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Environment and Conservation September 5, 2008
Local School Chosen for Arctic Expedition on Climate Change A student and teacher from Holy Trinity High in Torbay will embark upon an innovative expedition from September 7-20 to gain a better awareness of climate change in a unique setting � the high Arctic. Julia Penney was chosen as the representative of the school�s student environmental group, Friends of the Gully (FOG), to represent the school and the province on the 2008 Cape Farewell Arctic Youth Expedition which will travel to Iceland, Greenland and Baffin Island. She will be accompanied by Karen Channing, art specialist at Holy Trinity School and, the only Canadian art teacher invited to join the expedition. "Climate change is an extremely serious long-term issue facing the globe and we all need to do our part if we are to make significant changes to positively impact our environment," said the Honourable Charlene Johnson, Minister of Environment and Conservation. "Through programs like the Cape Farewell expedition, our youth are given an opportunity to learn about climate change and its effect on our lives and livelihoods. They, in turn, can help to educate friends, families and communities about the role we can all play." Sponsored by the British Council Canada, the United Kingdom�s international organization to promote education and cultural relations, Cape Farewell is an arts and science education program designed to raise awareness of climate change and help engage young people to become actively involved in mitigating its effects. The voyage across Arctic seas, with students from Britain, India, Brazil, Mexico, Germany and Ireland, will help these young Canadians become climate change ambassadors at home and abroad. The youth expedition will bring together high school students aged 15-17 with top scientists, artists and educators from around the world. One of the goals of the expedition is to teach the participating students various methods of incorporating the topic of climate change into the core curriculum. They will learn strategies to help their peers develop science projects in areas such as climatology, oceanography, biodiversity and biogeography. They will also focus on ways to build the climate change message into genres such as film, photography, fine arts, performing arts and literature. Through blogs and webcasts, the Cape Farewell adventures in the Arctic can be followed at //mail.esdnl.ca/~carolroberts@esdnl.ca/FOV1-0007F2E2/ Once the voyage is complete, Ms. Penney, along with the other members of FOG, will carry the climate change message back to their own school, as well as other schools throughout the province. They will use the Artic expedition as a springboard to discuss climate change and its causes, effects and solutions. "I want to congratulate the Friends of the Gully environmental group for their winning proposal, and I wish Ms. Penney a wonderful voyage," said Minister Johnson. "Newfoundland and Labrador has many small communities, most of them coastal, so we have particular challenges to face in light of the predictions for climate change. I will be most interested in the valuable information that is gathered through the Cape Farewell experience, and I encourage everyone to follow their trip through their website." In 2003, the Friends of the Gully environmental group were the recipient of a Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Award, a joint initiative of the Department of Environment and Conservation, the Newfoundland and Labrador Women�s Institutes, and the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board (MMSB). - 30 - Media contact: 2008 09 05 10:20 a.m. |
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