Students on Ice Foundation (also known as SOI) is a Canadian charitable organisation that leads educational expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic for international high school and university students. Its mandate is to provide youth, educators and scientists from around the world with learning and teaching opportunities in the polar regions, with the goal of fostering an understanding of, and commitment to building a more sustainable future.
History Students on Ice (SOI) was founded in 2000 by Geoff Green, a Canadian explorer and educator. Before founding the organization, Green had led numerous expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctica, and other destinations around the world. Believing that expeditions to the polar regions had the power to inspire and transform, he decided to create an organization aimed specifically at secondary school students that would provide them with learning opportunities in circumpolar regions. The objective of a Students on Ice expedition is to inspire and challenge youth at a critical time in their lives to think and act positively and proactively as global citizens. SOI creates attachments between the world and the young citizens who inhabit it by putting them physically in contact with issues relating to the planet's well-being. This concept is supported by the work of educational researchers such as David Sobel, David A. Gruenewald, and Gregory Smith, who argue that place-based learning or place-conscious learning introduces children and youth to the skills and dispositions needed to regenerate and sustain communities. It achieves this end by drawing on local phenomena as the source of at least a share of children’s learning experiences, helping them to understand the processes that underlie the health of natural and social systems essential to human welfare.
The first SOI expeditions were to Antarctica in 2000 and the Arctic in 2001. As of 2020, 36 polar expeditions had been completed including two expeditions to Antarctica for university students. More than 2,000 high school and university students, teachers, and experts from fifty-three countries have participated on SOI expeditions. The Students on Ice slogan "Protect the poles, protect the planet" was adopted in 2008. In June 2012, a delegation of SOI alumni attended the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where they addressed world leaders and tabled a recommendation paper emphasizing the need for long-term polar sustainability. The alumni delegation was also represented at the 2012 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar. In 2017, SOI led the Canada C3 project to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada's confederation -- a 150-day sailing journey from Toronto, Ontario to Victoria, British Columbia via the Northwest Passage.
Operations
Students on Ice is currently based in Gatineau, Quebec. It conducts two ship-based journeys annually: typically one to the Eastern Canadian Arctic and western coast of Greenland (and occasionally Iceland); and the other to southern South America, the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding Southern Ocean. Expeditions typically involve 100 international students, aged 14 and up. The students travel with a team of staff and educators including scientists, historians, artists, elders, explorers, polar experts and others. SOI also offers a biennial expedition offering university-level course credits for undergraduate and graduate students through a program of small boat excursions and ship-board presentations and research activities in partnership with several international universities and educational institutions. Additionally, SOI has led occasional Arctic floe edge expeditions (to the region where the frozen Arctic Ocean meets the open ocean) during which students travel by snowmobile and qamutiq (komatik) across the sea ice. SOI also organized a Gulf of St. Lawrence research trip with whale expert Richard Sears and Mingan Island Cetacean Study biologists to observe and survey the endangered blue whale.
Founder, Geoff Green Geoff Green is the founder and executive director of Students on Ice Expeditions, and President of the Students on Ice Foundation and the Polar Education Foundation. He has been leading polar expeditions for more than two decades. In 2012, he was appointed to the Order of Canada in recognition of "his contributions as an environmental educator and explorer, notably his commitment to conservation issues in the Arctic and Antarctic." He was recognized as one of 25 Transformational Canadians in 2010 by The Globe and Mail, the CTV Television Network and La Presse; one of Canada's ‘Top 40 under 40’ and as Outpost Magazine's ‘Top 5 Canadian Explorers’ to watch. Geoff received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition by the U.S. Congress in 2005 for his work with youth and the environment and a Citation of Merit for outstanding feats of exploration and service from the Explorers Club, New York City. His Inuktitut name, bestowed upon him by the Commissioner of Nunavut in 2010, is “Pitsiulak.”
Green is a veteran expedition leader of over one-hundred Antarctic and Arctic expeditions. He is the first person to have water-skied in both polar regions, has been through the Northwest Passage three times, and has retraced parts of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s famed Endurance journey six times. This included a 1998 expedition with descendants of Shackleton's crew. He is a Fellow of the Explorers Club, a board member for the Ottawa Riverkeeper, the Mingan Island Cetacean Study, the Arctic Circle Club, and the Canadian National Committee for the International Polar Year 2007–2008. He is also the national ambassador for the Jardin des Glaciers project in Baie Comeau, Quebec, and the national spokesperson for Brita's Filter for Good campaign. Green has addressed schools, conferences, and corporate and special events around the world. He has been a guest speaker at the Royal Geographical Society in London, England, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa. Green and SOI expeditions have been featured in international media, and in numerous documentaries and television programs.
Antarctic Youth Expeditions
Students on Ice organizes annual ship-based journeys to southern South America, the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding Southern Ocean during the Austral summer when the weather conditions are suitable. It is at this time of year that the surrounding sea ice has melted sufficiently to allow access to Antarctic waters, which are abundant with millions of penguins, seals, seabirds and whales. During this season, Antarctica is home to the greatest concentration of wildlife on Earth.
On board activities for students include presentations, seminars and other hands-on activities focused on topics including the history, geography, and the flora and fauna of the Antarctic. Students have the opportunity to assist international scientists who are conducting on-going research projects and fieldwork. During forum sessions, students examine the complex environmental, geopolitical and economical issues facing Antarctica, while simultaneously exploring solutions and policy alternatives to the challenges facing the Antarctic and the planet. Students make shore landings on the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula in Zodiac boats operated by qualified guides. They also visit islands noted for their abundant penguin populations. Students on Ice is a member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), a member organisation founded in 1991 to advocate and practice safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic. All activities adhere strictly to industry-generated Antarctic Visitor and Tour Operator Guidelines.
Route and itinerary The Antarctic itinerary is always subject to change due to weather and ice conditions.The SOI website states: “We take advantage of all our opportunities, while at the same time respecting the power of the Antarctic climate.” Expeditions begin in late December when students travel to gateway cities of Toronto, New York, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, or Santiago, Chile, ultimately to convene as one international group in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost town in the world. Students typically spend a day in Ushuaia hiking into the Tierra del Fuego backcountry and participating in pre-expedition educational activities. The ship-based expedition begins as the expedition vessel exits the Beagle Channel and heads for the Drake Passage. SOI Antarctic expedition participants have the unique experience of celebrating Christmas or ringing in the New Year as they cross the Antarctic Convergence and make their first landing in the South Shetland Islands.
Itinerary items in Antarctica include Zodiac boat landings and cruises to Paulet Island and the Argentine Esperanza Base; Deception Island, a dormant volcano inhabited by chinstrap penguins; Koerner Rock, Neko Harbour and Ukraine's Vernadsky Station, a scientific research base in Antarctica; Petermann Island, home of gentoo penguin and Adélie penguin colonies, Pleneau Island, Danco Island, and Goudier Island, and the rocky Wauwermans Islands.
On the return trip through the Drake Passage, the lecture series continues and student forum activities commence. The return trip, weather conditions permitting, includes a sail around famous Cape Horn. Students return to Ushuaia to disembark from the expedition vessel and catch return flights home via Buenos Aires, Santiago, New York and Toronto. According to the SOI website, a “journey that once took explorers two years to accomplish will now take us just over two weeks!”
The expedition vessel In past years, a number of expedition vessels have been engaged for SOI Antarctic expeditions. They include MV Polar Star, which has been converted for expedition cruising, and the MV Akademik Shokalskiy. The SOI's southern expeditions have been conducted on the research vessel, the MV Ushuaia, built in 1970 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). She has served for the NOAA under the names Researcher and Malcolm Baldrige. The ship can carry approximately 84 passengers and staff and has more than 40 cabins as well as an open bridge policy, deck space, dedicated research areas and public areas including a dining room, an observation lounge, a conference room with modern multimedia equipment and a well-stocked library.
Arctic Youth Expeditions
Each Arctic ship-based journey follows a unique itinerary, but past SOI Arctic expeditions have explored Iceland, southern Greenland, in coastal regions of Baffin Island, the north shore of Labrador, coastal regions of Manitoba, and Canada's high Arctic. The expedition focus is on making links between local realities and global issues. Students visit Arctic communities and meet with local Inuit to consider how the Arctic shapes northern identity. They learn about the effects of climate change on Arctic ecosystems and explore options toward the advancement of a sustainable Arctic and a sustainable planet. While on the expedition, participants encounter a wide variety of wildlife, including whales, seals, polar bears, and seabirds, and they participate in hands-on educational and research activities. Activities include Zodiac cruises, shore landings, hikes, community visits, and ship-based presentations, workshops, small group discussions and time for personal reflection
Route and itinerary