“I’ve spent a lot of time looking at space and there's just nothing that compares to the beauty and the wonder that is under the sea,” says insidenatgeo Explorer Ved Chirayath. Here’s how he’s helping expose and protect life down on Earth
Ved Chirayath has contemplated life outside of Earth since he can remember. By five years old, he was determined to work for NASA. His steps were carefully plotted: study astrophysics, continue his education in Russia, and earn a graduate degree from Stanford University. And though he was just a boy when he first ideated the ambitious plans, he has managed to achieve it all.
Nature’s ability to survive under extreme conditions is evident, Chirayath points out. “I think the question that’s now coming in front of our species is ‘will humans be part of the future of life on Earth?'” Blending his interest in photography and space technology, Chirayath directed his lens to the cosmos, and eventually, the ocean floor.
But the experience is dramatically different. Moving away from “doing astronomy on a cold mountaintop alone to being surrounded by life in the water” solidified Chirayath’s decision to shift gears.