Gobi – Dinosaur Hunter
Together with the Institute of Paleontology and Geology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, and supported by INFINITI Motor Company, The Explorers Club Hong Kong Chapter made groundbreaking advances in paleontological discovery through the use of advanced mapping and imaging technologies previously only used by NASA to better understand the geology of Mars.
The 35-person multidisciplinary team of Explorers Club members, paleontologists, geologists, and technology experts made many important and historic finds including evidence of at least three new dinosaur species, more than 250 new fossil locations, five entirely new areas previously not known to contain fossils, and hundreds of fossilized bones. The team’s material discoveries are currently being analyzed by IPG in their Ulaanbaatar laboratory, and the tech team is in process of reviewing mountains of data that is also expected to yield more new discoveries and certainly change the way paleontologists prospect for fossils in the future.
The Roy Chapman Andrews Centennial Expedition team will be awarded The Explorers Club’s prestigious Citation of Merit award for exploration and scientific accomplishments and in recognition of their “collaboration over conquest” methodology. The aware will be presented at this year’s Explorers Club Annual Dinner (ECAD).
The Hong Kong Chapter’s “collaboration over conquest” approach to exploration, and their groundbreaking use of NASA imaging and mapping technology to advance the field of paleontology, yielded historic results that would have been unimaginable in Andrews’ day.
Founded in New York City in 1904, members of The Explorers Club have been responsible for an illustrious series of famous firsts: First to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean, first to the surface of the moon. The Club will sometimes award one of its 202 iconic flags to expeditions with the greatest promise of making new scientific discoveries. Roy Chapman Andrews was the first member to carry a Club flag on an international expedition during his inaugural exploration of the Gobi. Nearly 100 years later our expedition was awarded the honor of carrying flag # 179, which has been in service since 1959 on expeditions all over the world including Mount Everest, the poles and the Amazon.
