Earle was a
Radcliffe Institute Scholar (1967–1969) and a
research fellow at
Harvard University (1967–1981). After receiving her Ph.D. in 1966, she spent a year as a research fellow at Harvard, then returned to Florida as the resident director of the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory. Earle was a research associate at the
University of California, Berkeley (1969–1981). In 1969, she applied to join the
Tektite Project, an installation fifty feet below the surface of the sea off the coast of the
Virgin Islands which allowed scientists to live submersed in their area of study for up to several weeks. Although she had logged more than 1,000 research hours underwater, Earle was rejected from the program. The next year, she was selected to lead the first all-female team of
aquanauts in
Tektite II. Earle was the Curator of
Phycology at the
California Academy of Sciences (1979–1986). In 1979, she made an open-ocean
JIM suit dive, untethered, to the sea ocean floor near
Oahu. She set the women's depth record of which still holds to date. In 1979 she also began her tenure as the Curator of Phycology at the
California Academy of Sciences, where she served until 1986. In 1985, the Deep Ocean Engineering team designed and built the
Deep Rover research submarine, which operates down to . By 1986,
Deep Rover had been tested and Earle joined the team conducting training off Lee Stocking Island in
the Bahamas. In 1998, Earle received the title
National Geographic Explorer in Residence and now holds the title 'Explorer at Large'. She is sometimes called "Her Deepness" or "The Sturgeon General". In 2001, Earle received the
National Parks Conservation Association's Robin W. Winks Award For Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks. Earle founded
Mission Blue (also known as the Sylvia Earle Alliance, Deep Search Foundation, and Deep Search) in 2009. In 2009, she also received the 100k TED prize which allowed her to continue her ocean advocacy work. Earle made a cameo appearance in the daily
cartoon strip Sherman's Lagoon in the week starting September 17, 2012, to discuss the closing of the
Aquarius Underwater Laboratory. In May 2013, the
Science Laureates of the United States Act of 2013 (H.R. 1891; 113th Congress) was introduced into Congress. Earle was listed by one commentator as a possible nominee for the position of Science Laureate, if the act were to pass. In January 2018, the
Seattle Aquarium granted its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to Earle and renamed the Seattle Aquarium Medal in her honor. The Aquarium's first Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Earle. Alongside her work at Mission Blue, she also serves on several boards, including the Marine Conservation Institute. With TED's support, she launched Mission Blue, which aims to establish
marine protected areas (dubbed "Hope Spots") around the globe. Mission Blue's vision is to achieve 30% protection of the ocean by 2030, and more than two hundred organisations have supported them in this mission to date (2019). These supporters range from large, global companies to small, bespoke research teams. With Mission Blue and its partners, Earle leads expeditions to
Hope Spots around the globe. The organization has continued to grow with Earle's work and the help of her team. As of 2020, Mission Blue has created 122 Hope Spots around the world. Past expeditions include
Cuba in 2009,
Belize in January 2010, the
Galápagos Islands in April 2010,
Costa Rica and the Central American Dome in early 2014 and the South African Coast in late 2014. A series of geographic information StoryMaps are available through ESRI's ArcGIS which illustrate examples of Mission Blue hope spots around the world in great detail including: 1 Tribugá Gulf Hope Spot, 2 Little Cayman Hope Spot, and 3 Galápagos National Park Expedition. In August 2014, a
Netflix exclusive documentary titled 'Mission Blue' was released. It focuses on Earle's life and career as her Mission Blue campaign to create a global network of
marine protected areas. In 2016, Earle appeared in the
featurette Plankton Rules the World!, which coincided with
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. The featurette was shown at the
Arlington Theater in
Santa Barbara. In the 2019 article "California Seamounts Are Sylvia Earle's Newest 'Hope Spots'" featured in Hakai Magazine, Hope Spots are described as "areas critical to the health of the ocean for any number of reasons: an abundance or diversity of species, a unique habitat or ecosystem, or significant cultural or economic value to a community". Seamounts are also described as destinations for mining companies searching for undersea precious metals. In January 2020,
Aurora Expeditions announced their second ship would be named
The Sylvia Earle after the marine biologist. Earle is one of the supporters of the 30X30 movement which aims to protect 30% of seawaters by 2030 and which would be a significant increase from only 6% (as of 2021). She supports the introduction of the crime of
ecocide to the
International Criminal Court, stating, "There is a real case to be made for recognising ecocide in the International Criminal Court right along with genocide. Our existence is on the line". In June 2024, DENR Secretary
Toni Yulo-Loyzaga convened a
dialogue with Earle, Ambassador
MaryKay Carlson and Senator
Loren Legarda, inter alia, to advocate Philippine
Marine Biodiversity Protection and Conservation. Earle, as token gifted Loyzaga with copy of her
Ocean: A Global Odyssey. She dived in
Verde Island Passage with DENR divers and marine scientists campaigning for its conservation as
marine protected area. Her Mission Blue named the VIP as a "Hope Spot" in July 2023. In June 2024, Earle was also announced as a member of the Advisory Board of
Climate Cardinals, one of the world's largest youth-led climate organizations. One of the main protagonists in the novel
Playground is a marine biologist who is loosely based on Earle. ==Accomplishments and honors==