pole’ was published in March 2011 and was a finalist in the Banff Mountain Book Competition. She has written two further books, ‘Alone in Antarctica’ (with a foreword by Joanne Lumley) and ‘Chasing Winter: A journey to the Pole of Cold’.
Previously, Felicity has led several other notable expeditions including the first British women’s crossing of Greenland, a 700km winter crossing of Lake Baikal in a Siberian winter and an adventurous expedition in Iceland for young people with a brain injury. She was also part of the first, ever, all-female team to complete the Polar Challenge, a 500km endurance race to the magnetic north pole, and has completed the notorious Marathon Des Sables, a 150-mile foot race across the Sahara. More recently, Felicity led a 35,000km expedition in a Land Rover Defender to the Pole of Cold (the coldest inhabited place in the world) in the far northeast of Siberia. Felicity has been elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in London and is a Fellow of The Explorers Club in New York.
Trained as a Physicist and Meteorologist, Felicity’s first polar experience was as a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey. Based for three years on a remote research station on the Antarctic Peninsula, her job was to monitor climate and ozone. In 2013 she co-presented a two-part series for BBC Science exploring atmospheric physics and cloud science called, ‘Operation Cloud Lab: Secrets of the Skies’ and in 2016 she co-presented a three-part series for BBC History called ‘Operation Gold Rush’ retracing the route of the 1898 Klondike stampede across the Yukon.
3 words to describe Nature?
Space. Joy. Relentless
3 things Nature taught you?
Resilience
Perspective
Humility
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Kentish Coast, UK
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?,
Restless
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Protected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Small
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Lucky/grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Nostalgic
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Intrepid
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I'm a snow and ice person...be that on the ocean, in the mountains, within a forest or as a desert
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My childhood home backed onto woodland. When it snowed - a rare event in southern England - the woodland was transformed into a new and magical place. It was so exciting and even though I knew every inch of the woods I would rush to explore this 'new' environment. I was always very conscious it was temporary, that I had to rush to see everything before it all disappeared.
Gaelin Rosenwaks
GAELIN ROSENWAKS is a marine scientist, explorer, photographer and filmmaker. She began her career working in Antarctica researching over-wintering patterns of Southern Ocean zooplankton after which she earned her Master’s Degree researching the migratory movements of Giant Bluefin Tunas. Alarmed by the changes happening in the oceans, Gaelin founded Global Ocean Exploration, Inc. to share her passion for ocean exploration, marine conservation, and fishing through powerful imagery, words and adventure. She now participates and conducts expeditions in every ocean to alert the public not only to the challenges facing the oceans, but also to what science is doing to understand these changes.
Gaelin is a US Coast Guard Licensed Captain, and a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society, the Explorers Club and the Society of Women Geographers. She has published articles in scientific journals, newspapers and magazines and has delivered lectures at many institutions including the Explorers Club, Patagonia, Inc and Yale University. She has also appeared as a scientific consultant and angler on the National Geographic Channel Series, Fish Warrior. Her photography has been displayed in many exhibitions, including solo exhibitions at Duke University, The Maritime Aquarium and the Patagonia Upper West Side Store in NYC. To Gaelin, there is nothing better than being in the open ocean surrounded by endless blue water and passing wildlife.
3 words to describe Nature?
Alive. Complex. Powerful
3 things Nature taught you?
Resilience, the fragility and robustness of life
Respect
How everything in life is interconnected
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Montauk, New York
Haida Gwaii, British Columbia
The Antarctic Peninsula
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At ease, the ocean is where I belong.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Curious
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Respectful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited; there is nothing quite as powerful as watching and feeling a storm roll in. The first rumblings of thunder indicate that a storm is coming. When at sea, thunder takes on a different meaning as lightning is so dangerous when on a vessel, but on land, there are few things more rejuvenating than a thunderstorm.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like a small speck on the earth
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10, if not more. Nature is everything.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was 8 years old, I snorkeled for the first time in Bali, Indonesia. When I put my head under the water, the colors and movement were overwhelming to my senses. I already loved the ocean, but I will never forget this moment. It opened my eyes to the magic and the mysteries below the surface.