Bio

Eric Wartenweiler Smith is a research vessel captain and scientific diver who likes to share his excitement for scientific exploration, and the creative processes that drive and inspire many explorers.

Having participated in the discovery and excavation of sunken Egyptian Cities and historic shipwrecks, developed  new tools for finding un-exploded bombs, and supervised world record setting dives into volcano crater lakes for NASA, he often gets to interview explorers in the field and ask them what made them get up off the couch and go do such crazy things.

He speaks to diverse groups at universities, museums, and cultural institutions and has appeared in documentary films on he Discovery Channel, History Channel, in radio interviews on NPR and the BBC.

Eric lives in Key West Florida with his wife, artist Teresa Willis. Oh yeah, his mother is Swiss. That's why he has a funny name.

To get in touch, email Eric here.

Victor Robles Bravo took this picture. on the edge of Laguna Negra in the Chilean Andes during the 2013 NASA Planetary Lake Lander Expedition.