Kenneth Broad

Kenny Broad is an environmental anthropologist who studies the relationship between humans and their environment. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University in 1999 and in 2011 he was chosen as the Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year, with the late Wes Skiles. Broad was selected as a National Geographic 2006 Emerging Explorer and was elected a Fellow National of the Explorers Club in 2009. He is a licensed U.S. Coast Guard captain and commercial helicopter pilot. Since 1992, he has participated in over 20 National Geographic expeditions, including extreme scientific and filmmaking projects on every continent - from studying cocaine distribution patterns to tracking venomous snakes to exploring the deepest caves on the planet - to gather information that sheds light on little known environmental and cultural subjects. He has published dozens of interdisciplinary papers on social and natural science topics, and he regularly collaborates with ecologists, climatologists, hydrologists, psychologists, and a host of other scientists across unique disciplines. He served on the National Geographic Society Expeditions Council, is on the Nat Geo Live Speakers Bureau, and has traveled as an expert on many Nat Geo Expeditions travel excursions. Broad served as co-director of Columbia University Center for Research on Environmental Decisions for over 15 years. He is currently a professor of environmental science and policy and director of the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy at the University of Miami.