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ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE
Louisville Times On Line
Colorado, USA
January, 2005
CLICK HERE
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FEATURE ARTICLE: “Feeling the heat” (Ecowatch)
The Hindu - India’s National Newspaper
Sunday December 26th, 2004
CLICK HERE
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 Going south for winter
Way, way south, that is, on Antarctic research trip
By Kevin McKenzie
December 15, 2004
(Source: The Commercial Appeal, B1)
LaQuale McKinney and James Townsend are two Melrose High School students guaranteed to see snow on Christmas -- in Antarctica. The Memphis juniors will be the only Tennesseans among 80 students from 11 countries exploring Antarctica from the decks of an icebreaker called the Polar Star.
Their journey to the land of the South Pole began by paying attention to their chemistry teacher, Catherine Woods. "Any students interested in a research expedition to Antarctica should see me for an application," Woods wrote, more or less, earlier this school year on the classroom board.
Townsend, 16, and McKinney, 17, were the only two seriously interested. They didn't know it then, but New York philanthropist Brian Snyder already had pledged $8,000 per student for the trip.
Hooked by trips he and his father took to Antarctica, Snyder has financed similar expeditions for East Coast youths. He expanded that support to Memphis at the urging of a friend from Memphis, Rep. Harold Ford Jr. Ford hosted the students and their families in his office Monday. He gave the students an assignment, and will post the results in the Congressional Record.
Their trip begins Friday and ends Dec. 31.
A Canadian group, Students on Ice, mounts expeditions to Antarctica and to the Arctic with students, scientists and experts from around the world, said Geoff Green, the 38-year-old director who made his first trip with youths in 2000.
During the trip, students communicate their adventure daily -- studentsonice.com -- on the Internet. Besides lectures, workshops, scientific research, playing with whales and seals and penguins and touching icebergs, students will meet the Argentinian vice president at the Pink House, that country's version of the White House.
They'll need summer clothes in Argentina before buttoning up for Antarctica, because it's summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
McKinney, who has lived with her foster mother, Norvell Tolliver, for a year, figures her outgoing personality helped her.
Townsend, who went to Canada as a sixth-grader, thinks his 4.0 grade point average worked for him.
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 The Tenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, 6-17 December 2004, Buenos Aires, Argentina
COP 10 is now taking place in Buenos Aires. This is the latest international meeting about Kyoto, Climate Change, etc. Students On Ice has invited a representative from the meeting come and speak to our group on the 18th.
For Canadian coverage please visit: www.iisd.ca/climate/cop10/. There is also a webcast of the Plenary sessions site visitors can link to!
Canadian Sheila Watt Cloutier, the director of Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) is hosting a special side event on the 15th at COP10 about how Climate Change is impacting the people of the Arctic. She then might be coming to speak to our group on the 18th. Sheila has just recieved a letter from UNEP stating that they have named her one of the 7 "Champions of the Earth" to be awarded in New York City in January. The other six include the King of Bhutan, a late Highness Sheikh of the United Arab Emirates who passed away in November, the Prince of Orange from the Netherlands, President of South Africa and a few others.
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WCBS NEWS RADIO - Upcoming: Monday Dec 13th
WCBS Newsradio 880 will be playing a SOI interview on Monday morning Dec 13th, recorded in New York City with SOI Director Geoff Green, the five NYC students participating in the 2004 Antarctic Expedition, and Mr. Harold Snyder, the generous philanthropist who is sponsoring the NYC students. Its an all-news program so we can't tell you exactly what time it will run, but it should be several times during the morning or afternoon. It's actually the same day the station will begin streaming on the web at www.wcbs880.com so it should be possible to listen in!
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RDI TV - Upcoming: Saturday Dec 25th and Monday Dec 27th
"Une jeune Canadienne en Antarctique"
On the 25th of December at 5:30 pm and the 27th of December at 2:30 pm on RDI (CBC French) TV, there will be a documentary shown called "Une jeune Canadienne en Antarctique" - made from last year’s Antarctic Expedition by one of the students Valérie Charbonneau!!
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HS KIDS ON S. POLE VAULT
DAVID ANDREATTA, Education Reporter.
New York Post. New York, N.Y.
Dec 2, 2004. pg. 026
(Copyright 2004, The New York Post.)
Sasha Agosta is giving a new meaning to going south for some sun over the winter break.The 16-year-old junior at Eleanor Roosevelt HS in Manhattan is one of five city students preparing to spend Christmas near the South Pole under a sun that never sets."I don't know what to expect but I'm really excited about it," said Agosta, who has stocked up on rubber boots and snow pants for the Antarctic "summer.
"It'll be tough to be away from family, but you have to give up something for an opportunity like this," he said.
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The five students are among 80 who will spend the holiday season way down under with "Students on Ice" - a Quebec-based company that introduces young people to the paths of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.
"It's like going to another planet," said company founder Geoff Green.The adventurers are to be on the lookout for "discovery, knowledge and [the] future" and "calving glaciers" while traversing giant ice floes and observing Antarctic wildlife.
Agosta was selected to join the expedition by his principal, who learned of the opportunity through Rep. Carolyn Maloney. The trip is funded by philanthropist Harold Snyder.
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Pole position
ANIL SADARANGANI
The TIMES of INDIA
Friday, November 26, 2004
Having made 63 trips to Antartica and 24 to the Arctic, Canadian Geoffrey Green is in Mumbai to educate young adventurists about the world's two polar regions What do the Arctic and Antarctica have in common, besides being ice-laden poles of the earth? A 38-year-old Canadian adventure educator who's made 63 trips to the latter and 24 to the former, Geoffrey Green. He talks of going to the poles like one would about going to Pune and says, "The penguins recognise me now!"
Currently in the city to recruit young Indian adventurists, Geoffrey's primary motive is to create awareness about the earth's delicate ecosystems. "There's a big disconnect between the modern and natural world. The polar regions are the windows to the world. I started out by taking adults to the Poles 15 years ago. Then I thought, imagine the impact if we bring kids here and educate them from that age itself," says Geoffrey. So, five years ago, he founded Students On Ice, a student learning expedition initiative, and started taking students from across the world to the poles. Why India? "India is a huge country. And the impact India's youth could make in the world with such knowledge is great. Of course, it will take time, but it's possible," he says. While Geoffrey won't be able to have Indian students on his expedition to Antarctica next month, he says, "However, I would like to take Indian students for the Arctic expedition in July next year."
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SOI ALUMNI
Three SOI Alumni students (Alysia, Vincent and Sonya) from the Antarctica 2002 expedition came to visit us at SOI Headquarters! Alysia is the founder of the Youth Climate Change Conference taking place in July 2005. You can find out more about it at www.yc3.net!
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