Speakers Bureau

Inspire, Challenge, Motivate

National Geographic Speakers Bureau represents the world’s boldest Explorers, scientists, photographers and storytellers. These tailor-made experiences inspire, challenge and motivate audiences — from dynamic corporate keynotes to unforgettable gala evenings. Contact us today to bring the world to your private event.

Available Speakers

Showing 6 of 6 results

Ariel Waldman

Adventure, Climate Change, Leadership, Science, Space, Storytelling

Ariel Waldman is a National Geographic Explorer and filmmaker. Her expeditions take her from tallgrass prairies and deep-sea canyons to the icy realms of Antarctica. In these remarkable places, she films otherworldly life beneath the surface, including the extraordinary lives of microscopic animals. Waldman is the creator and host of "UNEARTHED," an ongoing series on PBS that breaks open the boundaries of nature documentaries, exploring everything from microscopic creatures to the planet's most iconic animals—and even the possibilities of life beyond Earth. Waldman is also a TED speaker and author. For over a decade, she has served as an advisor to NASA on astrobiology, human spaceflight and advanced technologies. In 2013, she was honored by the Obama White House as a "Champion of Change" for her work in citizen science. She lives in San Francisco, California, and enjoys collaborating with researchers to illuminate the unseen corners of our world.

Babak Tafreshi

Science, Photography, Technology, Space

Babak Tafreshi is a science photojournalist and National Geographic Explorer who, since beginning astrophotography in the 1990s, has merged art and science through visual stories. Using photos, videos and 360 immersive media, he has documented breathtaking night scenes from all continents. Since 2007, Tafreshi has been directing a growing team of photographers in nearly 25 countries for “The World at Night” project. His other long-term projects are “Life at Night Atlas” (where, since 2023, he has documented the night-time ecosystem and impact of light pollution) and “From Above & Below” (where, since 2024, he has achieved coordinated Earth-space night photography). His imagery aims to reconnect humanity with the natural world, reveal the wonders of science to public, and connect cultures through common interest in the night sky. In 2009, he received the Lennart Nilsson Award, the world’s most recognized scientific imaging award at the time, and in 2022, he earned the Royal Photographic Society Award and the National Geographic Society’s Wayfinder Award. The International Astronomical Union named the minor planet 276163 — an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter—after Tafreshi, whose interest in astronomy began when he first saw the moon through a telescope as a child in Tehran, Iran.

Cody Paige

Space, Science

Cody Paige is the director of the Space Exploration Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, a team of students, faculty and staff building and flying advanced technology and innovative ideas for space exploration. From testing and prototyping research in the lab and on field expeditions in extreme environments, to testing in altered gravity on parabolic and suborbital flights in micro-, lunar, and Martian-gravity, the lab matures research for the realization of space exploration. Paige's Ph.D. project - a 3D camera for lunar surface exploration - will be landing near the lunar south pole in 2025 as part of MIT's return to the moon. Paige has conducted field work in the Arctic, the southwestern deserts of the United States, the Canary Islands, and will be working in Antarctica in late 2024. Paige began at MIT as a Fulbright Scholar and completed her Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics in 2023. Her research focused on enabling a permanent human presence on the moon through the development of wearable radiation shielding material and a virtual reality platform for geological surface exploration of the moon and Mars. Paige is also completing a Ph.D. in geology, specifically quaternary geochronology. She completed her Master of Applied Science in aerospace engineering at the University of Toronto and her Bachelor of Applied Science in engineering physics from Queen’s University. Paige holds her private pilot license in Canada, and is an avid rock climber, hiker and scuba diver.

Paolo Verzone

Climate Change, Photography, Adventure, Conservationism, Science, Space, Storytelling, Sustainability

For nearly thirty years, Paolo Verzone has been turning his lens on the world, building a body of work marked by depth, curiosity, and a sustained commitment to long-form storytelling. Over the course of his career, he has completed several ambitious long-term projects. Seeuropeans (1994–2002) brought together a portrait series of Europeans at the beach, while the Moscow Project — revisited across four decades in 1991, 2001, 2011, and 2021 — offers an intimate, evolving chronicle of Muscovite life. From 2009 to 2014, he photographed cadets at Europe's leading military academies, using the lives of young soldiers as a lens through which to explore contemporary European identity. The resulting book was published by French publisher La Martinière in 2014. Since 2009, Verzone has also turned his attention northward, pursuing scientific and environmental stories across the Arctic. The first chapter of this ongoing work was published in Spitzbergen, released by German publisher Mare Verlag in 2022. His editorial work has appeared in some of the world's most respected publications, including National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, Le Monde, The Independent, The Sunday Times, Wired, Vanity Fair, and Geo, among others. Verzone has received the World Press Photo award three times — in 2000, 2009, and 2015 — and was named Picture of the Year International in 2023. His photographs are held in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and the Istituto Nazionale della Grafica in Rome. He has been a Canon Ambassador since 2017, and in 2024 was named a National Geographic Explorer.

Tracy Drain

Space, Science

Tracy Drain is a systems engineer with a career steeped in deep space exploration. In her 20+ years in the aerospace field, she has helped to develop and/or operate robotic spacecraft including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Kepler mission in its hunt for exoplanets, the Juno mission orbiting Jupiter, and the Psyche mission on its way to an asteroid. Drain recently served as the lead flight systems engineer for the Europa Clipper mission slated to launch in October 2024. She has now taken on the role of “Launch to Mars” mission manager for Clipper—and will lead the operations team through the first four months of checkouts and the Mars flyby gravity assist, a key milestone in the spacecraft’s five-and-a-half-year journey to the Jovian system. A lifelong learner, Drain loves encouraging people to nurture their curiosity and explore the wonders that surround us. She serves on the planning committee for the National Academy of Science’s Science and Entertainment Exchange and on the advisory board of Arizona State University’s Interplanetary Initiative. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, mentoring, watching sci-fi, documentaries, and K-dramas, and studying languages (Spanish and Korean). She works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Tracy Drain is a recipient of the 2024 Wayfinder Award presented by Kia.

Ved Chirayath

Climate Change, Conservationism, Adventure, Resilience, Science, Space, Storytelling, Photography, Technology, Sustainability, Wildlife

I am a National Geographic Explorer and the G. Unger Vetlesen Professor of Earth Sciences, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. I direct the Aircraft Center for Earth Studies (ACES) at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric & Earth Science. My research focuses on inventing, developing, and testing next-generation sensing technologies for studying the natural world. Ultimately, my aim is to extend our capabilities for studying and protecting life on Earth as well as aid in the search for life elsewhere in the universe. I am the inventor of FluidCam, fluid lensing, MiDAR, NeMO-Net, and a plasma-actuated drone. I grew up in Southern California with a passion for NASA’s mission and space exploration. In 2003, a sophomore in high school, I modified a consumer digital camera and telescope to successfully detect an extra-solar planet, 150 light years away and roughly twice the size of Jupiter. Since then, my research interests have relied on the intersection of multiple disciplines including aeronautics, astrophysics, earth sciences, engineering, and optics. Formerly, I directed the NASA Laboratory for Advanced Sensing (LAS) as a tenured civil servant at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, CA for ten years. In 2024, I was selected as a Moore Inventor Fellow. In 2021, I was one of 30 finalists of 12,000 applicants for the NASA Astronaut Candidate Class of 2021. In 2020, I received the AGU Falkenberg Award for “contributions to the quality of life, economic opportunities, and stewardship of the planet through the use of Earth science information and to the public awareness of the importance of understanding our planet.” In 2019, my MiDAR invention was awarded a NASA Invention of the Year. In 2017, I received the NASA Early Career Award in recognition of “significant advances in aquatic remote sensing technology.” I am the recipient of the NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal for my work in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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