National Geographic 2015 Emerging Explorers

Each year, National Geographic chooses a unique group of individuals for their list of Emerging Explorers that represents the future of exploration. Not only did a member of the MIT community make the list, six out of 14 were affiliated with MIT, including researchers, students, and alumni.

The list includes: Leslie Dewan '06, PhD '13, Nuclear Engineer Building a Better Nuclear Reactor to Combat Climate Change

Dewan founded Transatomic Power Corpoation in 2011 to establish and commercialize a design for a nuclear reactor that safely consumes nuclear waste, delivering vast amounts of affordable, clean energy.

Caleb Harper MArch '14, Urban Agriculturalist Reinventing Our Food Future With Urban Farms

Harper founded CityFarm, an MIT Media Lab initiative which explores the large-scale adoption of both aeroponics and hydroponics as the future of agriculture.

Manu Prakash SM ’05, PhD ’08, Biophysicist Changing the World With a Paper Microscope

Prakash creates inexpensive lab instruments out of his own lab at Stanford University in the Department of Bioengineering, including a device called the Foldscope: a microscope made of paper.

Steve Ramirez, Neuroscientist Can Memory-Manipulation Research Crack the Code for Alzheimer's?

Ramirez is a doctoral student in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department who's research focuses on memory, with implications for Alzheimer's research.

David Moinina Sengeh, Biomedical Engineer Pioneering New Prostheses for Better Lives

Sengeh is a doctoral student at the MIT Media Lab working to improve prosthetic limbs.

Skylar Tibbits SM '10, Materials Architect 'Going Radical' With 4-D Printing

Tibbits launched the Self-Assembly Lab at MIT, where engineers, scientists, designers, and architects create responsive materials that can form structures, all on their own.

Each emerging explorer is awarded $10,000 from National Geographic to help continue their research and exploration and all week they were involved in events and conversations about their discoveries and adventures. As Emerging Explorerers Week concludes (June 8-12), National Geographic is taking a poll to see who people think is most likely to change the world. With such a talented bunch, it’s hard to choose just one! Cast your vote if you want to weigh in.

Photographs by Lynn Johnson, National Geographic Photography Fellow