Leadership Camp
The PBI Leadership Camp gave top science students from around the world the chance to work with polar bear scientists. Click image to enlarge.
Watch our Leadership Camp promotional video in the gallery.
PBI's Polar Bear Leadership Camp attracted worldwide attention when it was launched in the fall of 2004, and it has continued to grow every year since.With a dramatic expansion for its fifth year, this year thirty three high school students and twelve teachers from around the world will travel to Churchill during the fall 2008 polar bear migration to experience the tundra in person; meet field scientists and community members; observe polar bears in their natural habitat, and report back to their classmates, families, and the world via daily Blogs. One week of intense fieldwork will expose the students to all sides of the issues facing polar bears and humans in the Churchill region. As the Leadership Camp experience wraps up, each student will create a forward action plan to help educate their peers and create a new mind-set on conservation issues.
The leadership exhibited by the students who participated in 2004-2007 can be viewed on the Adventure Learning Program page of the PBI Web site. Ultimately these Ambassadors of the Arctic gave presentations to thousands of their fellow classmates. In addition their blogs were read by over hundreds of thousands of people. Millions more were reached through television interviews and newspaper articles. The worldwide exposure and publicity received has helped drive additional students to our Web site to explore and understand the world of the polar bears. Our Newsletter also featured the adventures and enthusiasm of these leaders, again creating a strong interest in conservation. Institutions participating in student selection include Parks Canada, Manitoba Conservation, Winnipeg School District, Oregon Zoo, Alaska Zoo, The Maryland Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Sea World Australia, Scandinavian Wildlife Park in Denmark, and twenty-three other institutions in North America, many of which are part of PBI’s network of Arctic Ambassador Centers. To discover the whole list of participating organizations and to view the blogs of the 2008 Ambassadors, click here.
PBI's Polar Bear Leadership Camp attracted worldwide attention when it was launched in the fall of 2004, and it has continued to grow every year since.With a dramatic expansion for its fifth year, this year thirty three high school students and twelve teachers from around the world will travel to Churchill during the fall 2008 polar bear migration to experience the tundra in person; meet field scientists and community members; observe polar bears in their natural habitat, and report back to their classmates, families, and the world via daily Blogs. One week of intense fieldwork will expose the students to all sides of the issues facing polar bears and humans in the Churchill region. As the Leadership Camp experience wraps up, each student will create a forward action plan to help educate their peers and create a new mind-set on conservation issues.
The leadership exhibited by the students who participated in 2004-2007 can be viewed on the Adventure Learning Program page of the PBI Web site. Ultimately these Ambassadors of the Arctic gave presentations to thousands of their fellow classmates. In addition their blogs were read by over hundreds of thousands of people. Millions more were reached through television interviews and newspaper articles. The worldwide exposure and publicity received has helped drive additional students to our Web site to explore and understand the world of the polar bears. Our Newsletter also featured the adventures and enthusiasm of these leaders, again creating a strong interest in conservation. Institutions participating in student selection include Parks Canada, Manitoba Conservation, Winnipeg School District, Oregon Zoo, Alaska Zoo, The Maryland Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Sea World Australia, Scandinavian Wildlife Park in Denmark, and twenty-three other institutions in North America, many of which are part of PBI’s network of Arctic Ambassador Centers. To discover the whole list of participating organizations and to view the blogs of the 2008 Ambassadors, click here.