Welcome to The Explorers Club

The Explorers Club is an international multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore.

Founded in New York City in 1904, The Explorers Club promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences. The Club’s members have been responsible for an illustrious series of famous firsts: First to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean, first to the surface of the moon – all accomplished by our members.

Dr. Jeffrey Bonner, President of the St. Louis Zoo; Lorie Karnath, President of the Explorers Club International; Dr. Mabel Purkerson; Lotsie Holton; and Dr. Peter Raven, President of the Missouri Botanical Garden, at our October 28th presentation.

Cherri Briggs, Mabel Purkerson, Lotsie Holton, Cindy Peters in Zambia with local farmers, September 2009. The Chiawa Leaseholders Association and the Lower Zambizi Conservation Trust has enabled these women to start a corn farm which is protected from the elephants by an electric solar powered fence. Their crop of maize was so plentiful after the first year they were able to sell the surplus to neighboring villages. A wonderful success story!

View more member photos in our Photo Gallery

Dr. Mabel Purkerson to receive the Explorers Club’s Edward C. Sweeney Medal on March 20, 2010

Read the profile of member Dr. Sherman Silber in the St. Louis Beacon.