Francesco Sauro

Francesco Sauro, 2014 Rolex Young Laureate, 2014.

Loredana Bessone, a member of 2014 Young Laureate Francesco Sauro's expedition to the Auyán Tepui in March 2014, examines a forest of columns in the Ramo del Sangre (blood branch) of the Imawarí Yeutá cave.

A scientist explores the inter-stratum galleries of Flatlandia in March 2014, in the deeper sectors of Imawarí Yeutá in the Auyán Tepui.

A huge gallery in the newly discovered Oköimo Yeuta cave in the Auyán Tepui. The expedition was in March 2014.

Francesco Sauro, Rolex Young Laureate 2014, examines an opal "splash type" stalagmite during his expedition to the Imawarí Yeutá cave of the Auyán Tepui, Venezuela, in March 2014.

Francesco Sauro, Rolex Young Laureate 2014, using a satellite phone from his base camp at the Akopan Tepui in February 2012. Sauro uses a helicopter for his expeditions, the only practical way to access the mountains, which are remote.

The Thousand Columns Gallery in the central sector of the Imawarí Yeutá Cave in the Auyán Tepui. The quartzite, which is 1.6 billion years old, was sculptured by an underground river. Venezuela, 2014.

Francesco Sauro trains for his expeditions in caves at the Corno d'Aquilio, near Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo in Italy.

Francesco Sauro entering Spluga della Preta

Francesco Sauro, Rolex Young Laureate 2014, enters the Spluga della Preta, a cave near Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo in Italy, an area he uses for training.

Francesco Sauro, Rolex Young Laureate 2014, enters the Spluga della Preta, a cave near Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo in Italy, an area he uses for training.

Explorers move through the Buso della Rana cave near Vicenza in Italy, an area 2014 Rolex Young Laureate Francesco Sauro uses for training.

Franceso Sauro, Rolex Young Laureate 2014, takes a water sample from Buso della Rana cave near Vicenza in Italy, an area he uses for training.

Francesco Sauro, Rolex Young Laureate 2014, studies a three-dimensional map of a cave he surveyed during his last expedition to the South-American tepuis.

Francesco Sauro teaching speleology students at the University of Bologna in Italy.

Francesco Sauro measuring the pH of a water sample at the University of Bologna in Italy.

The Churun River flows through the Diablo Canyon in the middle of Venezuela's Auyán Tepui.