THE WINGS TRUST

2003 WOMEN OF DISCOVERY AWARD
www.wingstrust.org

Milbry Polk • 236 Route 9W • P.O. Box 52 • Palisades, NY 10964
TEL: 845-365-0297 • FAX: 845-365-3819 • milbry@post.harvard.edu

The story of women explorers is as old as time, as old as myth and as real as memory. Throughout human history, and from many lands women have set forth on journeys of discovery and exploration. Visionaries, adventurers, artists, and scientists, these women challenged the limitations, both physical and social, of their generation, and in the face of formidable challenges, they expanded the world’s body of knowledge. All too often their stories and achievements have been obscured. Until now…

The Purpose of the 2003 Wings Trust Women of Discovery Award

To identify and honor outstanding women who are making a significant contribution to the store of world knowledge through exploration.
To bring attention to women explorers.
To encourage young people to follow the example of these modern heroines to make a commitment to learning and caring about our life on earth.
To make a cash award to aid further exploration.
To publicize the work of the award winner.
To associate the sponsors, their products, services or publications with the positive image of outstanding women explorers.

QUALIFYING EXPLORER

An explorer is a person who has gone out into the world at some personal risk, discovers something of value and then uses this discovery to enhance our understanding of life on earth. This can involve all areas of the sciences, arts, and humanities.

EVENT

On March 12, 2003, the first Wings Trust Women of Discovery Awards will be presented to five explorers for their outstanding contributions. The categories are Earth, Sea, Air, Mankind and a Special Award.

The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park, NYC. 6-8 pm. Tickets $125

2003 WINGS TRUST Women of Discovery Award Winners

Profiled in Women of Discovery by Milbry Polk and Mary Tiegreen

EARTH: Rosita Arvigo

Arvigo spent years apprenticing to the last of an ancient line of Mayan healers in the remote jungles of Belize. Her work resulted in the creation, with the support of The New York Botanical Garden, of the first preserve, dedicated to the study of ethnobotany -- the 6000 acre Terre Nova where she continues to work with native healers identifying and recording the use of medicinal plants.

SEA: Sylvia Earle

Scientist, inventor and explorer extraordinaire, Earle holds records for the deepest unassisted dive, for living underwater, and for piloting submersibles she built and designed to make new discoveries on the ocean floor. She is currently leading an international effort to save the oceans.

AIR and SPACE: Meenakshi Wadhwa

Wadhwa, a meteoriticist and planetary geologist, has specialized in the study of meteorites, particularly those from Mars. She has traversed Antarctica searching for meteorites and has established a research center at the Field Museum to continue their study.

MANKIND: Anna Roosevelt

Roosevelt has shaken established assumptions about the earliest habitation of the Americas with her discovery of the earliest inhabited sites in America in the heart of the Amazon. She continues her groundbreaking work searching for the origins of humankind in the Congo.

SPECIAL

This surprise award will be given for outstanding courage and creative ability.

WINGS TRUST

The mission of Wings Trust, a not for profit 501 (c) (3) organization, is to research, promote, and celebrate the contributions of extraordinary women around the world, across centuries, encompassing a wide range of endeavors. Through the process, public awareness of women’s contributions in the arts, sciences, humanities and other fields will be enhanced.