Human Ingenuity impact

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At 6,505 meters above sea level, the highest weather station in the Southern and Western hemispheres was installed on Tupungato Volcano in Central Chile.
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grants through National Geographic’s COVID-19 Science Fund for projects that explore how people and the natural world are responding to the pandemic.
OUR WORK

We're supporting Explorer innovation.

This focus area covers projects that are novel, inventive, or use existing approaches in a new way to address critical challenges and produce insights that illuminate and protect the wonder of our world.

Projects should seek breakthroughs in a particular field or area of study by leveraging diverse stakeholders and networks, pioneering innovative methods or technologies, or bringing underrepresented perspectives to light.

featured program

Perpetual Planet Expeditions

The National Geographic Society and Rolex have partnered to support trailblazing scientific research, expeditions, and solutions to increase our understanding of the threats facing the planet’s life support systems and drive action to address them.

In the field

Our Human Ingenuity Explorers

They’re working on the cutting edge to inspire, educate, and find innovative approaches to solve our most pressing challenges.

Our Human Ingenuity Explorers are in the field developing technology that pushes the limits of what is possible across science, exploration, storytelling, and conservation. They’re illuminating patterns to better understand our Earth; they’re educating the next generation of Explorers to reach beyond the boundaries of creativity; and they’re engineering, designing, building, deploying, and defying human innovation.

Read more stories of impact from some of our Human Ingenuity Explorers on nationalgeographic.com

Gautam Shah: Saving wildlife from behind the computer screen

Martin Wikelski: Investigating migratory patterns of wildlife

Grace Young: Creating high tech for deep oceans

Jonatha Giddens: Illuminating patterns and ecology of the ocean

Corey Jaskolski: Developing tech for the world’s most unforgiving environments

An Explorer's perspective on

Making a difference

"I focus on capturing photographs and video that evoke wonder. I see wonder as a doorway into exploring and valuing the complexity of our world.”
Anand Varma
National Geographic Explorer & Photographer
Join US

Help us promote innovation

Bring Human Ingenuity into the classroom

Spark new curiosities and download resources we've made available for educators and learners in our Resource Library. We've provided lessons, articles, maps, videos, and so much more, to inspire our mission to preserve and protect the wonder of our world.

Support our work

As a global community, we have a duty to work toward making our world a better place. By empowering innovative thinkers and creators, we can move our human journey forward and inspire generations to come. How will you contribute to the evolution of our world?

Photo Credits from top of page: Mark Thiessen, Dirk Collins, Anand Varma, Jacqueline Faherty, Ronan Donovan. Below: Michael Nichols, Andy Mann, Paul Nicklen, Ami Vitale, Christian Tryon, Kenneth Garrett, Mark Thiessen.

Get updates about our critical work to explore and protect our planet.

GIVE TODAY!
The National Geographic Society is proud to invest in a global community of intrepid Explorers working to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Make a tax-deductible gift to support the Society today, and your support will help fund the next generation of changemakers.