"I was furiously trying to figure a way to film as these snow-capped mountains emerged from the Antarctic peninsula. I didn't understand how my camera quite worked yet, and everything was completely overexposed, and I didn't even know what that word was. And I remember Alex Taylor, who is the filmmaker on board. And he just flicked the little ND filter on my camera, and it all came into frame. And I was just like, oh my god, there it is."

-Trevor Wallace

Welcome to our first episode of "Greatest Classroom on Earth," a celebration of twenty-five years of Students on Ice inspiring youth at the ends of the earth.

In this episode, our host Geoff Green, the Students on Ice founder and expedition leader, welcomes Trevor Wallace to the podcast. Trevor took part in the 2009 Antarctic Expedition as a teenager and has gone on to do amazing things. He is an award-winning artist, explorer, archaeologist, filmmaker, and currently the Vice President for Education and Research with The Explorer’s Club. 

In 2018, Trevor received the New Explorer of the Year Award from the Explorers Club. His work has been featured in National Geographic, the New York Times and GQ. He is based in Kaua’i, Hawaii where he is working on an ongoing project protecting an ancient Hawaiian burial ground. 

In their conversation, Geoff and Trevor recall the awe of those first moments in Antarctica, the rocky sailing through the Drake Passage (the Drake Shake!), the many lessons and connections Trevor took away from that journey, and how he has applied that to his incredible career going forward. They also share some warm memories of two SOI legends on that 2009 expedition, polar explorer and geologist Dr. Fred Roots and polar historian and educator David Fletcher. And - they discuss the video Trevor made on that journey, which he kindly shared with us here.

This podcast is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Productions.

Our theme music is by award-winning musician Sarah Harmer, inspired by her journey on the 2015 Students on Ice Arctic expedition.

Thank you to another great musician and SOI veteran, Ian Tamblyn, for sharing his field recordings of inspiring sounds from our polar regions used in our introduction.

To learn more about Students on Ice and how to get involved, go to studentsonice.com and give us a follow on social media.

About the show: 

In 1999, an idea was born. Imagine if we could bring youth, at the beginning of their lives, on educational expeditions to the Polar regions? Two cornerstones of the global ecosystem and windows to the world. And how that inspiring experience might shape their perspectives and even their futures.

In December of 2000, we made our maiden ship voyage, bringing a group of youth on a journey to Antarctica! An incredible voyage in what we would later call "the Greatest Classroom on Earth." It’s hard to believe, but Students on Ice is now in its twenty-fifth year. Since that first expedition, we’ve taken more than four thousand students to both the Antarctic and the Arctic, together with teams of educators, elders, artists, researchers and leaders from over 55 countries! 

Our mission to connect youth to nature, culture, environmental leadership, and even to themselves has remained steady in this changing world. We now have a global network of incredible alumni doing incredible things.

This podcast is part of a year-long celebration of Students on Ice. A chance to reflect on the experiences, connections, and impacts, through conversations with the people who were there getting their stories, in their own words.