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Calling All Teen Environmentalists!
Polar Bears International (PBI) in conjunction with the Westport-based energy company Gault, Inc., is searching for one motivated Fairfield County high school student to join a student expedition to the subarctic polar bear habitat in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, this fall.
PBI’s Polar Bear Leadership Camp is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, only offered to select students worldwide—as few as two dozen students from 4 different countries. The goal of the camp is to ignite interest in polar bears and inspire and further the growth of a new generation of Ambassadors for the Arctic. Campers will study ice flows, temperatures, and the lives of Arctic wildlife that have already been impacted due to global climate change. Inspiring young people to become Ambassadors for this fragile and important ecosystem is central to the Leadership Camp experience.
Do you think you have what it takes to be selected as Fairfield County’s 2008-2009 Gault-PBI Arctic Ambassador? If so, here’s how to enter the competition!
Application Criteria:
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| | Ambitious students who are residents of Fairfield County, entering the 11th grade this fall, will be 16 years old by September 30, 2008, and are currently active in high school and/or community environmental preservation programs are eligible.
Candidates may apply online and are required to write an essay (no more than 1,000 words in length) responding to the prompt question on the application. See application form for parent's signature and waivers. Your essay and application must arrive at Gault Inc.’s Leadership Camp offices no later than July 11, 2008, 4:30 p.m. Late entries will not be accepted. Or you may apply online here.
Semi-finalists will be called for interviews with the Leadership Camp selection committee. The selected Gault-PBI Arctic Ambassador will be will be notified in writing by mid-July.
The Gault-PBI Arctic Ambassador will prepare for the trip by reading up on climate change and polar bears, and must be available for media interviews both pre-trip and post-trip, and write articles about their experience for Polar Bears International. The student will report back to their classmates through a daily web journal, which will also be posted on the Gault, Inc. and Polar Bears International Web sites.
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The Leadership Camp Experience:
The adventure begins with a flight to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Here you'll spend a day meeting your fellow adventurers and with biologists from Conservation Manitoba. Next, you will fly to the Northwest Coast of the Hudson Bay to the town of Churchill. There you will spend a few days living in the town known as the “Polar Bear Capital of the World," where you will learn about conservation, Manitoba's Polar Bear Alert Program, Parks Canada and Wapusk National Park ("Wapusk" is Cree for white bear) and visit the polar bear holding facility. Other highlights of your trip include:
Meeting the people of “First Nation,” to learn how humans have lived with the Great White Bear for centuries.
Exploring, by helicopter with a biologist from Parks Canada, the maternity polar bear denning area in Wapusk National Park, to learn about how the female polar bears use the permafrost peat to build their cozy dens.
Conducting field research, and learning more about current field projects, while living on the polar bears' frozen tundra habitat in the comfort of the Tundra Buggy® Lodge.
Creating, upon returning home, a forward action plan to help educate your peers and inspire a new mind-set on conservation issues.
To apply, fill in the Leadership Camp application here.
Applications must be received by July 11, 2008, at 4:30 p.m. |
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