This panel discussion on modern-day exploration was recorded live at the 2006 New Yorker Festival in New York City.
Bruce Beehler is an ornithologist and the vice-president of Conservation International's Pacific Programs. In 2005, he co-led a scientific expedition to the unpopulated old-growth tropical forests of the Foja Mountains in western New Guinea, which resulted in the discovery of new species of frogs, plants, butterflies, and mammals, as well as the first new bird species sighted on the island in 60 years.
Constanza Ceruti, a native of Argentina, specializes in high-altitude archaeology, exploring and excavating Incan ceremonial centers in the Andes. She co-led the 1999 expedition to the 22,000-foot summit of Mt. Llullaillaco, which unearthed three of the best-preserved mummies ever found. She is the first woman to receive the Gold Condor award from the Argentine Army.
Reinhold Messner was born in the South Tyrol region of Italy and began climbing when he was five years old. He made the first solo ascent of Mt. Everest without bottled oxygen, and was the first to climb the 14 mountains whose peaks are more than 8,000 meters high. He was elected to the European Parliament as an Italian member of the Green Party in 1999.
Bruce Robison has pioneered the development of remotely operated undersea vehicles for research on the biology and ecology of deep-sea animals. He is a senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and a member of the Deep Submersible Pilots Association.
David Grann is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He has written on subjects ranging from New York City's antiquated water tunnels to the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang and the search for the giant squid. In his 2005 New Yorker article The Lost City of Z, he wrote about a journey to the Amazon to uncover the fate of a missing explorer.
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