National Geographic Announces "Expedition Granted" Finalists

Way back in June, I posted about National Geographic’s Expedition Granted, a program that asked us – the general public – to submit our best ideas for adventurous projects that we’ve always dreamed of accomplishing. The goal was to find a worth project that pushed exploration in new directions. Applicants were asked to submit a short two-minute video explaining their expedition, and upload it to the Nat Geo website. This submissions have been collected throughout the summer, and now a team of judges has selected their finalists, and are asking us to vote for our favorites.

You can checkout all the finalists on the Expedition Granted website. They include all kinds of interesting projects, such as a plan to make a documentary about how climate change is creating massive floods in Bhutan, an attempt to end rhino poaching in Africa, and an examination of the health of the reef systems near some of the top surfing destinations in the world. The submissions were extremely varied, with ideas in a wide variety of fields including oceanography, medicine, education, technology, and more.

From here, Nat Geo is asking us to help select the winner. Between now, and September 29, we can all visit the Expedition Granted website to vote for our selection for the most deserving project. On September 30, the winner will be announced, and awarded the $50,000 prize to help fund the expedition.

The website has a leaderboard of which projects are currently getting the most votes, and as of this writing, it is a submission by a photo journalist named Josh Garcia to examine the most unique bioluminescent creatures on our planet. This includes things like blue squid, giant fireflies, glowing termite mounds, and so on. Josh’s video is quite entertaining, so it is easy to see why he is out in front at this stage.

But there is still plenty of time for everyone to cast their votes, with more than ten days left until the winner is decided. So, drop on by the website, take a look at the different projects, and help decide who will get the funds to launch their adventure.

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Kraig Becker

Kraig is an outdoor and adventure travel writer based in Nashville, TN. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to numerous online and print outlets, including Popular Mechanics, Gear Junkie, Outside Online, National Geographic, Digital Trends, Business Insider, TripSavvy, about.com, and of course The Adventure Blog.