WINGS WorldQuest Flag Carriers are women leading original field research or documentation that focuses on investigating questions about the nature of our world and advancing conservation efforts on land, air and water through science and advocacy. This honor comes with a $1,000 grant.
As part of their expeditions, all accepted Flag Carriers plan to write reports, make films, or otherwise formally share information about the findings and discoveries with the scientific community and the public. WINGS WorldQuest Flag Carriers are not associated with tourist trips or paying participants on tours.
WINGS Flag Carriers must submit a formal report, complete with high resolution images, to WINGS so that the expedition findings can be shared with the greater public. These reports are posted on the WINGS website and published elsewhere as appropriate.
WINGS is currently accepting Flag Carrier applications.
Meet Our 2019 Flag Carriers
Arita Baaijens: Voices of the Forest
In December 2019, Arita Baaijens will head back to Bosavi, Papua New Guinea, to continue the work she began in 2016 with WINGS Flag # 2.
She will examine how biodiversity is linked to diversity of languages & culture. This is certainly the case in Bosavi, a biodiversity hotspot and home to several Papua clans that each speak their own language. She will study the traditional ecological knowledge systems in Bosavi with relation to birds and seek out in what way this knowledge contributes to the conservation of biological diversity in the area.
Arita will record high quality soundscapes in Bosavi to add to the deep map that she initiated during the 2016 expedition. The digitalized version of the deep map will result in a soundscape installation that conveys 'ecological intelligence' in situ (tropical forest ecosystem). Also, the soundscapes will be used in a podcast series in which the forest speaks for itself through sound.
Terrie Williams: Assessing the Effects of Climate Change on Narwhals
The narwhal is one of the most iconic marine mammals of the Arctic but remains virtually unstudied due to its deep diving habits and polar distribution. Of primary concern is the impact of warming oceans and the loss of ice in the primary habitats of these large, toothed whales.
On this expedition in Scoresby Sound, Greenland, above the Arctic Circle, Terrie Williams and her team conducted some of the first thermal measurements for this species with new infrared technology. Recently returned from her one month expedition, stay tuned for her flag report which will reveal some astounding learnings about how ocean animals may be impacted by underwater noise generated by ships and machinery.
Sunniva Sorby: Hearts in the Ice
Sunniva Sorby, who, along with Hilde Fålun Strøm, will embark on a 9-month expedition to spend the winter in the High Arctic of Svalbard, Norway.
They will live in a trapper's hut with no running water or electricity, and in complete darkness for 90 days. They plan to record and broadcast extreme climate change events as they happen, in real time. The expedition will take place from September 2019 through May 2020. Sorby and Strøm will host a live stream call with WINGS during their expedition - stay tuned for that this winter.
Allison Hanes: Folklore and Conservation in Siberut, Mentawai Islands, Indonesia
Filmmaker Allison Hanes carried the WINGS Flag to the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia. She is scouting locations for a 90 minute feature film about the shamans of Siberut and the Mentawai gibbons, local primates that are known for their singing. With the One Health Productions team, she plans to also create a virtual reality short and a traveling multimedia exhibit using gibbon song and indigenous knowledge to showcase the connections between humans, other species and their environment.
April Burt: The Aldabra Clean Up Project
Plastic pollution is having devastating effects on the Aldabra Atoll World Heritage Site and the local wildlife. Conservation biologist April Burt was was awarded a WINGS WorldQuest Flag Carrier grant for an expedition to clean up the plastic. She led a team consisting of six Oxford graduates and six young Seychellois conservationists.
They removed more than 26 tons of plastic from the Aldabra coast and are developing mitigation strategies to help prevent more plastic pollution.
Janey McGill, Oman: Her Faces of Change
Along with a team of Anglo-Omani women, Janey McGill will carry the WINGS flag across 1,000 km of Oman’s Rub’ Al Khali, a desert in the Arabian Peninsula that spans four countries.
As much as it is a physical journey, the trek also offers an opportunity for the women to address their cultural differences with the goal of challenging stereotypes. Her goal is to encourage understanding, acceptance and respect for cultural and gender differences and identities.
“WINGS offers a platform for us to be heard; women who have dreams and aspirations for a great understanding of the world and the education of the people that occupy it,” Janey said. “To carry the WINGS flag would go a long way in helping me to communicate my message to a wider and engaged audience.”
READ THE FLAG REPORT HERE >>
Sefra Alexandra: The Taro Tales
Sefra Alexandra, also known as the "Seed Huntress," spent two months in Fiji with the 2018 Genebank Impacts Fellowship program.
She worked in the field gathering stories about how seeds that had been housed in a seed bank were redistributed after the Taro Leaf Blight epidemic in Samoa in 1993, helping to maintain taro as a staple food crop.
She created an impact assessment that highlights the importance of safeguarding the global diversity of seeds.
READ THE FLAG REPORT HERE >>
WINGS WORLDQUEST FLAG CARRIER MAP
Use our interactive map below to roam the world, and see where our Explorers have visited.
Flag Expedition Archive
Below is a partial listing of expeditions with links to WINGS WorldQuest flag reports. The names of flag carriers who are WINGS Fellows contain profile links.
Reports by Region:
Africa
Namibia and South Africa
Field Study: How African Elephants Use Water, Terrie Williams, 2007
Kenya and Tanzania
No Water No Life takes to the Mara River Basin, Allison Jones, 2009
Sahara Desert
Water Supply: Across Borders, Helen Thayer, 2013
Ethiopia
Conserving Ethiopia’s Church Forests, Meg Lowman, 2017
Tanzania
The Women's Beekeeping Initiative, Laly Lichtenfeld, 2018
Asia
India
Studying the Habitat of the Greater One-Horned Rhino in West Bengal, Gitanjali Banerjee, 2006
Eastern Tibet
Documenting Flora on the Tibetan Plateau, Diane Agaki, 2007
Western China
Cycling the Silk Road: On the Trail of Marco Polo, Kate Harris, 2007
Altai Mountains
Expedition to Paradise, Altai Mountain Range, Arita Baaijens, 2013
India
Access Water: Ganges River Valley, Ann Bancroft & Liv Arnesen, 2015
Pamir Mountain Range
Kate Harris : BORDERSKI, Pamir Mountain Range, 2015
- A film about this expedition is being made! Check out the teaser
Reducing the Overexploitation of the Bengal Tiger Habitat, Silvia Schrötter, 2018
Atlantic
Bahamas
Collecting Geochemical Samples from a Cave on San Salvador Island, Stephanie Schwabe, 2005
Atlantic Ocean
Crossing the Ocean on a Reed Sailing Boat, Sabrina Lorenz, 2007
Atlantic Ocean
Following the Route of Columbus: Crossing the Atlantic by Sailboat, Beryl Bell, 2007
Northern Bahamas
Tracking Three Generations of Wild Dolphins in the Bahamas: 26 Years in the Field, Denise Herzing, 2010
South Atlantic Ocean
5 Gyres Expedition: The World’s First South Atlantic Ocean Plastic-Pollution Study, Anna Cummins, 2010
Oman Desert
Her Faces of Change, Janey McGill, 2019
Europe
Spain
Tracing the Transition from Neanderthal to Cro-Magnon in Western Europe, Anna Pinto, 2005
Europe-Africa
Following Endangered White Storks Across Two Continents, Lorie Karnath, 2007
Greece
Photographing Ancient Sites on the Island of Crete, Marilyn Bridges, 2010
North/Central America
Belize
The Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge, Jeanette Salfeety, 2005
Dry Tortugas
Bird Banding in the Dry Tortugas, Dalia Amor-Conde, 2005
Guatemala
Roads, Deforestation, and Jaguars, Dalia Amor-Conde, 2006
Wyoming, U.S.
Searching for Cretaceous Dinosaurs, Sue Hendrickson, 2006
Columbia River Basin
Exploring the Health of North America's Majestic Columbia River, Alison Jones, 2007
Florida/California, U.S,
Deep-Sea Exploration with New Eyes and Ears, Edie Widder, 2007
British Columbia, Canada
Tracking Wolves in the Great Bear Rainforest, Heather Bryan, 2008
Upper Columbia River Basin
Exploring Freshwater Values and Management Solutions, Allison Jones, 2008
Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia, U.S.
Swampscapes: Archaeological Exploration in the Great Dismal Swamp, Becca Peixotto, 2016
South America
Amazon
The Lower Amazon Archaeology Project: 2005 Reconnaissance in Brazil, Anna Roosevelt, 2005
Bolivia
High Lakes Expedition: An Astrobiological Trek Across the Altiplano, Nathalie Cabrol, 2005
Argentina Andes Expedition
High-Altitude Archaeology, Costanza Ceruti, 2007
Brazil
Santarem Salvage Project, Anna Roosevelt, 2009
Brazil
Saving the World’s Most Peaceful Primate: The Northern Muriqui Monkey, Karen Strier, 2016
Pacific
Papua New Guinea and Solomon Island
Headhunt Revisited: Charting Cultural Change in Melanesia, Michele Westmorland and Karen Huntt, 2005
Papua New Guinea
Underwater TV: Convict Fish Behavior at Sunrise and Sunset, Eugenie Clark, 2006
Papua New Guinea
Diving to Observe Poisonous Catfish, Eugenie Clark and Anne Doubilet, 2007
Republic of Vanuatu
Female Chiefs of Maewo Island, Sophie Hollingsworth, 2016
Papua New Guinea
The Mountain Speaks, Arita Baaijens, 2016
Republic of Palau
Coral Resilience in the Face of Climate Change, Gaelin Rosenwaks, 2018
Fiji
The Taro Tales: Ethnobotany of Fiji’s Prestige Crop, Sefra Alexandra, 2019
Polar Regions
Greenland
Exploring the Greenland Ice Sheet, Natalie Kerhwald, 2007
Svalbard
Chasing the Light at 79 Degrees North, Rena Bass Forman, 2008
Lake Baikal
Life On Thin Ice, Felicity Aston, 2008
Alaska
Labyrinth Sublime: The Inside Passage, North to Alaska, Rosemarie Keough, 2008
Kangiqtugaapik/Clyde River, Baffin Island
The Siku-Inuit-Hila Conference on Sea Ice and Climate Change, Lene Keilsen-Holm, 2008
Arctic
Amundsen Expedition -Exploring and Documenting Marine Benthic Ecosystems in the Arctic, Maeva Gaulthier, 2010
Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada
Katujjiqatigii: Working Together, The Sedna Epic Expedition, Susan R. Eaton and the Team Sedna, 2016
Antarctica
Homeward Bound, Joanna Young, 2016
Antarctica
Antarctica and Mount Erebus as Analogues for Planetary Landscapes, Rosaly Lopes, 2016
The Arctic
The Women's Euro-Arabian North Pole Expedition, Felicity Aston, 2018