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From: Delta Willis
Date: 16 Jun 2002
Time: 08:29:20
Travelers can find plenty of inspiration at The Explorers Club, 46 East 70th Street in New York City. You don't have to be a member to attend the Public Lectures. See www.explorers.org But if your travels have included research you may qualify for membership. Members gathered in June for this great dinner to honor conservationists with Jim Fowler:
New York - 13 June 2002. Famous for its Annual Dinner, The Explorers Club honored 24 "Champions of Wildlife" at the first of several dinners to be held throughout the year to promote the club's missions.
Since it was founded in 1904, the Explorers Club has been dedicated not only to scientific exploration, but also to wildlife and wilderness conservation.
"This goal has taken on even greater urgency now, as we enter the 21st Century," notes meteorologist Richard C. Wiese, who at 42 is the Club's youngest president ever and follows in the footsteps of such illustrious former presidents as Admiral Robert E. Peary, Sir Edmund Hillary, and Lowell Thomas. "The Club's focus on conservation efforts comes during a time of increasing evidence of dramatic climate change and shrinking wilderness," Wiese adds.
Wildlife expert Jim Fowler, who serves as the Club's Honorary President, appeared at the June 13th event with several endangered species, including a land iguana and a bottle-suckling baby black bear. Fowler, the former co-host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, has long been an ambassador for wildlife, speaking on behalf of birds of prey, primates, reptiles and big cats, and is well-known to television audiences from his numerous appearances on The Tonight Show.
"Many explorers feel that we must use our best science and spirit of discovery to sustain the world of nature that supports us, as well as all other life on earth," Fowler said. "It's time for The Explorers Club to recognize the modern day scientists, field researchers and educators who have shown outstanding dedication to the survival of the natural world through their work with wildlife."
"We're not into exploring for the sheer adventure of it," Fowler emphasizes. "Many of our members actively exploring the natural world are discovering how we treat this world affects all our lives. One of our missions is to spread this message."
Honorees include Cathryn Hilker of the Cincinnati Zoo, pivotal to protecting cheetah in Namibia (featured on the screensaver at this web site;); Dr. John Ripley Forbes, who has founded 24 Natural Science Centers for young people; Dr. Jose Castro, an expert on sharks, and wildlife biologist Joseph Wasilewski, Jr., founder of Natural Selections, an organization devoted to preserving fauna of the Everglades.