Craig Benjamin

A teacher of world history at the university level, Craig Benjamin is also a lecturer and author of several books including Big History: Between Nothing and Everything and a contributing scholar to Cambridge History of the World: A World with States, Empires and Networks. He was also an instructor of the “Great Courses” program, Foundations of Eastern Civilizations. Benjamin’s work provides a fascinating look at world history and the environmental context in which world civilizations flourished, and eventually declined. He has written and taught about the Inca in Peru, the Polynesian migration through the South Pacific and to Easter Island, pre-European history of the Australian reef, the history and cultural symbolism of Angkor Wat, and migrating nomads across the Himalayas to India, among other topics. Born in Queensland, Australia, Benjamin has traveled extensively through Southeast Asia, India, along the trade routes of the Arabian Peninsula, and most all of the destinations on the trip.

Adam Tanner

A writer and lecturer, who spent much of his career as a foreign correspondent, Adam Tanner has long studied the impact of colonialism, economic engagement and globalization, and is especially interested in the enduring impact of Europe on Asia, Latin America and Africa. He has appeared on CNN, Bloomberg TV, NPR, the BBC and written for publications such as Scientific America, Forbes, Fortune, Time and MIT Technology. He is an associate at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS) at Harvard University where he has been since 2011, first as a fellow at the Nieman Foundation, then at IQSS. He is also an expert on privacy and commerce and has written two books, What Stays in Vegas and Our Bodies, Our Data.

Carola Stearns

Carola Stearns is a field geologist and geophysicist with over 40 years of experience enthusiastically sharing her fascination with the Earth and how it works.  She earned a Ph.D at the University of Michigan, has worked in exploration for major oil companies, taught at universities, and maintains a research affiliation with the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan.  She has worked with archaeologists on both prehistoric and classical sites around the Mediterranean and in the southwest of the US.  Her diverse research interests include tectonics as well as climatic geomorphology, especially as it relates to human history.  She has lectured as a park ranger at the Grand Canyon, on trips for the UM Alumni Association, and in Ann Arbor training docents for the botanical gardens, arboretum and the public school’s environmental education program.  Currently she works part-time as an interpretive guide in Santa Fe. 

Peter Bobrowsky

Peter Bobrowsky is a professional archaeologist and geologist with 40 years of experience working as a consultant, scholar, teacher and researcher across the globe. His academic achievements include almost 500 publications - 20 technical books such as the Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards, Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology and The Landslide Handbook - the latter written for the general public has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, and Japanese; induction as an International Fellow of the Explorers Club of New York and Fellow of the Geological Society of America. He is the recipient of numerous awards including most notably the Eugene Shoemaker Communications Award for Best Book (2009), the Edward B. Burwell Jr. Award for Engineering Geology (2011), the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) and the James Harrison Outstanding Achievement Award (2020).

Dr. Bobrowsky has a prominent history of international positions and appointments in particular Secretary General of the International Union of Geological Sciences an NGO representing some 1 million earth scientists around the world, President of the Canadian Quaternary Association, President of the Geological Association of Canada and President of the International Consortium on Landslides.

A popular global public speaker for the past 25 years he remains a much sought after and well-liked lecturer for the Smithsonian since 2004. His multi-disciplinary background and extensive travel to over 110 countries contribute to his unique, informative and enthusiastic speaking style. A born extrovert, with an easy going manner, Peter strives to understand and explain the crucial links between a diverse and dynamically changing Earth and the evolution of changing societies through history.

He divides his time between travel adventures and home life near Sidney by the Sea on Vancouver Island.

Katryn Wiese

Katryn Wiese is a professor of Geology and Oceanography at City College of San Francisco, where she has taught field, lab, and lecture classes since 1995. She studied Earth and Ocean Sciences at Caltech, Oregon State University, and Stanford University and focused her early research experiences on volcanic processes in Australia, Iceland, and the seafloor. Since then, she has journeyed worldwide as a scientist and field guide, gaining local geologic and oceanographic expertise across the U.S., Central and South America, Arctic and Antarctic locales, and a multitude of ocean island locations including the Azores, the Galapágos Islands, Palau, Tahiti, Fiji, and the Hawaiian Islands. In the classroom, in the field, or through her Earth Rocks! YouTube video channel, Katryn’s primary focus today is helping students of all ages and backgrounds recognize and understand the geologic and oceanographic phenomena that build and modify the landscape and impact our climate and society.