In November/December Polar explorer and activist Bernice Notenboom will tour British Columbia to talk about climate change in the polar-regions and how this affects the Indigenous people who live in the Arctic. Bernice skied to the North, South and Cold Pole in Siberia in 2007 and traversed the Greenlandic Icecap this past spring. She skied more than 2000 km and spent 150 days on ice in average temperatures of -25C. In Greenland, she stayed with scientists on the icecap and visited remote Inuit communities, engaging them in a discussion about climate change.
Bernice Notenboom resides in Fernie, BC and is a journalist and polar activist. She writes for National Geographic among other publications. On January 12, 2008 she reached the South Pole via a new route. She is the first Dutch woman to have skied to the South Pole and the first person to have skied to all the poles in one year.
Notenboomʼs objective is to increase awareness among children and the general public about climate change around polar latitudes. She maintains a web-blog for the leading Dutch Newspaper, Arctic Alert.com and Arctic Alert.nl. This educational web site appears on national television and is targeted to children. Bernice lectures in schools and for companies about the changing polar environment. In her presentations and education, Bernice wants to focus on the poles “because they are the on the frontlines of climate change: what we see now in the polar latitudes, we can expect the same trend in 25 years in the more moderate latitudes”
Bernice is partnering with Wildsight and other local non-profit organization in the Kootenay region deliver this inspiring and educational lecture series. Local environmental organizations in the Kootenay region have been delivering a wide range of environmental education programs, with increasing focus on climate change. This lecture series is an opportunity for increased awareness about these local environmental initiatives, as well as an opportunity to provide some support for the great work that happens at the grassroots level.
The lecture tour will visit the following locations:
Fernie: The Arts Station
November 25th, 7pm
Kimberley: McKim Middle School
November 26th, 7pm
Creston: Rotacrest Hall
December 2nd, 7pm
Revelstoke: Modern Bakery
December 3rd, 7pm
Golden: Lady Grey Elementary School
December 4th, 7:30 pm
Invermere: David Thompson Secondary School Theatre
December 5th, 7pm
Admission by Donation
