STUDENTS FROM ARCTIC TOWN VENTURE TO ANTARCTICA
Program lets students compare effects of climate change at both poles
by George Kourounis
Discovery News (Tuesday, March 30, 2010) — What parent hasn’t thought about setting one of their teenage kids adrift on an ice floe at some point?
Geoff Green not only thinks it’s a good idea, he’ll take them out there for you.
Green founded the “Students on Ice” educational program which brings enthusiastic students to the world’s polar regions to expose them to the high Arctic and Antarctica to learn about the ecosystems, glaciology and to see the effects of climate change first hand. Last year, Green brought two teenagers from Grise Fiord, the northern most settlement in Canada, to Antarctica where they could compare what life is like at opposite ends of the globe.
I spoke to Green about the adventure — featured in the film “Imiqutailaq” (“Arctic Tern” in the Inuit language; clip below) — and why he brings students to such remote, inhospitable places.
What was it like for the two boys featured in “Imiqutailaq”? Most people never get the chance to see even one polar region, yet they get to live in one and visit the other. What did they take away from that?
They (Terry Noah and Jason Qaapig) took a lot out of it. It was quite a journey for them to go from one end of the Earth to the other, of course. Their perspective on things is a bit different to start with, living where they do. Quite often, students that we take to the Antarctic come back with more of a global perspective.
They also came back with a pretty good understanding of the differences and the similarities of the polar regions. Gris Fiord is up on Ellesmere Island, a remote community in Canada.
One of the things I remember most was how the boys were shocked at was that the wildlife in the Antarctic were not afraid of them.
The wildlife is totally fearless because they have no reason to be afraid.
Exactly. Normally when they see a seal, they would typically be out hunting them, so here we were, getting up close to seals and whales and they appreciated that seal in a different way, I don’t mean that in a belittling way because the Inuit do respect the wildlife back home.
The other big difference they saw was in the ice. There is a lot more ice in the Antarctic than in the Arctic, but they certainly saw a similarity with the glacier in their own back yard compared to the glaciers we were studying in the Antarctic and how both those glaciers are being impacted by the same global issue: climate change.
You actually had them out taking ice core samples didn’t you?
The whole project was born because of a glaciologist named Fritz Koerne who was featured in the film and passed away. The boys knew Fritz from his glacier studies in Grise Fiord over the years. His ice core research was the link in trying to show the interconnectedness between both the polar regions. So here they had the chance to work on a glacier at the other end of the world and that’s part of an ongoing research project which we continued this year in Antarctica.
So the students are actually participating in real science?
They are, yeah. That’s the advantage we have with our own ship. We can use it as a platform for scientists to continue their ongoing work. They’re there as educators, but they’re also there to conduct their own research and the students benefit from that by helping them out.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about Antarctica? Most people will never get to go there and all they know is what they see on television or maybe what they hear from someone who’s been there.
I don’t think that most people realize that it’s the fifth largest continent in the world and that 98 percent of it is covered in ice and that 90 percent of all the ice in the world is there. Seventy percent of the planet’s fresh water is trapped there which makes it pretty darn important to the global ecosystem.
Also the fact that it’s the only continent that has never had a war and nobody owns it. Most times when you tell people that nobody owns it, it’s quite surprising for people. In so many ways, it is THE symbol of peace and understanding on the planet. Where there’s been international cooperation on a level that’s never been seen anywhere else, so it’s a bit of a beacon of hope I like to say.
What about the Arctic?
Most people don’t realize that the Arctic is an ocean that’s frozen and surrounded by land. It’s mostly water.
There’s a real romantic vision of the Arctic and Inuit culture and some of that is still there but there’s also a whole other side to the Arctic these days. It’s gone through a huge transformation, you’ve got a whole generation that’s still alive who were born in igloos and now they’re surfing the internet.
It’s perhaps the single biggest change in any culture in the history of the world.
It’s huge change, and with that has come all the issues you can possibly imagine and I think that despite the challenges and the problems, the Inuit have adapted better than anybody possibly could have under those circumstances.
We grow up learning so little about the Arctic and the Canadian north, about the people of the Arctic, about northern exploration, there’s a total void.
Which is where you come in.
That’s certainly part of what we’re trying to do and I hope on day to get a polar curriculum into the mainstream education system.
Is that one of your dreams for the future?
It is. That’s the thing about both the Arctic and the Antarctic, as classrooms, they’re unparalleled. The sciences, history, geography, culture, flora, fauna, international politics. It’s all reflected in the poles and as such, you can use them as a really inspiring classroom.
It’s more than just a glorified field trip.
Absolutely, I wouldn’t be doing it if that were the case.
You’re getting these kids, away from their computers and video games and you’re putting them out there in the real world with their nose to the ground, exploring these fantastic places. Obviously it’s not cheap to send these kids out there, but how do you put a monetary value on that kind of experience?
That’s the key isn’t it? You want to instill this global mindset amongst these young people and then have them continue spreading the word in a ripple effect.
Bingo. We talk about our youth as our future leaders and if we really believe that, then we need to embrace opportunities for them now, in those formative years where you’re going to instill environmental ethics and other ethics that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. This is one way of doing it. We can’t take every student in the world to Antarctica but we can take some and they reach thousands more when they come home.
We’ve now taken almost 1500 students from 40 countries to both the polar regions over 10 years and you wouldn’t believe the things that they’ve done from writing books to organizing conferences, we had 12 of our alumni over in Copenhagen for the climate conference and on and on.
What are your upcoming plans for Students On Ice?
Besides continuing to run the core expeditions and make them as sustainable as possible, we want to build the world’s most environmentally advanced expedition sailing vessel that we can use for all of our future expeditions and also it can be used by other partners because right now, we’re still chartering fossil fuel burning ships, mostly former research vessels. At the end of the day, the footprint is pretty big and so to walk the talk… that would be awesome. It’s about a 10 million dollar project but I think we can reach that goal within the next five years.
Our foundation just bought a 50 foot ice-class expedition sailboat as a stepping stone and we’ve named it The Arctic Tern, “Imiqutailaq.” She’s an amazing little vessel and we’re going to use her mostly for research in the next few years but we’ll bring a few grad students who are working with the scientists.
For more information, visit http://news.discovery.com/earth/students-on-ice.html