Justin Fornal is an international explorer who uses an innovative blend of storytelling and activism to showcase vanishing traditions in crisis zones. Justin's expertise include ancient textile production, traditional foodways and the material culture of ritual.

In recent years Justin has organized and led research expeditions through dozens of countries including Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, Yemen, Ethiopia, Liberia, the West Bank, and high Arctic Greenland. Justin is a 2025 Society of American Travel Writers Gold Medal Awardee who has written extensively for National Geographic, VICE, The Explorers Journal, Parts Unknown, Adventure Journal, and Roads & Kingdoms. 

Through his 501(c)3, the History, Arts, & Science Action Network (HASAN) Justin collaborates with minority communities who are currently facing discrimination and/or genocide and works to provide an international platform for them to showcase their heritage and reclaim their own narrative.  

Justin is a resident-fellow of the Explorers Club and was a key-note speaker at the 2024 GLEX Global Exploration Summit in Porto, Portugal where he presented 'Cultures in Crisis'. As explorer-in-residence and director of international content for ENERGEA, Justin documents the impact that renewable energy is having on the culture of remote indigenous communities who are accessing electricity for the first time.

In January 2026 Justin launched Sahel by the Sun, a crossing of the African Continent from Dakar, Senegal to Xaafuun, Somalia using a solar powered Land Rover Defender. The project’s goal is to showcase vanishing cultural traditions of the neglected Sahel Region while furthering sustainable exploration. Justin lives in Yonkers, New York.