Dr. Albert Yu-Min Lin is a Research Scientist at the University of California, San Diego, an Explorer of the National Geographic Society, and co-Founder and CSO of Planet3 Inc. bringing game-based learning and citizen science to engage into k-12 education.
He has led multiple expeditions deep into the most remote parts of the world, imparting digital innovations in search of anomalies ranging from Genghis Khan's tomb to Maya temples. His pioneering work on crowdsourcing and citizen science earned him numerous awards, led to requested briefings from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency & the Pentagon, and resulted in his co-founding of Tomnod Inc. (acquired by the satellite data provider Digitalglobe in 2013).
Additionally, he founded and now co-directs the NSF funded Engineers for Exploration Program (engaging students in aerial, terrestrial, & underwater robotics for exploration), and the Big Pixel Initiative (seeking economic, ecological and societal insights within over 500 Million km2 of ultra-high resolution satellite imagery of our planet).
Lin is an advisor to the Harvard Business School's Digital Initiative, and has contributed to or been featured in Newsweek (cover), The Washington Post, BBC, NPR, CBS, ABC News, TEDx, HBR, Wired Magazine (US & UK), al Jazeera, National Geographic Magazine, & several National Geographic and BBC films which he narrated and hosted. He was recognized as National Geographic Adventure Magazine's "2010 Readers Choice Adventurer of the Year", received the 2011 Lowell Thomas Medal medal for advances in exploration and the 2014 Nevada Medal for advances in science.
Albert is an international public speaker and media figure having represented organizations including the National Geographic Speakers Bureau, the US State Department, the Google Science Fair, and SciFest Africa. His work in broadcast media includes multiple Documentaries and a 2012 Emmy winning promotional announcement for National Geographic.
Albert is an award-winning scientist, technologist, explorer, and adventurer with a knack for storytelling both on stage and the big screen. As a problem solver, he has reinvented how we explore. From the international award-winning effort to search for the tomb of Genghis Khan in Mongolia using satellites, crowdsourcing, drones, and ground-penetrating radar, to his recent efforts redefining human bionic capabilities with float tanks and plant medicines Dr. Lin has made headlines around the world. His innovations and passion for science have led to requested briefings from the Pentagon, multiple tech startups and an invitation to serve as an advisor to the Harvard Business School, and requests by both National Geographic and the US Dept of State to represent science and innovation to foreign nations through global speaking tours. His on-screen presence is diverse, with an Emmy award-winning promotional campaign (National Geographic's "Next Generation Explorer"), numerous digital spotlights, and explorer/host/narrator roles in major documentary films with National Geographic, and the BBC. As an avid outdoorsman scaled "the Nose" on Yosemite's El Cap, backpacked across the globe, and surfs wherever there are waves. With a middle name that literally translates to "Citizen of the Universe," Albert is at home anywhere.
