An Interview With Krista Wright, Part Two
/ Post by Erica Wills of Polar Bears International
Several weeks ago, I posted Part One of mine and Katie’s interview with Krista Wright, Vice President and COO of Polar Bears International. Here is the conclusion of that interview, as we go in-depth on the role PBI plays in Churchill, why youth are so critically important to PBI’s mission, and the overall message we should all remember.
Q: What does PBI do in Churchill to engage both visitors and people around the world?
A: We work with other NGOs to bring their specialists up here, as well as other polar bear scientists, sea ice scientists, climate scientists, and various experts – for example, we’re bringing a snowy owl expert up this week – and so every week we have four different people, each with a different focus or skill set. They then participate in our weekly Tundra Connections webcasts during the polar bear migration season.
In addition to their work on Buggy One, our scientists and experts spend a couple nights at the Tundra Buggy Lodge, where they give lectures to the visitors. They also do lectures in town from time to time. We also have field ambassadors who do interpretive talks; they live in town and come out with the drivers in the morning and spend the day with guests out on the tundra.
We’ve also launched the Citizen Science Project. The goal of this project is to complement more technical research that has been done on the Western Hudson Bay polar bear population. What we’re doing is taking images of polar bears and using them to determine body size and stature.
We’re doing this through a couple different ways, one of which is parallel lasers. We put a laser on each side of the camera, which makes two light dots on the side of the bear – one at their head and one at their bottom – which is visible through the camera lens but does not disturb the bear itself. Because the lasers are carefully measured and positioned in precise spots, we can get some basic measurements to determine the size and stature of the bear.
We could not do any of these programs without the support of Frontiers North Adventures. explore.org also plays a huge role in our webcasting ability, and most of the funding for the Citizen Science Project research comes from zoos and aquariums. We work with these various partners because, at the end of the day, we know we can reach more people rather than just doing it on our own; it’s not so much about owning the program as it is about getting as many people as we can involved.
When all is said and done, our end goal is to talk to every single person that comes to Churchill about polar bears. In a perfect way, we are interacting with as many guests as we can by sharing the expertise of the people we bring up here with them, hopefully enriching their experience by being able to meet with polar bear scientists, sea ice experts, and others. The polar bears are amazing themselves, but our ability to add to that already amazing experience is pretty great.
Q: What role has youth played in the mission of PBI?
A: Youth in general have a huge influence in society. You know kids can get their parents to change habits. They’re great at reminding and/or nagging parents to turn off lights or shut off the car. We use the energy of young people because they are great and reminding in a positive way. Youth are also the future leaders of the world; it’s important that we empower them and inspire them to be the change that we need to see, and to create a better world not only for humans but for all things on the planet.
Q: What is one message you would like to pass on to the world?
A: We can do better. We do a lot of great things, but we can do better and we owe it to all living things on the planet. To take care of them because we are a part of that system. And sometimes, as humans, we separate ourselves from that system, but we are a part of that system and polar bears are an iconic species to say, “Hey, you can do better, and good job for the things that you are doing.”
