Venture Philanthropy Gives Rise to the New Columbus

The global economic situation is having an impact on how governments finance research into the continued advancement of science. As a result, venture philanthropy is picking up the gauntlet and the bill as it finances an expedition to reach the deepest spot in the ocean, called the Challenger Deep. Billionaires Richard Branson and Eric Schmidt, who are behind Virgin and Google respectively, are investing in this program where the outcome promises to be a scientific catalyst in ocean exploration, discovery and knowledge.

The Challenger Deep lies at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, seven miles below the surface of the South Pacific. Over the next year, venture philanthropy moguls Branson and Schmidt plan to send a new generation of high-tech submersibles designed to withstand the extreme pressure and cold of such depths. They join an elite group of deep ocean pioneers, which includes Avatar director James Cameron, who share a belief that the oceans offer exciting possibilities for human exploration and scientific research. The aim for Deepsearch is a serious initiative to build a world asset capable of providing scientists with unlimited access to the deep ocean.

The scheme is collaborative, and because it is funded by venture philanthropy it provides an ideal way for anyone to contribute to this research, irrespective of whether they are billionaires or armchair explorers. They all have the opportunity to be a part of the project and to make a difference. This work and the knowledge collected will help to preserve large areas of ocean as a "blue bank account," assuring protection from destructive, extractive processes and providing hope for the restoration of now depleted fisheries, damaged coral reefs and ravaged sea floors. This science platform will allow direct human observation and understanding of these vast unexplored areas.

The lack of government funding worldwide into science has spurred other intrepid entrepreneurs who have the resources and drive to undertake other such challenges to explore new worlds. NASA, which is on hold for the foreseeable future, has left the final frontier to venture philanthropy efforts of Elon Musk's Space X rocket start-up. While, attempts to revive exploration of the moon have been commissioned by private companies.

Nat De Rothschild has funded venture philanthropy and made a career of exploring ecological challenges and using his wealth to popularise environmental issues. He is the youngest heir to the fortune of one of Europe's oldest and most respected banking families, and has journeyed across Antarctica and explored the Greenland ice cap to witness the consequences of climate change firsthand. In 2005 he launched Adventure Ecology, an organisation and a website that tracks his travels to inspire people to work for positive change for the planet. So, it seems that Branson and Schmidt are our very own 21st Century "Columbus,'" opening up the world deep below the oceans.

Photo Credit: Virgin Oceanic Website