The Waitt Institute CATALYST 2 Mission
During the spring of 2009, the Waitt Institute and its research partners—the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution—undertook an intensive collaboration known as CATALYST 2 in order to learn the final resting place of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan, lost in the South Pacific since 1937.

The latest of many unsuccessful search efforts over the years to find the ill-fated pair and their Electra 10E aircraft, CATALYST 2 did achieve one significant coup: the team is confident Earhart and Noonan are not in the search area explored. Therefore, in the spirit of scientific cooperation, the Waitt Institute is publishing the complete findings and data from the CATALYST 2 Mission on this site so that future explorers can continue the search with the most up-to-date information available.

Founded in 2005 by Ted Waitt, the Waitt Institute is a non-profit research organization that serves as an exploration catalyst, enabling scientific pioneers to transform the ways in which discoveries are made. Through collaborations with world-renowned organizations, the Institute brings together global expertise to accelerate groundbreaking research that will advance our understanding of the past and secure a better future.