Albert Lin: The greatest secrets of our planets are waiting for us

In this feature, Dr. Albert Lin, Emerging Explorer of the National Geographic Society, shares with Imagine TV Network about entering the new age of exploration and joining the National Geographic Live team.

Imagine TV Network

An Emerging Explorer of the National Geographic Society in the field of technology-enabled exploration, Dr. Albert Lin is also a research scientist at the University of California, San Diego, and is an expert in merging exploration with crowd-sourced citizen science.

Sharing about the advantages of using cutting-edge technologies and crowd-sourcing platforms during expeditions, Lin remarks that each person is able to teleport themselves to "anywhere in the world at a resolution of about 0.3 meters/pixel" simply through the power of the data on their phones. "That's just crazy. If we can find innovative ways to sift through all that data, the greatest secrets of our planets are waiting for us."

Having been able to travel the world early in his life, he says he grew up with the National Geographic Magazine clutched in his hands and saw his travels as "one long National Geographic expedition." Referring to his upcoming National Geographic Live talk show, Chasing Ancient Mysteries: A Digital Expedition, in end August 2016, he shares that every talk is different and describes joining the team as a "powerful experience."

He believes the best way to share an important story is in person and while every talk is different, he says "it all comes down to the moment when the shaman drums are beating and I can feel the authenticity of the moment on stage as if I were right back there on the side of the sacred mountains."

Technology, Lin says, has enabled us to enter a new age of exploration. Even though he agrees that technology has changed the idea and concept of exploring and going on expeditions, he views it as a continuous evolution, one that is more inclusive of its participants. "In the past century, scientific curiosity and exploration [were] a privilege of the rich. Now we are connected, in a way, to more information and resources [than] in any time in human history."

For him, the most exciting thing for him is to witness the role the global community has and can have in exploration. He adds, "I think we are only at the beginning of how we engage our networked connectivity to change the landscape of how science and exploration [are] conducted."

Chasing Ancient Mysteries with Albert Lin, a National Geographic Live talk show, will be held at the concert hall of Esplanade Theaters on the Bay in Singapore on 30th August 2016. Tickets can be purchased via https://www.esplanade.com/events/2016/chasing-ancient-mysteries-with-albert-lin.