Seasoned Explorer and Environmental Activist

In the true spirit of adventure, veteran expeditioner Jasveen Brar (Antarctic 2014, Arctic 2016) has dedicated her time as an alumni to building platforms for communities to voice their concerns about the environment through activism, education and outreach at local and international levels. She is currently finishing her undergraduate science degree at Dalhousie focussing on Environment, Society and Sustainability, and is set to graduate in April 2017.

The Expedition Experience

For Jasveen, her fondest memories are split between both poles. On the Antarctic 2014 expedition Jasveen recalls a wildlife encounter with a Minke Whale that swam and breached next to ship for over 3 hours. During Arctic 2016, she was awestruck by the grandeur of Jakobshaven Ice Fjord in Greenland, “It’s the most beautiful place that I have ever visited”.  First and foremost however, Jasveen says the best memories come from the incredible friendships that were made on board.

Realizing Goals & Ambitions

After returning from the Antarctic in 2014, Jasveen decided that in order to fully understand how to make change, she needed to dive deeper into environmental studies by incorporating it into her Biology degree at Dalhousie. Taking this in full stride, she attended the International Student Energy Summit where she spoke about her polar experiences, garnering attention and landing her a spot as one of Alberta’s Top 30 under 30.

“It wasn’t until I visited Antarctica that I realized that I knew so little about how the world works, and the real impact that we, humans are having on the planet”

Making a Difference

At the global action event Merit 360 in New York, Jasveen and her team developed The Climate Express; a project that aims to provide an educational toolkits that helps vulnerable communities mitigate the impacts of climate change. Drawing parallels to her polar expeditions, Jasveen felt it was inspiring that so many diverse international voices could meaningfully collaborate around the same issue. Her pilot project is set to run in Ghana this summer 2017.

Looking Ahead

In addition to finishing her degree, this March she plans to help expand the Students On Ice conference Our Poles Our Planet to a national scale starting with her university. Since the expedition Jasveen has felt a sense of urgency to protect the climate and sees her generation as some of the last people who can do so. She believes that no matter the scale everyone has the potential to contribute to environmental education and outreach in their own unique way. She laughs, “I’m also trying to find a way back to the poles”.

"A key takeaway and learning experience from Merit 360 came from my group: we are 23 people from 11 different countries. It was inspiring and heart warming to see that even though we are literally from different corners of the world we are all passionate about the same thing, and that climate change in some ways is having an impact on all of our lives."