Canadian youth delegates gather in Ottawa to prep for Antarctic voyage
Students on Ice delegates and staff gather at the Canadian Museum of Nature before departing for Buenos Aires on Sunday
“Hey, I know this is last minute. But do you want to go to the Antarctic?”
was what the email from Students on Ice founder Geoff Green read, when Da Chen opened his inbox on Nov. 2. Chen –who had been comparing response times with other delegates – proudly exclaimed it only took him six minutes to draft his answer: an emphatic “Yes”
Students on Ice –an organization that strives to connect youth with environmental and cultural issues in the world’s polar regions— is sending a delegation of Canadian youth to the Antarctic for the first time in almost a decade.
Chen, whose hometown is Toronto has been involved with SOI since 2017, when he participated in an expedition to the arctic. At that time, Chen was working for Parks Canada as part of their northern engagement team. Since then, Chen was on the SOI alumni council from 2020 until February 2022, as well as doing consulting work for their blue future pathways program.
Now Chen works for Transport Canada’s Indigenous relations unit, and is attending the Antarctic delegation in his vacation time.
Da Chen smiles for a portrait at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa.
One of the key themes of the trip is the role Canada can play in Antarctic conservation. SOI hopes to have some influence over Canada’s future involvement in the continent. As such, the delegation is meeting with Antarctic Treaty signatory members in Argentina before departing for the frigid southernmost continent.
SOI delegates Veronica Flowers and Arianne Tremblay at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa
Veronica Flowers, from Hopedale, Nunatsiavut, on the northern Labrador coast, has also been involved with SOI since 2017. This will be the third delegation Flowers is attending with SOI. Apart from seeing penguins in the wild —a thought also echoed by Chen– Flowers is most looking forward to seeing how the Antarctic compares to her home in the Arctic.
Flowers is particularly “interested to see how the activities like the fishing and quarries and all that are impacting the ecosystem down there. Because I know over the past years it’s been increasing.”
Brief Visit
After some quick goodbyes, the delegation rushed out of the wooden front doors of the Canadian Museum of Nature and into the brisk air. They needed to catch the train to Montreal, where they would fly to Buenos Aires that same night.
It is sure to be a journey the delegates will remember.
“The main thing I learned about from everybody around me… just take everything in, be present in the moment and observe it,” said Chen. “I think that’s my main takeaway… be there and soak it all in.”