Dyan DeNapoli

Dyan deNapoli's first penguin encounter occurred at the New England Aquarium when she was eight years old. Twenty-six years later she returned as an intern in the Penguin Department, and was soon hired as staff. In 2000, after 40,000 African penguins were threatened by an oil spill near Cape Town, she flew to South Africa to help supervise the rehabilitation efforts. More than 12,500 volunteers labored for three grueling months, ultimately saving 95% of the penguins, in what still stands as the largest and most successful animal rescue ever undertaken. Published by Simon & Schuster's Free Press in 2010, THE GREAT PENGUIN RESCUE was a Silver Award Winner in the 2010 Nautilus Book Awards, was named a "Must-Read" Book in the 2010 Massachusetts Book Awards, and was listed as "One of the best natural history books of 2010" by Library Journal. Dyan donates 20% of the proceeds from THE GREAT PENGUIN RESCUE to penguin rescue, research, and conservation groups. Dyan has spoken at four TEDx events, and also wrote and narrated a video about penguin conservation for TED-Ed. Her talk about the penguin rescue is featured on TED.com. These talks have had over 1 million views online. Known as The Penguin Lady, Dyan has been sharing her passion for these engaging seabirds with audiences worldwide for the last 25 years. She has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, including CNN's Situation Room, BBC Radio 5 Live, CBC Radio Canada, and Sierra Club Radio. She has been a penguin expert and guest lecturer for Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic on nature cruises to Antarctica and South Georgia Island. She has also traveled to the Galapagos Islands, the Falkland Islands, Chile, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa to work with, teach about, and observe penguins in the wild. To learn more, visit www.thepenguinlady.com.