Lorie Karnath

Travelling the world in search for answers

Swiss-American Lorie Karnath learned everything she needed to become a successful explorer during her studies in the USA. “Art history taught me how to look, biology how to understand, and business and economics how to start something in such a way that it actually is realized in the end,” she says.

Karnath began exploring nature at an early age and continued to do so throughout her life, never letting her career get in the way. “I wasn’t interested in bonuses, but I did want two or three months’ time off for my trips in search of unspoiled nature,” she explains.

Lorie Karnath has traveled the world in search of answers to some of the planet’s most elusive questions. She is a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and is involved in numerous philanthropic activities, focusing primarily on the realms of science and education.

In March 2009, Karnath became president of the stately Explorers Club in New York. This exclusive private club, founded in 1904, promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences. Members include Robert Peary (first on the North Pole, 1909), Roald Admundsen (first on the South Pole, 1911), Sir Edmund Hillary (first on the summit of Mount Everest, 1953) and Neil Armstrong (first on the moon, 1969).