Speaker
GEORGE KOUROUNIS
GEORGE KOUROUNIS

Canadian explorer, RGS & FRCGS

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Participating session
SESSION 3
23.06.2022
Topic:

George Kourounis is an explorer, storm chaser & TV presenter who has spent 25 years documenting extreme forces of nature and natural phenomena worldwide including tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, avalanches, and the effects of climate change. Best known for having hosted the Canadian TV series “Angry Planet” he also co-hosted “Storm Hunters” for The Weather Network and is a regular on-camera contributor for “Strange Evidence” & “What On Earth?” on Science Channel. He’s appeared in programs for Discovery, Smithsonian Channel, Netflix, most of the major TV networks, and is frequently invited to comment about global weather & natural disasters by CNN, BBC, CBC, and other news outlets. George earned a Guinness World Record for being the first person to ever set foot at the bottom of the Darvaza “Doorway To Hell” flaming gas crater in remote Turkmenistan, the project was funded by a National Geographic science grant and was also filmed for Nat Geo television. He holds the title of Explorer In Residence with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and is a member of The Society of Environmental Journalists and the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. In 2014 he was awarded the Stefansson Medal from the Explorers Club Canadian Chapter "For outstanding contribution to science and to public education by documenting extreme environments through filmmaking.” George served as the Canadian Chapter Chair of The Explorers Club Canadian Chapter for 4 years & was awarded the Leif Erikson Exploration Award from the Exploration Museum in Iceland in 2020 He frequently is asked to speak at events including 5 TEDx talks, the Global Exploration Summit in Portugal, and the United Nations Environmental Emergencies forum in Oslo, Norway.