Roxanne Beltran, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, is among 50 people from around the world being honored this year for “doing remarkable work to promote science and exploration.”
Beltran, who studies species interactions and global change in the open ocean, through the lens of marine mammal movement and demography, was named to the 2025 class of the “Explorers Club 50: Fifty People Changing the World that the World Needs to Know About.” The New York-based Explorers Club is a multidisciplinary, professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration and resource conservation.
Beltran’s research leverages the six-decade mark-recapture program of northern elephant seals at Año Nuevo Natural Reserve, along with environmental metrics and biologging data to understand the role of individual variation in ecological patterns and evolutionary processes. The Beltran Lab integrates research with education activities to foster a highly collaborative community of undergraduate and graduate students, technicians, and postdoctoral researchers.
Beltran also advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM—particularly in field settings—by undertaking and implementing research on education equity.
In response to this recognition of her work, Beltran said she feels incredibly lucky that her research has taken her from the Galapagos to the Arctic circle and down to the sea ice of Antarctica. She recounted how, when she was a graduate student, she had the privilege of visiting Antarctica seven times to collect data on the behavior, survival, and physiology of Weddell seals.
“My research involved traveling many miles on the sea ice in snow machines, and flying vast distances in helicopters, searching for individually tagged seals so I could keep track of where the seals spent their time and when,” Beltran said. “I’ll never forget the magic of seeing orcas and penguins exploring ice cracks as the sun moved closer and closer to the horizon near the end of the Antarctic summer, casting colorful shadows on the ice below. I have crisp memories of the serene silence punctuated occasionally by the vocalizations of the seal pups calling out for their moms. These experiences motivated me to keep exploring, and I feel lucky to be able to tackle important scientific and societal challenges alongside my lab group.”
Other new members of the Explorers Club 50 (EC50) announced on January 31 include a young indigenous leader regenerating rainforests and securing food sovereignty for his community; an ice-core scientist, high-altitude mountaineer studying the history of the climate and sea ice while working to increase diversity in STEM fields; and an ocean scientist rebuilding degraded coral reefs around the world using cutting-edge 3D printing technology.
EC50 was established to reflect the great diversity of individuals on the cutting edge of exploration around the world and to help amplify the voices of these changemakers. Members of The Explorers Club have been the first humans to the North Pole,South Pole, the summit of Mount Everest, the deepest point in the ocean, and the surface of the moon. Notable members include Teddy Roosevelt, Kathryn Sullivan, Jeff Bezos, Walter Cronkite, James Cameron, Neil Armstrong, Jane Goodall, Edmund Hillary, John Glenn, Sally Ride, and Bob Ballard.
Visit EC50 online for the full list of 2025 honorees.
