Meet our Keynote speaker: Dr. Edith Widder
We were honored to have Dr. Edith “Edie” Widder as our lunchtime Keynote Speaker for this year’s conference. Dr. Widder is an internationally-renowned scientist, deep-sea explorer, and founder of the Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA), a scientific-based conservation nonprofit. As a certified research diver, she has completed over 250 submersible dives and been featured in BBC, PBS, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic productions.
Dr. Widder has worked with US Navy engineers to invent devices capable of detecting and measuring bioluminescence and deep-sea light. She also created a remotely-operated deep-sea camera system known as ORCA’s Eye-in-the-Sea, which she used to discover a new species of giant squid. She and her team obtained the first footage of this incredible creature in its natural habitat in 2012!
In all things, Dr. Widder hopes to learn from the ocean’s mysteries in order to better protect them. She is one of only six women to ever have been awarded the Explorers Club Citation of Merit (2018). In 2021, she released her memoir Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea.
Dr. Widder specializes in finding light in darkness. We hope you enjoyed receiving wisdom and inspiration from this scientist-adventurer-innovator-conservationist powerhouse!
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Choosing to Lead in the News
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“Choosing to Lead is open to everyone who loves this special place—students and educators, volunteers and advocates, faith leaders, elected officials, writers and artists, and more. Simply put, if you’re inspired by Georgia’s one-of-a-kind coast, this conference is for YOU!”
Please contact Catherine for more information about our 2021 Choosing to Lead series.