ECWG calls for grant applications

Posted on November 28, 2011 by ECWG_Admin

The Explorers Club Washington Group (ECWG) is calling for applications for its 2012 Exploration and Field Research Grants for graduate students.

The ECWG’s Exploration and Field Research Grants Program encourages young men and women to add to the body of knowledge of the earth, its people and the universe through exploration and field research. Examples of disciplines appropriate for support are anthropology, archaeology, ecology, entomology, botany, linguistics, ornithology, geography, ichthyology, geology, oceanography, glaciology, and similar disciplines.

Grants are available to graduate students who are enrolled in a college or university in the local area (Washington, DC; Virginia; West Virginia; Maryland) and who are under the supervision of a qualified scientist or educator. The activity may occur anywhere in the world. It should be emphasized that that those expeditions supported will be for scientific purposes, in accordance with the Explorers Club’s stated objective, “to broaden our knowledge of the universe”.

The grants are intended to provide supplemental funds to support fieldwork or closely related endeavors, and generally range from one to several thousand dollars. While the awards are small, former grantees have successfully used their awards to collect preliminary data leading to other awards or to augment support for items not covered elsewhere. Allowable items include travel to specialized facilities or field research locations, purchase of supplies, rental of field or research facilities, and similar items. Funds may not be used for stipends, tuition, textbooks, journals, language training, allowances for dependents, travel to scientific meetings, publication costs, reproduction, or indirect costs.

The application deadline is February 1, 2012. Applications must be received using Explorers Club Washington Group’s standard forms, found at the link at the bottom of this page. They may be submitted by email sent to ecwggrantsprogram12@gmail.com or sent to:

Ms. Marguerite B. Hunsiker

ECWG Exploration and Field Research Grants Program

5705 Nevada Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20015-2545

Awards are expected to be announced by March 15, 2012.

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December talk on building South Pole station

Posted on November 21, 2011 by ECWG_Admin

Jerry Marty, who was in charge of building the newest South Pole station, talked about the challenges of building the third and current U.S. South Pole station at the ECWG’s annual black tie dinner at the Cosmos Club on Saturday, Dec. 3. 2011.

Jerry Marty carries the U.S. flag leading the procession of flags of Antarctic Treaty nations from the old to the new South Pole Station on Jan. 12, 2007 for the dedication of the new station. National Science Foundation photo by Glenn Grant.

In his talk Marty focused on the challenges of building a 21st century scientific research facility at the Pole and on the exciting new science supported at the station.

This is the Centennial of the arrival of the first people at the South Pole. On Dec. 18, 1911 the Norwegian  explorer Roald Amundsen, and the four men with him arrived at the South Pole. All made it back safely. On Jan. 18 the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and the four men with him arrived to find the tent the Norwegians had left at the Pole. All died on their way back.

U.S. Navy Construction Battalion officers and men built the first U.S. South Pole Station in 1957. People have lived and worked at it and subsequent Pole stations since the first crew spent the Antarctic Winter of 1957-58 there. Marty first worked at the Pole during the 1974-75 “summer” season, which was the final year of construction of the second station. He led the construction of the third station, which was dedicated on Jan. 12, 2008.

More Information: The Antarctic Sun, published by the U.S. Antarctic Program, briefly tells the story of Marty’s life and his work as manger of the construction of the new station in its March 27, 2009 edition.

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ECWG Annual Meeting

Posted on November 20, 2011 by ECWG_Admin

Explorers Club Washington Group members will meet at 5:45 p.m. at the Cosmos Club on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011 — 15 minutes before the annual black tie event–to elect members of the Board of Directors Class of 2014 and conduct any other business to brought before the meeting.

Under the ECWG Articles of Procedure, the Ad-hoc Nominating Committee is responsible for providing a slate of five nominees for the next class of elected members of the Board of Directors, as well as nominees to fill vacancies in other classes.  The members of the Board of Directors are to be elected by the ECWG membership at the annual election meeting, which will be this coming December 3th and they take office immediately after that meeting.

Nominees for Board of Directors Class of 2014

  • James P. Blair FN09
  • R. Craig Cook MN01
  • Tony K. Meunier FE 84
  • Llewellyn M. “Lew” Toulmin MN04
  • Karen Ronne Tupek MN07

Nominees for the ECWG Officers are:

  • Chairman: Julius “Jay” Kaplan  MN01
  • Vice Chairman:  Susan Sawtelle  MN01
  • Secretary:  Margaret “Meg” Walsh  FN08
  • Treasurer:  Bruce Blanchard  MN78
  • Program Director:  Donald J. Gerson FE78
  • Membership Director:  Robert “Bob” Tallent FN07
  • Chairman, Grants Committee: Polly A. Penhale, FN91
  • Chairman, Public Relations and Outreach, John C. Williams, FN03
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EC Forum

Posted on November 20, 2011 by ECWG_Admin
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November talk on Amazon’s hidden tribes

Posted on November 10, 2011 by ECWG_Admin

At the ECWG’s Nov. 19, 2011 Cosmos Club dinner Scott Wallace, FN’07 told the story of his National Geographic assignment in the summer 2002 to journey deep into the Amazon with the renowned Brazilian explorer and Indian rights activist Sydney Possuelo to gather information on an uncounted indigenous group known as the “People of the Arrow” without making contact. Wallace recounts  the expedition in his new book The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes.

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