Early life and education
Wiese was born on Long Island, New York. His father, Richard Wiese, Sr., was the first man to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean in an aircraft. Richard first climbedExpeditions
With his love for exploration starting at an early age, as a teenager, Wiese helped create the first artificial reef in the Long Island Sound in 1977. He has worked in Mexico's Yucatán jungle, placing satellite collars on jaguars. He also climbed and recovered samples from Tanzania's volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai, and also participated in two expeditions to Antarctica to core glaciers for climatological studies. In 2006, he co-discovered 202 new forms of life in the first microbial survey of Central Park in New York, and founded the Central Park “Bio Blitz”: a 24 hour, cataloging of all life forms in the park. During the same period, Wiese joined a medical expedition on Mount Everest. He also skied cross-country to the North Pole, and was a member of a 2004 expedition toThe Explorers Club
In 2002, Wiese was elected as the youngest club president in the organization’s history and has also been elected president to more terms (7) than any other president in its 118-year history. As the President of The Explorers Club, he developed and negotiated multi-year partnerships with Rolex, Microsoft, and Discovery Networks to name a few. During his tenure he established the first annual Global Exploration Summit in partnership with the nation of Portugal, which is often referred to as the “Davos of Exploration.” He is also the founder of The Explorers Club 50 - “Fifty people who are changing the world, that the world needs to know about”, as well as the organization’s first Diversity and Inclusion program. He also negotiated a three-book deal with Crowne/Random House. Wiese was invited and spoke at the United Nations on Global Climate change in 2019. He also climbed and sampled Tanzania's volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai and participated in two expeditions to Antarctica to core glaciers for climatological studies.Media
Television series
''Born to Explore with Richard Wiese'' was one of six original half-hour educational/informational (E/I) programs on Litton's Weekend Adventure. The series aired Saturday mornings on ABC stations in the United States and was distributed internationally on National Geographic by Rive Gauche Television. The series premiered on September 3, 2011 and aired its final show on September 24, 2016. In January 2017, Born to Explore debuted on American Public Television (APT) stations nationwide. In 2012, Wiese won the Cronkite Award for Excellence in Exploration and Journalism and the series received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. In 2013, Born to Explore was nominated for 2 Daytime Emmys, including Outstanding Travel Program and won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Single Camera Photography. In 2014, the series received 5 Emmy nominations for Outstanding Travel/Adventure series, Outstanding Host in a Lifestyle/Travel Program, Outstanding Directing in a LIfestyle/Culinary Travel Program, Outstanding Writing Special Class, and Outstanding Music Composition and Direction. In 2015, the series was nominated for Outstanding Travel program and Outstanding Writing Special Class and won the Daytime Emmy® for Outstanding Sound Mixing. In 2016, Born to Explore received two nominations for Outstanding Travel and Outstanding Sound Mixing. The series has been honored with the Parents’ Choice Gold Award for teens 13–16, the CINE Golden Eagle and numerous Telly awards. The production team filmed in Botswana, Uganda, Iceland, England, Morocco,TV & Film
Wiese appeared in two feature films: in 1981, in a brief scene withPopular Media
In 2003, he was named as one of People Magazine’s “Hottest Bachelors.” He has appeared on Late Night with Craig Ferguson, CNN, Dateline, FOX News, BBC, MSNBC, ABC News, CBS Morning Show, Good Morning America, WB11’s Morning Show, and many other programs, as well as in USA Today, the New York Times, Newsday, People, Esquire, Science, the Washington Post, National Geographic, the Los Angeles Times, the Times of London, Wine Spectator, and Forbes.Honors
In 2006, the American Museum of Natural History Expeditions named Wiese as an ‘Explorer in Residence.’ He was honored at the 2005 Boy Scout National Jamboree, where he addressed 90,000 people and had a camp named after him. By invitation of King Mohammad VI, he was the U.S. representative to the Moussem de Tan Tan, a gathering of 45,000 nomadic Arabs in Morocco, and he received a Special Lifetime Achievement Award by the Science Museum of Long Island. As a journalist, he has received numerous honors, including multiple Emmy Awards’s, a Genesis Award, an Associated Press Folio Award, and a Golden Halo Advertising Award for Best Environmental/Wildlife Campaign.Personal life
Wiese lives in Weston, Connecticut with his wife and three children.References
External links