Dear TEDsters

Welcome to the third anniversary of the TED Fellows program. When we began, our premise was that wed gather extraordinary young people from around the globe and add their unique voices to the TED community. We hoped the program would slingshot Fellows careers, opportunities and relationships. We believe its time to declare this experiment a resounding success. We currently have 65 active Fellows and Senior Fellows. So far, over the course of the program, weve elded 274 Fellows from 73 countries*, spanning eight classes: TED2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012; TEDGlobal 2009, 2010 and 2011; and TEDIndia. Here at TED2012, our Fellows include a civilization toolkit creator, a 2012 Oscar-nominated documentary lmmaker, a wartime photojournalist, boundary-challenging artists, a development critic, a computational architect, radical user-interface designers, appropriate technology inventors, a biomineralogist, an ecological network scientist, a tissue-engineering researcher, a space archaeologist, a whale biologist, human rights activists, NGO founders, an architect/computer scientist, breakthrough entrepreneurs and so many more. Amongst the larger group of Fellows, youll nd the founders and leaders of organizations like Kickstarter, African Leadership Academy, Embrace (baby warmers), Working Villages (agriculture in eastern Congo), Ushahidi, Backyard Brains (neuroscience for young people), MakerBot Industries (3D printing technology), littleBits (Legos for the iPad generation), Gopher Illustrated magazine (art and culture), AIDG (engineers helping in Haiti) and the Innovations in International Health lab at MIT (low-cost health solutions for the developing world).

Many of you have asked, How can I get in touch with or keep track of the Fellows work? Im pleased to announce the brand new Fellows Network (fellows.ted.com), which contains detailed proles on Fellows projects, passions and optionally personal details. And you can contact any of them through the existing TED Prole system. We expect that Fellows most of whom know only 40 of their 274 colleagues will forge new bonds amongst themselves, and that TEDsters and Fellows will enjoy a whole new level of engagement. The Fellows program is extremely grateful for the inaugural support of the Bezos Family, the Dhanam Foundation, Ann & John Doerr, the Harnisch Foundation, the Arcus Foundation, Chandra Jessee, Gerry Ohrstrom and other key supporters. We hope you will consider joining them and taking part in the Dhanam Foundations outstanding challenge grant. We invite you to meet as many of the Fellows as you can, if not at the conference, then soon afterwards. Have a great TED! Tom Rielly & Logan McClure and the TED Fellows team fellows@ted.com
*Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bangalore, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, DRC, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kashmir, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore, Sir Lanka, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, UK, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela, Yemen.

TED Fellows 2012

Launched at TED2009, the TED Fellows program brings outstanding individuals who have shown unusual accomplishment, exceptional courage and moral imagination into the TED community in order to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

How it works Each year, 20 Fellows attend the TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and 20 attend TEDGlobal in Edinburgh, Scotland, as full conference participants, with all expenses paid. They enjoy an exclusive Fellows pre-conference where they meet, share ideas, receive communication, fundraising, and design training, and encounter a few surprises. They also have the opportunity to give a talk before or during TED, and potentially to see their talks posted on TED.com. Throughout the rest of the year, they tell their ongoing stories on the TED Fellows Blog and YouTube channel, and receive personal coaching and mentoring. Coming soon: more extensive Fellows proles on TED.com so you can nd out more! The program focuses on individuals from six target regions: Asia-Pacic, Africa, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, though people from the rest of the world are also represented and welcome to apply. Fellows are drawn from the many disciplines that reect the diversity of TEDs members: technology, entertainment, design, the sciences, the humanities, the arts, NGOs, businesses and more. Though we target innovators aged 21 to 40, anyone over 18 is welcome to apply.

TED Senior Fellows Of the 40 Fellows selected each year, 10 individuals are invited to participate in the extended Senior Fellowship program, which begins the year after their initial Fellowship. Read more on page 56. How you can get involved You can help the TED Fellows in six ways: 1) donating to support the program 2) corporate underwriting 3) mentoring a Fellow 4) teaching at a Fellows event 5) nominating an excellent candidate 6) contributing in-kind goods and services To learn more about the TED Fellows program, visit: www.ted.com/fellows contact: fellows@ted.com follow: @TEDFellow

TED Fellows 2012

Thanks

The Bezos Family

Dhanam Foundation*

Ann & John Doerr

Chandra Jessee

Karla & Steve Jurvetson

Gerry Ohrstrom

The Dhanam Foundation has offered a matching grant for donations of $50,000 and above. For more information, or to participate in the matching grant, please contact Logan McClure at logan@ted.com.

TED Fellows 2012

Thanks

Renee Freedman

Trish Kubal

Beth & Steve Varon

Scott Wolf

Pam Alexander

Special thanks to: David Albertson, Erich Broksas, Aditya Chadha, Perry Chen Angela Cheng, Nancy Duarte, Karen Eng, Mike Femia, Michael Glass, Alexander Jutkowitz, Colleen Keegan, Sam Kelly, Thaniya Keereepart, Benjamin Kellogg, David Lavin, Sandy Leong, Chris Luebkeman, Jennifer McCrea, Emily McManus, Cara Mertes, Anjali Mohan, Mark ODonnell, Emeka Okafor, Heather Schroder, Yancey Strickler, Margaret Sullivan, Paul Torres, Ladan Wise, Megan Wyatt and Diana Yousef Finally, we would like to thank the TED2009, TEDGlobal 2009, TEDIndia, TED2010, TEDGlobal 2010, TED2011 and TEDGlobal 2011 Fellows. Not only have they been remarkable classes, but they have also provided invaluable feedback that continues to shape the program. To learn more about the current Fellows, visit www.ted.com/fellows.

TED Fellows 2012

Sri Lanka | Australia

Asha de Vos
Blue whale scientist

2012

TED Fellows 2012

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Asha de Vos
Blue whale scientist

2012

Web

whalessrilanka.blogspot.com

Twitter

@ashadevos

Email

Skype

ashadevos@gmail.com

ashadevos

Meet Asha

Asha grew up dreaming of becoming an adventurer scientist. She has always maintained a deep respect for the ocean, its changing character and mystery. A quali ed marine biologist, she is now working on her PhD, through which she hopes to start unraveling the many mysteries of the blue whales in the waters around her country. As her mother says: When she is not on the water watching whales, she is under the water watching sh.

Q&A

What are you currently working on?

If someone told you that there was a group of blue whales that did not migrate to the poles to feed, but remained in tropical waters year round, wouldnt that make you wonder what sustains these creatures the largest animals ever to have roamed the planet in an area often considered low in food productivity? This is where my quest begins.
What do you do for fun?

Everything you do in life should be for fun. It makes things so much easier to get through. I love working on boats to learn about whales, scuba diving to witness the color explosion of the underwater world, traveling to experience other cultures, creating things with crochet, oating in the ocean, living its all for fun.
Tell a surprising anecdote about yourself that few people know.

Once I encountered a turtle badly tangled in a net. I managed to lift it onto the boat and set it free. The next day, a whale-watching boat agged us down. A boy on board said, Asha, theres a blue whale with some shing line wrapped around its tail. Can you remove it? He was disappointed when I explained that it was far more complicated to rescue a blue whale than a turtle!

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