VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program,EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about new activities of the NationalGeographic Society.
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VOICE ONE:
The largest non-profit scientific and educational organization inthe world has taught millions of people. It has taught them aboutthe world they live in, outer space and the deep oceans. Now it istrying to educate people about what is being lost in their world.
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The National Geographic Society began in eighteen-eighty-eight.Thirty-three men gathered at a social club in Washington. The groupincluded scientists, explorers, military officers and teachers. Mostof them had traveled widely. They were excited about newdiscoveries. And they believed in the importance of geography — thestudy of the Earth.
The men believed travel helpspeople understand their world and other cultures. So they formed theNational Geographic Society. Anyone interested in gaining knowledgeabout the world could pay to become a member.
Nine months later the first effort to communicate thisinformation was published and sent to members. It was the officialrecord of the society. The record is now a popular magazine called”National Geographic.” It is published in nineteen languages. Eachmonth, forty-million people around the world read the magazine.
The Society also reaches peoplethrough four other magazines, and through books, videos, theInternet and television. The National Geographic Channel is seen ontelevisions in more than one-hundred-forty million homes inone-hundred-forty-one countries.
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The main goal of the National Geographic Society still is toincrease knowledge about geography and spread that knowledge aroundthe world. Yet it has also become concerned about saving what hasbeen discovered during its years of explorations. John Fahey ispresident of the Society. He says, “These days as we explore, theplaces and treasures we find are too often threatened withdestruction. Today’s explorer must also be a conservationist.”
Rebecca Martin is executive director of the Expeditions Council.She says people have become very concerned about what isdisappearing from the Earth. So the Society is expanding its job andtries to educate people about how to prevent this destruction.
One of the ways it is doing this is through the newExplorers-in-Residence program. The National Geographic already wassupporting the work of many of these explorers. But it decided toexpand the relationship. Through the Society’s communicationsnetwork, these explorers spread their expert knowledge. They informpeople around the world about the animals, plants, people andenvironments that are in danger of disappearing.
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For more than one-hundred years, the National Geographic Societyhas supported explorers seeking to increase knowledge about ourworld. From the beginning, the Society provided grant money throughits committee for research and exploration. These grants go toscientists at universities or other institutions. The Society hassupported more than seven-thousand research projects chosen fortheir scientific value.
In nineteen-ninety-eight, the Expeditions Council began awardinggrants. It supports explorations into the unrecorded or little knownareas of the world from the deepest oceans to the highest mountains.It looks for projects that may not be scientific but that add tounderstanding about the world we live in.
Rebecca Martin says the Expeditions Council supports the work ofcitizen scientists. These people present the information they gainin an exciting way.
About eighteen months ago, the National Geographic ConservationTrust was established. Environmentalist Thomas Lovejoy heads thegroup. It provides grant money to support conservation projects thathelp save the Earth’s biological and cultural resources.
Among its earliest projects is an effort to save the endangeredorangutans in Indonesia’s Gunung Palung National Park. This projectincludes an education program designed to increase local interest inprotecting the park.
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In April, two-thousand, the National Geographic announced theappointment of seven Explorers-in-Residence. The eighth wasannounced in July. They all are continuing their specialexplorations and research, but are adding new projects. They sharewhat they learn about the world through National Geographicmagazines, books, speeches and television programs. The eightExplorers-in-Residence are Stephen Ambrose, Robert Ballard, WadeDavis, Sylvia Earle, Jane Goodall, Johan Reinhard, Paul Sereno andZahi Hawass.
Stephen Ambrose is a historian and teacher. He has written manypopular books about the history of World War Two and the explorersLewis and Clark. He says he thinks of himself as sitting down at theend of an interesting day telling stories that he hopes will havereaders wanting to know what happens next.
Robert Ballard is an underwater explorer. He is best known forhis discovery of the sunken passenger ship Titanic and the Germanbattleship Bismarck. He is the creator of the JASON project. It letsschoolchildren travel with him by satellite and computer as heexplores the underwater world.
Wade Davis is an anthropologist and plant expert. He lived amongfifteen native groups in eight Latin American countries. Hecollected more than six-thousand plants from those areas. He haswritten seven books. His latest, “Light at the Edge of the World,”was published by the National Geographic Society.
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Sylvia Earle is an ocean explorer and expert on ocean plant life.She has spent more than six-thousand hours exploring the underwaterworld. Mizz Earle is director of the Sustainable Seas Expeditions.It is a five-year joint project of the National Geographic Societyand the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Its goal isto explore and take pictures of the deep waters of twelve nationalunderwater parks and the creatures that live in them.
Jane Goodall is world famous for her study of chimpanzees. Shebegan her study of wild chimpanzees forty-two years ago when sheestablished the Gombe Stream Research Center in Tanzania. Throughthe years her research has shown how similar chimpanzees are tohumans.
Johan Reinhard is an archeologist who studies past human life andactivities in mountain areas of the world. He has discovered frozenbodies of Inca Indians in the high Andes mountains of Peru andArgentina.
Paul Sereno is a paleontologist and professor at the Universityof Chicago. He studies and photographs dinosaur remains in China,Mongolia, Argentina and Africa. He discovered new kinds of dinosaurson several continents.
The latest addition to the Explorers-in-Residence is Zahi Hawass.He is an archeologist and director of Egypt’s Giza Pyramids. MisterHawass has made major discoveries that have added to knowledge abouthow the pyramids were built.
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The Explorers-in-Residence have made some exciting discoveries.For example, last year the National Geographic announced that PaulSereno’s team found the remains of a huge ancient crocodile inNiger. The creature grew as long as twelve meters. The finding ledto a television program on this “SuperCroc,” a story in the NationalGeographic magazine and an exhibit in the National Geographicmuseum, Explorer’s Hall.
Last month, Robert Ballard announced that his team had found theremains of John F. Kennedy’s World War Two boat in the SolomonIslands. The man who later became president of the United Statesswam to safety after the boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer.
Through its new programs, the National Geographic has created anenvironment where explorers can meet. People who are experts in verydifferent subjects and areas of the world can make new connectionsthat will lead to new projects. The National Geographic Society willcontinue to educate people around the world about these discoveriesand about natural and cultural resources that are in danger ofdisappearing.
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VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written by Marilyn Christianoand produced by George Grow. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.