Polar explorer Will Steger to speak at Jan. 19 meeting
The Rotary Club of Edina is excited to welcome Will Steger as program speaker at the Thursday, Jan. 19, meeting. Steger is a polar explorer and educator and founder of the Steger Wilderness Center and Climate Generation (formerly Will Steger Foundation). He will talk about his work with the Steger Wilderness Center.Steger, world renowned polar explorer, educator, photographer, writer and lecturer will present a retrospective of a life in the arctic regions of the world. He has logged thousands of miles of travel by dogsled and has become a voice calling for understanding and the preservation of the arctic.
His presentation, “Steger Wilderness Center,” is a vivid account of Will's life and legacy. Steger shares stunning photographs from his expeditions along with compelling imagery. Steger is a witness to the diverse and harmful effects of global warming to indigenous cultures, wildlife habitat and Arctic topography.
Some of his most notable accomplishments have included:
- 1986: First dogsled journey to the North Pole without re-supply
- 1988: 1,600-mile, south-north traverse of Greenland
- 1989–90: First International Trans-Antarctica dogsled expedition
- 1995: First dogsled traverse to Arctic Ocean in one season from Russia to Canada via North Pole
- 1997: Solo From the Pole Expedition
- 2004: Arctic Transect Expedition, an exploration of Nunavut
- 2007: Baffin Island Expedition to study effects of global warming
- 2008: Ellesmere Island Expedition to study receding ice sheets
- 2008: Greenland Kite-Ski Expedition to document rising summer thaw level and changes to the ice sheet
Rotarian Stan Brown is scheduled to give his classification talk at the meeting.
The Rotary Club of Edina meets Thursdays at 12:15 p.m. at the Edina Country Club. All are welcome. Cost for lunch and the program is $20 for adults, $12 for kids. Cash, check or credit card payments are accepted at the door. Credit card payments will be subject to a service fee.