Update From the Field

Get the facts behind the frame in this online-only gallery. Pick an image and see the photographer’s technical notes.

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Photograph by Brendan Haigh

Elephants, ice, and architecture—nothing escapes the purposeful gaze of the Society’s research grantees.

Get a taste of what awaits you in print from this compelling excerpt.

From the life of an insect to the death of a civilization, scientists and explorers continue to study the world through National Geographic-funded projects and expeditions.

Deep Down Under
Eyed by a dwarf minke whale, Jason Gedamke dangles in a dreamy world of unearthly acoustics. “When a nearby minke calls, you feel it in your chest,” says Gedamke, who, under grantee Daniel Costa of the University of California, Santa Cruz, records the whales’ unique calls to learn which individuals are sounding off and when. “These minkes are incredibly curious,” he says. “We stop the boat, and they come to us. It’s a great opportunity to listen in on their world.”

Get the whole story in the pages of National Geographic magazine.

In More to Explore the National Geographic magazine team shares some of its best sources and other information. Special thanks to the
Research Division.

Grantee Silvia Rodriguez Kembel’s computer model of the Gallery of Labyrinths at Chavin de Huantar bears such a striking resemblance to Star Trek’s U.S.S. Enterprise that she and her colleagues joke they’ve “determined that the site was of truly intergalactic importance.” The site is located in the Peruvian Andes and dates from the first millennium B.C.

Committee for Research and Exploration
www.nationalgeographic.com/research/index.html
Learn about the National Geographic Society’s history of supporting scientific field research and exploration, get to know a featured grantee, and find out how a scientist can apply for a grant.

Undersea Explorer
www.undersea.com.au
Listen to minke whale sounds at the website of the Undersea Explorer, Daniel Costa’s and Jason Gedamke’s research vessel.

Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies
www.famsi.org/reports/houston3/houston3.htm
Read Stephen Houston’s report on his 2000 excavating season in “the land of the turtle lords” at Piedras Negras, Guatemala.

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Get up-to-date information regarding the National Geographic’s research committee online at:
nationalgeographic.com/research

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