Sylvia Earle

Close your eyes, and imagine what the world would look like 100 feet below water, that's where Sylvia Earle spends most of her time. 

Sylvia was born in Gibbstown, New Jersey on August 30, 1935. She grew up on a farm near Cadem with her parents. When Sylvia was thirteen, her family moved to Clearwater, Florida on the Gulf of Mexico. Her parents taught young Sylvia to respect wild creatures and not be afraid of the things she didn’t know. She spent lots of time learning about the wildlife of the Gulf Coast. Sylvia's parents could not afford to send her to college, but she was so smart that she got a scholarship to Florida State. When she first learned scuba diving, she was determined to use this new technology to study marine life she had seen growing up first hand. When she earned her Masters degree from Duke University in North Carolina, she decided to take time off to marry and start a family of her own, but she still was determined to explore the ocean. In 1964, she joined a National Science Foundation expedition in the Indian Ocean. She was gone for six weeks, she must have missed her children who were only 4 years old and 2 years old. In 1996 Sylvia received her Ph.D. from Duke University.

Dr. Sylvia Earle traveled under 100 feet below sea level in the Bahamas in a submersible Deep Diver. In 1969 Sylvia Earle decided to participate in the Tektite project. Sponsored by the U.S. Navy, the Department of the Interior and NASA, this venture allowed teams of scientist to live for weeks at a time in an enclosed habitat on the ocean floor fifty feet below the surface, off the Virgin Islands.

Over the years Dr. Earle has raised four children while studying plant life, sperm whales and the nation’s waters. She has written magazine articles, books and documentary videos.

by Dylen & Andrew, third grade, 2001