Will Steger
A formidable voice calling for understanding and the preservation of the Arctic, Will Steger is best known for his legendary polar explorations. Steger is a pioneer: simultaneously eccentric, quick-witted, and ferociously focused. Throughout over fifty years of exploration, he is the leading eyewitness to the dramatic transformation of the world’s most hostile landscapes. In 1995, Steger joined the ranks of Amelia Earhart, Robert Peary, and Jacques-Yves Cousteau in receiving the National Geographic Society’s John Oliver La Gorce Medal. Shortly thereafter, Steger became the National Geographic Society's first Explorer-in-Residence, and in 2007 he received the prestigious National Geographic Adventure Lifetime Achievement Award. Having testified before the U.S. Congress on polar and environmental issues, he has become a recognized authority on polar environmental concerns. He has met with the Prime Minister of Japan, spent an afternoon with the Bushes in the White House’s Rose Garden, talked politics and the environment with Al Gore, traversed Baffin Island with Richard Branson, and has made history through his expeditions numerous times. Today, Steger continues to venture on groundbreaking expeditions, and lives off-the-grid in a log cabin built by hand. Steger founded and runs Climate Generation, a nonprofit that empowers individuals to engage in climate change solutions. He is the author of four books: Over the Top of the World, Crossing Antarctica, North to the Pole, and Saving the Earth.