Explorers

In this podcast, recorded at the Auberge du Soleil in California's Napa Valley during the 2014 International Achievement Summit, three remarkable physicists engage in a group discussion of the origin and nature of the universe. Dr. Adam Riess and Dr. Saul Perlmutter were joint recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery that the expansion of the universe is not slowing, as was thought, but accelerating. Dr. Lisa Randall first attended the Academy of Achievement as a student delegate and returned in 2008 as an honoree. Her hypothesis that the larger part of the universe's gravity is hidden in an unknown dimension poses a formidable challenge to existing theories of the universe. Together, the three engage in a provocative discussion of the limits of time, space and existence.

In this podcast, recorded at the Auberge du Soleil in California's Napa Valley during the 2014 International Achievement Summit, three remarkable physicists engage in a group discussion of the origin and nature of the universe. Dr. Adam Riess and Dr. Saul Perlmutter were joint recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery that the expansion of the universe is not slowing, as was thought, but accelerating. Dr. Lisa Randall first attended the Academy of Achievement as a student delegate and returned in 2008 as an honoree. Her hypothesis that the larger part of the universe's gravity is hidden in an unknown dimension poses a formidable challenge to existing theories of the universe. Together, the three engage in a provocative discussion of the limits of time, space and existence.

"I can still feel that leap of enthusiasm, and real joy, at the prospect of finally getting out to the beach, and running around," says Sylvia Earle, recalling her move to coastal Florida at age 13. Probably the most important thing, to me, aside from just the freedom of it and the power of it, was the kind of creatures that you could see along the beach, that you can't find anywhere else." That child's fascination with the crabs she found scurrying in the sand, was the beginning of a remarkable career in marine science. Today, Sylvia Earle is the best-known woman marine scientist on the planet. Among other accomplishments, she has walked untethered on the sea floor at a lower depth than any other human being. When Sylvia Earle first began her career, she met resistance. Some people could not accept a woman traveling with men on long scientific expeditions, but her remarkable accomplishments have won her a position in the oceanographic community that transcends boundaries. Botanist, biologist, conservationist, entrepreneur, Sylvia Earle has followed whales in the open sea, fought with sharks, and lived for weeks at a time on the floor of the sea, in the Tektite undersea station. She has challenged and overcome every obstacle that stood in the path of her burning curiosity about the magical world beneath the waves. Today, Dr. Earle is Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society. To date, she has led over 70 expeditions, logging more than 6500 hours underwater. In this two-part podcast, recorded at the Auberge du Soleil in California's Napa Valley during the 2014 International Achievement Summit, Dr. Earle warns her listeners that mankind's fate is inextricably bound up with the fate of the global ecosystem, particularly the world's oceans.

"I can still feel that leap of enthusiasm, and real joy, at the prospect of finally getting out to the beach, and running around, says Sylvia Earle, recalling her move to coastal Florida at age 13. "Probably the most important thing, to me, aside from just the freedom of it and the power of it, was the kind of creatures that you could see along the beach, that you can't find anywhere else." That child's fascination with the crabs she found scurrying in the sand, was the beginning of a remarkable career in marine science. Today, Sylvia Earle is the best-known woman marine scientist on the planet. Among other accomplishments, she has walked untethered on the sea floor at a lower depth than any other human being. When Sylvia Earle first began her career, she met resistance. Some people could not accept a woman traveling with men on long scientific expeditions, but her remarkable accomplishments have won her a position in the oceanographic community that transcends boundaries. Botanist, biologist, conservationist, entrepreneur, Sylvia Earle has followed whales in the open sea, fought with sharks, and lived for weeks at a time on the floor of the sea, in the Tektite undersea station. She has challenged and overcome every obstacle that stood in the path of her burning curiosity about the magical world beneath the waves. Today, Dr. Earle is Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society. To date, she has led over 70 expeditions, logging more than 6500 hours underwater. In this two-part podcast, recorded at the Auberge du Soleil in California's Napa Valley during the 2014 International Achievement Summit, Dr. Earle warns her listeners that mankind's fate is inextricably bound up with the fate of the global ecosystem, particularly the world's oceans.

The paleoanthropologist Lee Rogers Berger has supervised archeological expeditions across South Africa, in Zimbabwe, and on the islands of the

Micronesian archipelago. In 1997, he received the first National Geographic Society Prize for Research and Exploration for his studies of

human evolution. He is best known for his 2008 discovery of Australopithecus sediba, a previously unknown species of hominid.

His nine-year-old son Matthew found the first fragments of sediba in a cave outside Johannesburg. The site eventually yielded the two

million-year-old remains of a young boy, an infant and two adults, all specimens of the species of Australopithecus sediba, perhaps an

intermediate stage between ape-like hominids and the more human Homo habilis. Berger studied anthropology, archaeology and geology at Georgia

Southern University, while working as a news cameraman on the side. On one occasion, he threw down his camera and jumped into the Savannah River

to save a drowning woman, an act that won him awards from the National Press Photographers Association and the Boy Scouts of America.

He undertook doctoral studies in palaeoanthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, where he has lived ever since.

Berger is the author of several books, including In the Footsteps of Eve and The Official Field Guide to the Cradle of Humankind. Dr. Berger

presents his discoveries in this podcast, recorded at the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. during the 2012 International Achievement Summit.

As a girl in England, Jane Goodall dreamed of traveling to Africa to study animals in the wild. In the summer of 1960, her dream brought her to the shores of Lake Tanganyika, to observe the wild chimpanzees at Gombe Stream. Other scientists did not believe that a 26-year-old woman could survive alone in the bush, but Jane Goodall did more than survive. Her work revolutionized the field of primatology. Over the years, she found chimpanzees engaging in activities that were once thought definitively human, such as tool-making, cooperative hunting and even warfare. Her work, the longest continuous field study of any living creature, has forced us to redefine our understanding of what it means to be human, and provided a vital insight into the evolution of our own species. Today, Jane Goodall travels the world, campaigning for the humane treatment of all animals, and empowering young people in their own efforts to preserve the environment for all living things. In this two-part podcast, recorded at South Africa's Singita Sabi Sands Game Reserve during the 2009 International Achievement Summit, Dame Jane Goodall gives an engrossing account of her lifelong study of chimpanzees in the wild.

As a girl in England, Jane Goodall dreamed of traveling to Africa to study animals in the wild. In the summer of 1960, her dream brought her to the shores of Lake Tanganyika, to observe the wild chimpanzees at Gombe Stream. Other scientists did not believe that a 26-year-old woman could survive alone in the bush, but Jane Goodall did more than survive. Her work revolutionized the field of primatology. Over the years, she found chimpanzees engaging in activities that were once thought definitively human, such as tool-making, cooperative hunting and even warfare. Her work, the longest continuous field study of any living creature, has forced us to redefine our understanding of what it means to be human, and provided a vital insight into the evolution of our own species. Today, Jane Goodall travels the world, campaigning for the humane treatment of all animals, and empowering young people in their own efforts to preserve the environment for all living things. In this two-part podcast, recorded at South Africa's Singita Sabi Sands Game Reserve during the 2009 International Achievement Summit, Dame Jane Goodall gives an engrossing account of her lifelong study of chimpanzees in the wild.

Richard Leakey won fame as a paleoanthropologist while still in his early twenties, with sensational discoveries of the fossil remains of our most ancient ancestors, but his subsequent career as an author, conservationist, government official and political activist of unyielding courage has been even more extraordinary. For nearly 30 years, he directed the National Museum of Kenya, creating a world-class center for the study of human origins. As Director of Kenya's National Wildlife Service, he led a successful campaign against poaching of the endangered African elephant. After surviving a plane crash that cost him both his legs, he founded an opposition party to combat the corruption of the country's one-party government. Subjected to constant harassment, death threats and even beatings by the regime's supporters, he won election to parliament, where he forced reform of Kenya's constitution. As a government official, he continued his campaign against corruption in the civil service and secured a resumption of international aid. Now retired from politics, he remains a passionate and effective advocate for the environment, for the rights of the disabled, and for the cause of democracy in his beloved Kenya.

Richard Leakey won fame as a paleoanthropologist while still in his early twenties, with sensational discoveries of the fossil remains of our most ancient ancestors, but his subsequent career as an author, conservationist, government official and political activist of unyielding courage has been even more extraordinary. For nearly 30 years, he directed the National Museum of Kenya, creating a world-class center for the study of human origins. As Director of Kenya's National Wildlife Service, he led a successful campaign against poaching of the endangered African elephant. After surviving a plane crash that cost him both his legs, he founded an opposition party to combat the corruption of the country's one-party government. Subjected to constant harassment, death threats and even beatings by the regime's supporters, he won election to parliament, where he forced reform of Kenya's constitution. As a government official, he continued his campaign against corruption in the civil service and secured a resumption of international aid. Now retired from politics, he remains a passionate and effective advocate for the environment, for the rights of the disabled, and for the cause of democracy in his beloved Kenya.

Award-winning documentary filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert have spent the last 25 years living among nature's most fearsome predators. From their camp in Botswana, hours from the nearest village, they record the social behavior and hunting practices of lions, cheetahs and leopards, the most endangered and dangerous creatures on earth. The pair first met in high school in Johannesburg, South Africa, and fell in love with wildlife and each other while studying at the Lion Research Institute in Botswana. Dereck writes, directs and shoots their documentary films, while Beverly, an internationally acclaimed photographer, serves as producer and sound engineer. Together, they remain in the wild for months on end, editing their films in their tents.

To date, they have created over 20 documentary films, half a dozen books and numerous magazine articles, winning five Emmy Awards and international environmental honors for their work. Their recent documentaries include Eye of the Leopard and Relentless Enemies: Lions and Buffalo. The Jouberts make a compelling video presentation of their work in this podcast, recorded at the Singita Sabi Sand Game Reserve in South Africa, during the 2009 International Achievement Summit.