Support For Research and Projects
The Society has helped sponsor many expeditions and research projects over the years, including:
- Codex Tchacos – Conservation and translation of the only known surviving copy of the Gospel of Judas
- Ian Baker – Discovers hidden waterfall of the Tsangpo Gorge, Tibet
- Robert Ballard – RMS Titanic (1985) and John F. Kennedy's PT-109 (2002) discovery
- Robert Bartlett – Arctic Exploration (1925–45)
- George Bass – Underwater archaeology – Bronze Age trade
- Lee Berger – Oldest footprints of modern humans ever found
- Hiram Bingham – Machu Picchu Excavation (1915)
- Richard E. Byrd – First flight over South Pole (1929)
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau – Undersea exploration
- Mike Fay – MegaTransect (1999) and MegaFlyover (2004) in Africa
- Dian Fossey – Mountain gorillas
- Birute Galdikas – Orangutans
- Jane Goodall – Chimpanzees
- Robert F. Griggs – Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes (1916)
- Heather Halstead – World Circumnavigations of Reach the World
- Louis and Mary Leakey – Discovery of manlike Zinjanthropus, more than 1.75 million years old
- Gustavus McLeod – First flight to the North Pole in an open-air cockpit aircraft
- Robert Peary and Matthew Henson – North Pole Expedition (1905)
- Paul Sereno – Dinosaurs
- Will Steger – Polar Exploration & First Explorer-in-Residence 1996
- Spencer Wells – The Genographic Project
- Xu Xing – Discovery of fossil dinosaurs in China that have distinct feathers
The Society supports many socially based projects including AINA, a Kabul-based organization dedicated to developing an independent Afghan media, which was founded by one of the Society's most famous photographers, Reza.
The Society also sponsors the National Geographic Bee, an annual geographic contest for American middle-school students. More than four million students a year begin the geography competition locally, which culminates in a national competition of the winners of each state each May in Washington, D.C. Alex Trebek, host of Jeopardy!, has moderated the final competition since the competition began some seventeen years ago. Every two years, the Society conducts an international geography competition of competing teams from all over the world. The most recent was held in Mexico City on July 15, 2009, and had representatives from 15 national teams. The team from Canada emerged as the winner, with teams from the United States and Poland in second and third place.
Read more about this topic: National Geographic Society
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