About our membership
George “Bud” Antonelis, FN'21
Chapter Vice-Chair
Bud Antonelis worked for NOAA as a marine research biologist for 34 years and retired in January 2010. He studied marine mammals in arctic, temperate, and tropical ecosystems. As the Chief of the Protected Species Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu for the last 14 years of his career, much of his work focused on the conservation and recovery of the critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal. In that position he also oversaw research on whales, dolphins, and marine turtles. In his retirement, he served for 12 years as the Board Chair of Nā Kama Kai, a premier non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring our youth, the explorers of the future, to embrace the importance of natural resource conservation and stewardship.
Bud has 43 peer-reviewed publications and has given hundreds of talks at professional meetings and educational institutions. He received his PhD in Marine Science from Nagasaki University.
His lifelong interests have aligned with the objectives of the Explorers Club and his ongoing Board membership with Nā Kama Kai clearly fulfills the Club’s vision for future exploration. He strongly endorses the Explorers Club objectives “to sponsor educational programs and educational facilities that promote exploration; to foster interest in exploration and scientific research.” As a member of the Explorers Club-Hawai`i Chapter, he promotes programs with other members of the club to inspire Hawaiʻi’s keiki to become instinctually curious, thrive on the thrill of discovery and become passionate stewards of our precious natural resources.
Carl J. Berg, FN’82
Chapter Member
Carl J. Berg has an extensive research background in marine biology, pioneering in the 1970s using an underwater habitat off Puerto Rico and the deep submersible ALVIN to research deep sea communities at hydrothermal vents.
While at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, he did studies on population recruitment on the Georges bank and population genetics of squid. There he developed techniques and taught classes on the aquaculture of marine invertebrates for both research and sustainable food production.
Working in the Caribbean with the Florida Dept. of Natural Resources he led a towed-diver population study of the Queen Conch from Miami to Key West, the largest research diving operation at that time. He also researched aquaculture, larval dispersal and recruitment of the conch throughout the Caribbean to understand sustainability of its widespread fisheries.
Moving to Hawaii in 1990, his research has focused on Hawaiian watershed management. The large EPA Watershed Initiative funded study of the Hanalei watershed was a multidisciplinary effort that set the tone for studies throughout Hawaii looking at land management practices and how they affect streams, rivers and nearshore coral reefs. For that he was awarded an Environmental Achievement Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a Certificate of Recognition by the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force and DLNR’s Hawaii’s Living Reef Award.
More recent research has involved restoration of wetlands at Niumalu and at Alakoko Fishpond and monitoring pollution levels in Kauai’s streams. His innovative research identified pesticide pollution in native streams from large scale agriculture and human wastewater from cesspools. The pesticide glyphosate was found in honey from bee hives associated with GMO agriculture.
Currently working with Surfrider Foundation, more than 150,000 pounds of marine debris are being collected from Kauai’s shores each year and research is showing the effects of ocean dynamics on the flow and distribution of this debris from its source.
Concurrent with these research programs, Carl established Hawaiian Wildlife Tours, for 20 years leading private and exclusive ecotours on Kauai, highlighting Hawaii’s endemic flora and fauna
Gary Bowersox, FN'95
Chapter Chair
Gary Bowersox traveled around the world on funds he personally earned three days after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from Western Michigan University. He returned from his around-the-world trip to continue his studies with a Master’s degree in business administration. He then joined the US Army where he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, Captain and Major. His last assignment was as the Chief of Operations for the US Army Audit Agency Pacific with offices in Hawaii, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Okinawa and Vietnam.
After his career in the US Army, Gary purchased a jewelry store in Waikiki, Hawai`i. He studied gemstones for three years while operating what became a four-store chain of jewelry stores. He then sold his ownership in the stores and founded a wholesale gemstone business which has now been operating for over 56 years as The Gem Hunters Corporation (GHC).
As President of GHC, Gary has traveled the world searching for gemstones. In 2021, he completed 50 consecutive years exploring Afghanistan and teaching the Afghans how to discover gem materials, mine the stones and sell the gems. Part of his work was paid for by contracts with USAID, World Bank and the German Government.
Gary has provided thousands of lecturers and interviews around the world both, in both private and public. He has written three books and appeared as the main character in a documentary film titled The Gem Hunter.”
Gary has led two Explorer Club Flag Expeditions thru Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Central Asia.
Gary is a founding member of the Explorers Club Hawaii Chapter.
Michael S. Bruno, FN'02
Chapter Member
Michael Bruno is a Professor of Ocean Engineering at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and formerly served as Provost of the university. Prior to his appointment, he was the Dean of the School of Engineering and Science, and Professor of Ocean Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. He was also the Director of the Center for Maritime Security, a Department of Homeland Security National Center of Excellence.
Michael is an Honorary Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at University College London. His research and teaching interests include ocean observation systems, climate change, and community resilience. He is the author of more than 100 technical publications in various aspects of these fields, including the book, The Urban Ocean, published by Cambridge University Press in 2018. He has served on numerous advisory committees and boards, including the Board of Visitors of the US Coast Guard Academy; Chair of the Marine Board of the National Academies; the Ocean Research Advisory Panel; and the Naval Research Advisory Committee.
A Fulbright Scholar, Michael is also a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He received the Denny Medal from the Institute of Marine Engineering in 2007, the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in 1991, and the Outstanding Service Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1988. Michael holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, a M.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a PhD degree in Civil and Ocean Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science & Engineering.
Michael is a founding member of the Explorers Club Hawaii Chapter.
William Chapman, FN'16
Board Chair/Elected Director
Bill Chapman is Professor of Architecture and Director of the Graduate program in Historic Preservation in the School of Architecture, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Educated at Columbia (M.S. in Historic Preservation, 1978) and at Oxford University in England (D.Phil. in Anthropology, 1982), he specializes in architectural recording, the history of historic preservation, and materials conservation.
A four-time Fulbright Scholar, Bill has traveled extensively throughout the Pacific and Asia and has served as a lecturer at Silpakorn, Kasetsart, and Chulalongkorn Universities in Thailand and at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He is widely published in scholarly journals and has written on subjects ranging from the historic Volcano House Hotel in Hawai‘i to the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. His most recent publication is Architectural Conservation in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands (New York: Routledge, 2024).
In 2011, Bill received the Frank Haines Award for Lifetime Contributions to Historic Preservation from the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation and in 2025, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by DOCOMOMO US. Since 2016 he has been a Fellow of the Explorers Club of New York in recognition of his many projects abroad.
Bill is a founding member of the Explorers Club Hawaii Chapter.
Lynn Danaher, MED’05
Chapter Member
Lynn Danaher spent her life around the marine environment. She studied Polynesian pre-history at the University of Hawaii, but most of what she has learned has been through self-study. Lynn owns an extensive library on Oceanic culture, art and history.
In 1970, Lynn’s spirit of adventure took her to Alaska, spent 5 years homesteading, 14 years as a commercial fisherman and raised a family. She has explored most of the coastline of Alaska and Canada to Seattle. Participated in an archaeological expedition in Alaska to assess the long-term damage of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, which qualified her for The Explorers Clu.
Lynn left Alaska in 1994 and started a whale watch company in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. She has been a USCG Licensed Master and Dive Master for 30+ years. She’s the founder of the Pacific Islands Research Institute (islandexplorer.org) and the Friday Harbor Film Festival (fhff.org) Former chair of the TEC PNW Chapter for 2 years, served 6 years on The Explorers Club Board of Directors, now Chair of the HQ Building Committee. Lynn was awarded the Sweeney Medal in 2024 for her service to the club and its mission. Her focus has always been to preserve the legacy and integrity of our club.
Lynn worked aboard expedition ships across the Pacific, as an expedition guide/zodiac driver for 8 years. She traveled to all seven continents, voyaging the length and breadth of the Pacific Ocean, from Siberia to Antarctica and Hawaii to New Zealand, crossed both the Arctic and Antarctic Circle.
With her range of experience and along with fellow explorers she coordinated 8 Flag Expeditions in Oceania, PNG, Easter Island, 2x, Raivavae, 2x, Marquesas, Pohnpei, Kosrae. See islandexplorer.org for all the reports. Plus, she participated in 5 canoeing flag expeditions in Canada, and Montana.
She is dedicated to renovating historic buildings in Hawaii and Washington State. Lynn was honored with a Stewardship Award by the San Juan Island Community for her historical renovations, which maintained the buildings architectural integrity all while using sound environmental practices. Lynn holds a contractor’s license in Hawaii and is currently Director Emeritus of The Explorers Club..
Joe Ferraro, FN'19
Chapter Member Emeritus
Joe Ferraro co-founded Ferraro Choi And Associates in February 1988. Reflecting his expertise in the design of sustainable remote science and education facilities, he is the Architect for several notable Antarctic projects including the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, the Albert Crary Science and Engineering Technology Center at McMurdo Station, and Principal Peer Review Architect for Russia’s Vostok Station. Locally he was the architect for the University of Hawai`i’s Information Technology Center at the Mānoa Campus and he is the associate architect for the design of NOAA’s Inouye Regional Center on Ford Island as well as many other projects for NOAA, the NSF, and the USDA’s Forest Service.
Joe achieved recognition as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 2008 for his significant contribution to environmentally sustainable professional practice. He has served as an adjunct advisor and juror for the University of Hawai`i School of Architecture and the Honolulu AIA Design Awards program. His work has been featured in The New York Times as well as Hawaii Business, Hawai`i Architect, Dwell, Wired, Interiors, and Science magazines.
Alan FriedLander, FN’17
Chapter Member
Over the past four decades, Dr. Alan Friedlander has spent > 12,000 hours underwater—from coral reefs to the poles and to depths of thousands of meters. Alan recently retired as Chief Scientist for the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas program and is currently an affiliate researcher at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawai‘i. He leads research efforts to help understand and conserve iconic, special places in the ocean and is an expert in marine ecology, fisheries, and conservation. His work on marine protected areas ranges from small locally community-managed areas to some of the largest protected areas on the planet. Alan has over 300 peer-reviewed publications, which have been cited over 20,000 times. Alan has led over 50 expeditions to some of the last wild places in the ocean, which has resulted in the creation of 30 large marine protected areas encompassing more then 7 million square kilometers.
Alan started his career in the early 1980s in the Kingdom of Tonga working on sustainable small-scale fisheries. Following this, he obtained an MS in Oceanography from Old Dominion University working on coastal fisheries in Puerto Rico. He then worked for the territorial fisheries agency and the National Park Service in the US Virgin Islands where he conducted research on coral reefs throughout the Caribbean. Alan received his Ph.D. from the University of Hawai‘i and was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Explorers Club.
Kay Kolt-Bowersox, FN'95
Elected Director
Kay Kolt-Bowersox is a world traveler, having flown around the world as a flight attendant and purser for over 40 years. Her main interest was collecting ancient masks specializing in Papua New Guinea and Asia. She traveled through all of New Guinea and the Sepik River collecting masks and artifacts, even managing to win a fishing tournament catching a Marlin with a lure she brought from Hawaii.
Kay was president of the statewide Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club, during which time she organized fishing tournaments - her favorite being the Juniors Tournament, which was free to all the children who participated. She fished around the world competitively and broke a women's world record in Costa Rica. She also organized The Flying Fishing Freaks Tournament for all airline employees around the world to participate in --- in Kailua-Kona Hawaii, best marlin fishing in the flattest water!
Now Kay devotes her time to working with her husband, Gary Bowersox, The Gem Hunter. Her favorite travel destination is Sri Lanka, where they find sapphires, tourmaline. rose quartz, alexandrite, rubies and spinel. Her worst trip was traveling with Gary to Afghanistan. She also traveled to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan exploring for gemstones. She has lived in Hawaii for 34 years.
Kay is a founding member of the Explorers Club Hawaii Chapter.
Marc Langevin, FN'23
Chapter Member
Marc Langevin is a retired US Marine Corps Reserve Colonel who owns his own company, training international partner militaries and law enforcement for the US Government. Originally from Connecticut, he moved to Hawai`i in 1995 and lives in Kailua with his wife, a former US Coast Guard helicopter pilot, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Humanitarian Assistance coordinator and now a Civil Military advisor to USINDOPACOM.
Certified as a PADI Open Water Diver in 1989, Marc is a military diver, technical rebreather diver, PADI Public Safety Diver Instructor and owned a dive shop in Kaka’ako during the early 2000s. He developed the PADI Exploration Diver: Archaeology Specialty course and taught it to students during the 2024 Menorca Shipwreck Project Expedition and field school. With his background as a Naval Aviator (US Marine helicopter pilot) and then special operations Force Reconnaissance Commanding Officer, he is experienced and adept at working in high-risk environments. He had multiple combat tours in Iraq, is military free-fall qualified and completed a 29-year career as Chief of Staff of a Department of Defense Joint Task Force specializing in helping stem the flow of international crime and counternarcotics throughout the Asia-Pacific.
Marc completed an expedition diving on multibeam sonar contacts in the Elbe River in Germany in the summer of 2025. He is part of a team of explorers searching for historical shipwrecks throughout the world and has served as the Lead Diver and Safety Officer on various Explorers Club Flag expeditions.
karin K. Lynn, FN’05
Chapter Member
Karin Lynn spent 30 years as a civil and ocean engineer for the US Navy. Graduating from the Navy’s deep-sea diving school as a lieutenant, she went on to specialize in diving and underwater systems. Her early work involved test and evaluation of state-of-the-art underwater ship husbandry equipment. Her follow-on experience in ocean-related technologies and environments included planning, programming and operations of underwater systems, applying her in-depth knowledge at advanced research and development laboratories at other Navy organizations.
Karin’s specific experience included under-ice diving in support of naval arctic operations, and duty as the Navy’s senior program manager for its underwater construction and ocean facilities engineering programs. There, she was responsible for major design and engineering programs with far-reaching effects on technical expertise in headquarters, laboratories and operational units. Individual projects varied from scientific diving in support of forensic research of the ship condition of USS Arizona with the National Park Service’s Submerged Cultural Resources Unit, to hands-on planning, programming, budgeting and operations of a multi-million-dollar underwater project with chief of naval operations interest.
Karin completed her naval service as a captain, serving as an inspector general for a major Navy Command. In retirement she has served on boards or otherwise actively participated in the operations of a number of non-profit organizations in support of their missions and objectives. She is an inaugural member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame, whose mission is not only to recognize outstanding women divers but more importantly to further understanding and science of the ocean and other underwater habitats through grants, scholarships, internships, and mentoring.
Karin is a founding member of the Explorers Club Hawaii Chapter.
Jerrod Melander, FN’25
Chapter Secretary
Jerrod Melander is a lieutenant colonel in the US Army and is currently Deputy Commander of the 130th Engineer Brigade at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, advising on facilities, construction, operations, innovation, modernization, international engagement, and policy. In this role Jerrod, among several other actions, facilitates filed testing of new and innovative technologies in expeditionary environments for Soldiers conducting construction, diving, watercraft, and geospatial data collection operations. Prior to this, he served as Professor of Military Science (PMS) at the University of Hawaii, responsible for Army ROTC operations across several institutions and commissioning 120 new officers. His earlier roles included Facilities and Construction Chief in the Engineer Directorate at U.S. Army Pacific Command, overseeing multi-billion-dollar construction and modernization programs.
Jerrod’s career encompasses key leadership roles in the Office of the Program Manager – Saudi Arabian National Guard, where he guided engineering, construction, contract management, and logistical operations for a large multinational team. At the Memphis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he managed operations and training for over 430 civilians and military personnel, focusing on workforce development and emergency management.
In Korea, Jerrod programmed facilities and construction for Eighth Army’s $10 billion consolidation at Camp Humphreys and planned engineering force structures to support U.S. and Combined Forces operations. His diverse assignments also include brigade and battalion leadership roles in Iraq, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, and Kuwait. He briefly worked as a civil engineer in the private sector in Fort Worth, Texas.
Academically, Jerrod holds a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy and a Master’s in Engineering Management from Missouri S&T. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and certified Project Management Professional. His military education is extensive, and his awards include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal (five times), and several commendations and badges.
Outside the Army, Jerrod is a dedicated family man, Eagle Scout, and has committed to a service-oriented mindset and. He enjoys continuous learning, scuba diving, travel, hiking, coin collecting, and supporting his children’s interests. He has lived overseas for over eight years and visited 48 states. He aspires to hike the Appalachian Trail post-retirement from the Army.
Ronald B. Tobias, FN’04
Chapter Tresurer
Ronald B Tobias is a documentary filmmaker and writer who specializes in natural history. He’s had produced, written, and/or directed twenty films for worldwide television including the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, T(he) L(earning) C(hannel), National Geographic, national and regional PBS in the United States, and broadcasters in Sweden, Germany, France, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, and Italy. His work centered primarily in the Amazon, Russia and its former satellite states, West Papua New Guinea, and North America. He founded and was the initial director of the graduate program in Science and Natural History Filmmaking at Montana State University where he is a professor emeritus. He’s written eleven books with Penguin/Random House, Little Brown, Vanguard, HarperCollins, and others including Behemoth: The History of the Elephant in America, Films and the American Moral Vision of Nature, and the forthcoming Confessions of a Cannibal.
He completed a mega-transect of South America, retracing the voyages of Alexander von Humboldt (1799-1801) from Caracas, Venezuela, going up the length of the Orinoco River (flowing north) going down the entire length of Rio Negro to Manaus and then west to the headwaters of the Amazon (Solimöes) in Peru.
He also retraced the final days of Michael Rockefeller before he was eaten by Asmat warriors in West Papua New Guinea in 1960.
James Sturz, FN'22
Elected Director
James Sturz is an author and journalist, with a particular focus on the ocean and exploration. He has published two novels -- Underjungle, set entirely underwater, and Sasso, set in the caves of Basilicata, Italy, along with entries in several anthologies, including Italy: The Best Travel Writing from The New York Times and National Geographic’s The Traveler’s Atlas of the World, for which he covered many of the Pacific island nations. James’ reporting has additionally appeared in The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Men’s Journal, New York Magazine, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Afar, Scuba Diving, and Sport Diver, among many others, and his journalism and fiction have been published in 18 countries and translated into nine languages. From 2015 to 2018, he wrote a 32-entry column for Coastal Living about building a house on the Big Island, where he now lives.
James graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University and is also a PADI Divemaster, ice diver, and free diver. As a lecturer and keynote speaker, he has presented at the Mystic Seaport Museum, New Jersey Maritime Museum, Kauai Writers Conference, Big Island Book Fest, and at Mauna Kea Resort, as well as before the Society of American Travel Writers, American Society of Journalists and Authors, and at numerous bookstores, book festivals, and dive shops across the country and Europe. He has appeared on television and radio in the US, England, Italy, Germany, and China as well as on myriad podcasts.
John Wehrheim, 08/20
Chapter Supporter
John is an award-winning American photographer, writer and filmmaker best known for his arresting portraiture and documentation of unique subjects such as the Hawai‘i hippie community “Taylor Camp” and the country of Bhutan. He currently lives on the island of Kaua‘i with his family.
First traveling to Hawai‘i on assignment for the Sierra Club Bulletin in 1969, Wehrheim photographed and wrote a series of articles entitled “Paradise Lost.”
He subsequently worked in a number of different capacities, including as a studio advertising photographer, high-school teacher, part-time college lecturer, diver and farmer. Farming drew John into agricultural development and engineering – specifically designing and developing irrigation systems after the closure of Hawai‘i’s sugar and pineapple plantations. He was a pioneer in banana and papaya farming on Kaua‘i and eventually became a hydropower and utility design consultant throughout the Pacific and Asia.
John worked for the Kaua‘i Historical Society and Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and Arts, photographing plantation-era architecture, scenes and people, part of which was published as The Kaua‘i Album, a book of historic architecture by the Kaua‘i Historical Society.
In 1991, he traveled to the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan as a hydropower consultant. He began to document the Bhutanese people and landscapes in his signature black-and-white style and continued to do so on subsequent trips for the next sixteen years. He later produced a documentary film about the country, Bhutan: Taking the Middle Path to Happiness, which was released in 2007 to critical acclaim. In 2010, the film won two Northern California Area Emmy® Awards for Best History/Culture and Best Music.
John’s photography has been featured in solo exhibits in Hawai‘i, Prague, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Bratislava, Bangkok, and Thimphu. His work has appeared in numerous publications around the world, including the Sierra Club Bulletin, Geo, MARE, Der Spiegel, The Tibet Journal (India), MAGNUS (Czech Republic), FORBES Czech, Smithsonian Magazine, Honolulu Magazine, Huffington Post, London Daily Mail, Slate, Buzz Feed, Trip, The Sun, SF Gate, Honolulu Civil Beat, The Surfer’s Journal, and others..
