Modern-day explorer, Eric Larsen's life epitomizes adventure. A polar explorer, dog musher, adventure racer and educator, he has spent the past 12 years of his life adventuring in some of the most remote and wild places left on earth. Totaled, Eric has traveled enough wilderness miles to circle the globe nearly two and half times.

Eric has recently returned from a history-making expedition, the One World Expedition. On this first ever summer journey to the North Pole, Eric and expedition partner, Lonnie Dupre pulled and paddled specially modified canoes over 600 miles of shifting sea ice and open ocean. Eric's other expeditions include a 700-mile dog sled journey through northern Ontario, a six week dog sled journey in the barren lands of the Canadian Arctic, several training trips to Hudson Bay and countless dog sled races. He has also ridden his bike across the United States, been a back country ranger in Alaska, a white water canoe guide in Colorado and wilderness trip leader in Hawaii.

A gifted communicator as well, Eric travels the country giving motivational and educational lectures to K-12 schools, universities, non profit organizations and corporate groups. Several documentaries have also been created around expeditions that Eric has been involved with.

Eric lives in Grand Marais, Minnesota where he is busy planning for his next expedition, Save the Poles, an unprecedented adventure to Mt. Everest, the North Pole and South Pole in one year.

You are an important and integral part of the Save The Poles team. With your help in spreading with word about our project, and more importantly taking action to help slow down and reverse global warning, together we can make a difference for the health of our planet.

Whether trapped in a submerged vessel in the Atlantic Ocean, caught in an unexpected avalanche in the Canadian Rockies, snowbound in a unserviceable helicopter in the unforgiving Arctic, or lost in the vast Canadian wilderness, Darcy St-Laurent, a search and rescue technician from Winnipeg, Manitoba is the rescue specialist required for such an emergency. The aforementioned scenarios are examples of a typical workday for the elite band of Canadian Forces specialists who call themselves Search and Rescue technicians (SAR Tech). A highly decorated veteran of the Canadian military, Darcy has long desired to continue training in the high Arctic. Save the Poles 2009 is such an opportunity.

Darcy has participated in various exercises, both military and personal, in the high Arctic. Whether he's involved in a multinational Arctic search and rescue exercise or trekking across Ellesmere Island with a small group of comrades, Darcy's love of the Arctic has never wavered. No stranger to hard work, he has spent his entire life engaged in emotionally and physically demanding activity; working the farm, combat engineering, combat diver, army parachutist, explosive ordnance disposal, UN peace keeper (Cambodia and Bosnia) and search and rescue technician are a few examples of Darcy's lifestyle that depict his level of dedication and perseverance.

Darcy lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba with his wife and young son. His interest in raising awareness to the problems of global warming and climate change was the impetus that solidified his desire to join this team. He is busy planning training exercises and expeditions for the North Pole leg of Save the Poles 2010.

Antony Jinman, 28 is a British Explorer from Plymouth. This wil be Antony's 10th expedition to the arctic, making him no stranger to living in the arctic. His previous expeditions have focused on Baffin Island and how cliimate change is effecting the Inuit way of life, the landscape and the animals that live there. Antony's work has been supported and endorsed by the Royal Geographic Society, International Polar Year, University of Plymouth and the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

Antony is a strong believer that expeditions can have a powerful impact within school classrooms, inspiring and educating students about the world around them. Antony is currently in the process of launching a non profit outreach company called Education Through Expeditions. The web based platform www.educationthroughexpeditions.org is aimed at reaching students on a global scale.

Dear Antony,
I have learnt through a colleague of your work on education and climate change through expeditions. May I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your innovative approach to education and to encourage you in your aime to inspire and educate children globally about climate change.
I wish you well. Warmly and with a smile,
Vernor Muñoz
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
Human Rights Council
United Nations

Aron Ralston is an experienced mountaineer, author and public speaker, and environmental advocate. In 2005, Ralston became the first person to solo climb -- in winter -- all 59 of Colorado's mountains over 14,000 feet in elevation. This accomplishment followed Aron's epic self-amputation of his right arm after a six-day entrapment by a boulder in the remote Blue John Canyon, Utah. His book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, is both a New York Times and international bestseller, and Aron travels the world inspiring audiences with his story. Today, he climbs using prosthetic equipment that he helped to design, and is a board member of three non-profit groups working, respectively, on eco-activism, wilderness preservation, and disabled extreme sports.

Dongsheng Liu is a marathon runner, sport biker, snowboarder and outdoor enthusiast. He was born and grew up in China but has lived in Canada since 2002. He runs an adventure company in Canada and the Arctic Circle in winter watching northern lights (Aurora). He is inspired by the story of "1990 International Trans-Antarctic Expedition", and a life dream from childhood. Dongsheng started preparing for polar travel in 2008. He took the polar training in 2009 March with Matty McNair and Eric Larsen on Baffin Island.

Founder and Medical Director of Basic Health International (www.basichealthinternationnal.org), a Canadian federally registered charity established in 2003 to support primary health care and public health projects in remote, high need communities living at high altitude. The primary focus of the foundation is to help create sustainable, economically viable, local solutions in the area of public health and primary health care. BHI has been involved in projects in Tibet,Mongolia, Nepal, Ladakh, Ethiopia, Peru,Honduras and W Papua.

Bill Hanlon has been Expedition Physician on expeditions to Alaska, Antarctica, Russia, Africa, Asia, South America and Europe. He has also summited the highest point on all 7 continents including Everest in 2007.

Gloria R. Leon, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota as of June 2006. Dr. Leon is co-principal investigator on a fourth NASA-funded study assessing human performance in extreme temperature conditions, with implications for better monitoring the status of astronauts during extended extravehicular activities. She is also a member of several NASA committees, the External Advisory Council of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, and the International Astronautics Association psychosocial committee.

Lynae M. Anderson has been inspiring students about the Earth Sciences since 1994. She is graduated from Winona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Earth Science and a Master of Science in Education with capstone work focused on Multiple Intelligence Theory Applications in the classroom.

Implementing a standard-based curriculum that focuses on a systems approach to Earth Science Education, Lynae utilizes inquiry, constructivism and a student-centered team atmosphere to cultivate global awareness of Earth and Environmental Science.

She currently teaches in Lakeville, Minnesota but began her teaching career with 13 years at the middle school level in Rochester and Faribault, Lynae also received a 2001 Woodrow Wilson Fellow with extensive training and experience with watersheds and water quality education.

In free time, Lynae enjoys playing with her two children, reading mystery novels, and being outdoors. You might find her kayaking on the Cannon River, geocaching in the woods, camping, or stargazing.