The announcement was made last Sunday in New York, USA, during The Explorers Club's annual gala.

In its third edition, the initiative, which is co-organized by Expanding World (Portugal) and the New York Explorers Club, will count on the participation of over 50 explorers, pioneers, scientists and researchers from five continents.

After hosting the event last year, together with the city of Lisbon, the Azores now host the main program of GLEX'22, in an opportunity to highlight the archipelago's strategic positioning in the framework of knowledge, conservation, preservation and exploration of the planet.

"There is no better place to find out what will follow than an island that was once an empty space on the map, until it was found by brave explorers. This effort to fill empty spaces in maps is present in the history of the Azores and served as motivation for Portuguese explorers. From crossing the Atlantic to crossing the stars, we are on the verge of a new golden age of exploration," emphasized Richard Garriot, executive chairman of The Explorers Club, the oldest and most respected association of exploration leaders on the planet.

For his part, Manuel Vaz, the founder of the Expanding Group, also quoted in a statement, said it was "a huge satisfaction, but also a great responsibility, for the Expanding Group to continue to ensure the organization of the largest summit of explorers in the world, in Portugal, through this unique partnership with The Explorers Club".

Under the motto "What's Next?", GLEX'22 will include more than 40 presentation panels divided into four main themes: Oceans; Space Exploration; Nature Conservation and Climate Change; as well as the current and future Great Expeditions of our time.

Confirmed speakers
From astronauts to aquanauts, polar explorers and space scientists, volcanologists and Egyptologists, marine biologists and astronomers, astrophysicists and oceanographers, filmmakers and award-winning photographers, GLEX'22 will feature, for example, James B. Garvin, NASA's chief scientist for Mars exploration and current leader of the DAVINCI+ mission, which is headed for planet Venus.

But also Nicole Stott, a veteran NASA astronaut who spent four months in orbit over the two space missions she participated in. During this period, she painted the first watercolor in space (now on display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum) and participated in the first message exchange in orbit through Twitter. After retiring, Nicole followed her dream of becoming a full-time artist and created the Space for Art Foundation.

Other participants are: Austin Gallagher, award-winning marine biologist (the first one on Forbes 30 list), wildlife presenter, social entrepreneur and National Geographic explorer, who will talk about ocean conservation and his long research in the Bahamas, where he studied tiger sharks and discovered the world's largest seagrass meadow; conservationists Beverly and Dereck Jouberts, a French couple who have been celebrating nature and wildlife in documentaries, books and scientific magazines for more than 30 years and who have produced over 30 films for National Geographic, eight of which won Emmy awards. In Portugal, this couple will present their project "Rhinos Without Borders", which aims to move 100 rhinos from South Africa to Botswana, in order to save them from poaching, while creating a 'Gene's Noah's Ark' for this endangered species.

Confirmed at GLEX Summit 2022 are also scientists Glen Gowers and Oliver Vince, who will present "Basecamp Research", a biological data company that is revolutionizing protein discovery in biodiverse natural environments.

The debut of the "New Explorers" section is also noteworthy. It will bring a new generation of world explorers to the Azores, on a special day dedicated to "EC50", a program recently launched by The Explorers Club to show the work of its newest members, as well as to show how they are revolutionizing the world of exploration through the use of new technologies.

With sessions open to the public, the Global Exploration Summit will combine face-to-face presentations with worldwide streaming through GLEX's own digital channels.
GLEX Summit is an expanding world organization with the seal and curatorship of The Explorers Club of New York and the support of the Government of the Azores, Tourism of Portugal, Portuguese Space Agency – Portugal Space and the Mission Structure for the 5th Centenary of the First Circumnavigation.