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. 

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 not accepting unsolicited applications. If you meet the above criteria and are interested in finding out more about the program, please email us at info@wingsworldquest.org.  

Check out our interactive map to see everywhere the Flag Carriers have explored.

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.”

Sefra Alexandra, Seed Bank: Haiti 

Sefra Alexandra, also known as the "Seed Huntress," will spend one month in Haiti foraging for seeds in fields and forests alongside agronomists and ecologists.

She is working to identify species that are the most viable, resilient and productive, which will serve as vital resources for food security, self-sufficiency and resiliency against changing climates.

Sefra plans to establish a seed bank to preserve the unique biodiversity that exists in the region.

Gaelin Rosenwaks: Coral Resilience in the Face of Climate Change 

Marine scientist, explorer and filmmaker Gaelin Rosenwaks went on an expedition in the Republic of Palau, an island nation in Oceania, to study how local coral reefs and their symbiotic algae have adapted to conditions that are similar to the predicted global ocean conditions the entire region is expected to face in the future.

She and a team studied the relationships between corals and their algae in two distrinct reef systems with the hope of revealing how some corals have adapted to increasing and unstable water temperatures.

Rosenwaks' goal is to understand the broad impacts of climate change on our ocean ecosystems and how nature is responding to these rapid changes to our planet.

Women's Euro-Arabian North Pole Expedition 2018

The Women’s Euro-Arabian North Pole Expedition 2018 is an international team of women from Europe and the Middle East who successfully skied to the North Pole. The expedition was conceived and led by Felicity Aston, a 2009 WINGS WorldQuest Fellow and the first woman to ski across Antarctica alone. 

The goal of the expedition was to complete a great physical journey while fostering culture understanding among women from the two regions, according to Aston. The team reached the North Pole on April 21. 

READ THE FLAG REPORT HERE >>

Laly Lichtenfeld: The Women's Beekeeping Initiative

Laly Lichtenfeld is the co-founder of African People & Wildlife, an environmental conservation organization in Tanzania. Through the Women’s Beekeeping Initiative, the organization works with 950 women, many of whom are part of the Maasai Tribe, to help them develop entrepreneurial skills.

After completing entrepreneurship training, participants are eligible for microgrants to launch their own individual beekeeping businesses. By selling local wild honey, the women develop revenue streams which they can use to support their families, send their children to school, invest in health care and reduce their families' environmental impact. 

The women also support each other through mentorship and knowledge-sharing. 

READ HER FLAG REPORT HERE >> 

Silvia Schrötter: Reducing the Overexploitation of the Bengal Tiger Habitat

Silvia Schrötter, a Master’s student at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, spent five months in India researching methods to help reduce the overexploitation of the Bengal tiger in the Manas National Park. 

The tiger population is dwindling due to poaching, overgrazing by cattle and the collection of thatch, food and wood fuel by the local people.

Schrötter is collecting data about homestead gardens and will create a pamphlet in the Bodo and Assamese languages to share information about how these gardens can provide alternative fuel and income to local communities.

READ HER FLAG REPORT HERE >> 

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

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

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