San Diego Chapter of The Explorers Club Monthly Newsletter - May 2025
- plselby
- May 26
- 6 min read
Special invitation
"Roar and Snore" all-ages sleepover
Saturday night, September 20, 2025
First come, first serve- RESERVE TODAY
San Diego Safari Park, Escondido CA
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA)
"Roar and Snore" all-ages sleepover Saturday night, September 20, 2025
First come, first serve- RESERVE TODAY
San Diego Safari Park, Escondido CA San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) Join Explorers Club members and guests of all ages for Roar and Snore, an exotic adventure right here in our own backyard, with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA). Roar and Snore is a rare nocturnal opportunity to spend a magical night surrounded by wild animals. Explore the Safari Park after dark, learn how wildlife are being saved around the globe, see the park's most notable species on a private Africa Tram. enjoy camping activities, night hikes and tours, and s’mores around the campfire. Choose from 3 Packages with different level tent accommodation, starting at $165/night per adult (see rate sheet) for basic tent with your own sleeping bag, to luxury fully furnished cots and linens. First come, first serve! For a limited time, The Explorers Club has blocked some tents, on hold only through May 15. See prices and options here: https://sdzsafaripark.org/safaris/roar-snore-safaris RSVP by May 15 to 619-718-3000, reference "San Diego Explorers Club September 20, 2025" |
Chapter member news...
Nancy Nenow ME’04 traveled to Somaliland in March to volunteer for Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) rescue facility, working alongside founder Laurie Marker, PhD, FI’06 and her team. CCF works with government to intercept baby cheetahs illegally smuggled through their country from various regions of Africa to the Emirates, and to keep the vulnerable cubs alive and healthy. She has co-sponsored Mia Josse '25 who has joined our chapter. Welcome Mia!
Brent Stewart, PhD, JD, FN’91 carried TEC Flag 84 for continued research of penguins and seals on Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and Falkland Islands, and has returned from carrying Flag 84 to the Channel Islands to resume research on the breeding and population biology, foraging ecology, genetics, and disease of northern elephant seals.
Peri Klemm, PhD, FN’21 is premiering her film The Siinqee Sisterhood in Los Angeles in April. Affiliated with African Art History CSUN, World Arts Council Mesa College and UCLA African Arts Journal, professor Klemm spent 2024 on sabbatical in Arsi zone, Ethiopia, documenting an Oromo women’s Ateetee ritual. She welcomes club interest in a film screening.
Robert de Laurentis MN’18, aka Zen Pilot, launched his film Peace Pilot on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and Google TV. A narrative of human fortitude, survival and flying skills, it follows his quest from Gillespie Field to over both the South and North Poles in a modified Turbo Commander 900 in 2019 on peace mission, "One planet. One people. One plane." In 2023, he was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at San Diego Air & Space Museum.
Other aviation pioneers and air acrobats in the chapter, Michael Hennessy FN’23 and Suzanne Dixon FN’23 returned from an expedition to revisit their ascension of two peaks in Ecuador. Mike has studied high altitude effects on vision. Suzanne has participated in an anthropological study of children of the Gusii tribe in Kenya, and just published the 5th edition of her pediatric textbook.
On March 26, San Diego Maritime Museum welcomed the restored seiner Western Flyer of the 1940 Sea of Cortez research expedition of John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts. It was enroute from Monterey to the Sea of Cortez where it will fly the Explorers Club flag thanks to Tom Keffer FN'25.
Sara Shoemaker Lind MN’99 explored the very northern Great Barrier Reef and met the Lizard Island Research Station director about recent coral bleaching events and recovery. An award-winning underwater photographer, her photos inspire awe, and protection of our magnificent blue planet.
For two weeks, Charlene Glacy MN’09 island-hopped ten islands in the Lesser Antilles in search of endemic birds, including critically endangered Granada Doves on Granada. Among other rare sightings and sounds was the stunning parrot Whistling Warbler found only on St. Vincent, and threatened by the exotic bird trade.
Greg Rouse FN’16, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) led researchers to document deep-sea species in methane seeps off Costa Rica’s west coast. They identified 488 distinct species in collected specimens, photographs and DNA sequences, the highest biodiversity count ever recorded in a single seep or vent region discovered on 5 expeditions and 63 submersible dives. At least 58 are new to science, while others have taxonomic uncertainty likely representing more undescribed species.
A seadragon named Dewysea was so named for Dewy White MN’14 who worked with others, including Greg Rouse, to found SeadragonSearch to harness the power of citizen science and machine learning to photograph, identify and track wild seadragons that live exclusively on the south coast of Australia.
Our new chapter fellow, Isabel Rivera-Collazo, PhD, FN’25, director of Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology (SCMA) explores the dynamics of social resilience, vulnerability, and adaptation to climate variability in the Caribbean, collecting and analyzing sediment samples for paleo landscape reconstruction in Puerto Rico.
Dominique Rissolo, PhD, FN'13 joined colleagues at the National Zooarchaeology Lab in Mexico City to scan fossils from Hoyo Negro, the submerged Late Pleistocene cave site in Quintana Roo, Mexico, including bones from giant ground sloths and Ice Age bears. Next, he joins an expedition led by Bruce Milkin, PhD, MN’98 to Cebada Cave in Chiquibul National Park, Belize.
Paula Selby MN’18 returned to the northeast side of Viti Levu in the Fiji Islands, one of her favorite underwater photography destinations due to its biodiversity, the myriad of colorful soft corals, and schooling Anthias fish on the reefs. She encountered a Blacktail snapper spawning event under a full moon, and a male Long-snouted seahorse laden with eggs in murky shallow water.
Martha Shaw FN’06 was diving in Cabo Pulmo Mexico to celebrate almost unanimous approval of Dos Mares Biosphere among diverse stakeholders to protect waters surrounding Baja California Sur from industrial exploitation. As SD Chapter Chair, she attended Chapter Chair meetings in New York to share best practices and build fellowship among chapters.
Lou Cooperhouse MN'24 founder of BlueNalu cell-cultivated seafood. spoke at the Culinary Institute of America in Singapore on the future of food, at Meat Evolution Summit on global protein supply, and attended Future Investments Institute conference, Impact on Humanity.
Christian McDonald FN'18, director of diving, small boating & marine field safety programs at SIO is pleased to announce that American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) symposium will be hosted in San Diego in early October 2026. San Diego is the birthplace of American scientific diving, celebrating 75 years of achievement in underwater scientific diving and technology. San Diego Chapter will host events and dives around AAUS inviting Explorers Club members worldwide.
James “Rocky” Contos FN’18 has led river trips on Grande-Colorado in Argentina, Usumacinta and Jatate in Mexico, Cachimayo-Pilcomayo in Bolivia, Maranon and Pampas in Peru, Nujiang in China, Babine-Skeena, Quesnel-Fraser and Stikine in Canada, and LaVenta in Zambia. He hopes to organize a TEC river expedition to Usumacinta, aka Sacred Monkey River of the Maya, in southern Mexico.
Please send your news to the chapter sandiegoexplorersclub@gmail.com
Upcoming events
Wednesday May 21, 5:30-7:30 pm: Shorerider no-host Happy Hour LOCATION
2168 Avenida de la Playa, La Jolla Shores
DATE AND TIME
05/21/25 5:30pm - 05/21/25 7:30pm US/Pacific
No host Happy Hour at Shorerider on Wednesday night. Look for the TEC flag, and introduce yourself - all welcome, no reservation needed.
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(Coming soon: San Diego Chapter Summer Soiree)
September 12-14 Global Exploration Summit (GLEX 2025) LOCATION Ottawa, Canada DATE AND TIME 09/12/25 10:00am - 09/14/25 5:00pm US/Pacific In partnership with Royal Canadian Geographical Society, chart the future of exploration with Explorers Club among diverse global interests. Go to https://www.explorers.org/glexcanada/
Saturday September 20, 2025, Explorers Club "Roar and Snore" RSVP May 15 LOCATION Safari Park, Escondido DATE AND TIME 05/09/25 1:00pm - 05/09/25 5:00pm US/Pacific RSVP by May 15 to 619-718-3000 "San Diego Explorers Club September 20, 2025." Details https://sdzsafaripark.org/safaris/roar-snore-all-ages
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Program idea? Write to sandiegoexplorersclub@gmail.comChapter Members: Photos and Bios wanted for website. Please send to sandiegoexplorersclub.com |
Chapter Dues $30 with free SD Chapter Pin Gert a free Chapter Pin when you pay your $30 Chapter Dues. Dues are voluntary and help to cover basic expenses for the chapter. Click blue tab below to donate. Optional: go to : https://www.sandiegoexplorersclub.com/join
Did you know...TEC donates $25 to our Chapter when you sponsor a new Member?
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