Explorer In Residence: Mark Terry To Discuss His Films At Water Docs

The future of the most precious resource on earth is in question. But when it comes to solving the problems, are we getting any warmer? Our Expert In Residence, Mark Terry, will be present at  Water Docs to discuss his films about the latest climate change discoveries being made at both ends of the earth - The Arctic and Antarctica.

April 19th (Thursday), 7 PM

SCREENING VENUE: Ralph Thornton Community Centre 765 Queen Street East / Saulter Street 2nd Floor Auditorium (2 short blocks east of Broadview Avenue in Riverdale)

~ All films free ~

THE POLAR EXPLORER (52 min) Sought by explorers for centuries as a possible trade route, Canada’s Northwest Passage was first navigated by Norwegian Roald Amundsen in 1903-1906, a true polar explorer; he was the first man to reach the South Pole as well. Until 2009, the Arctic pack ice prevented regular marine passage throughout most of the year, but climate change has reduced this ice,making the waterways more navigable. This documentary explores the passage on a three-week scientific expedition taking place on the icebreaker, the Amundsen.   THE ANTARCTICA CHALLENGE: A GLOBAL WARNING (52 min) This documentary goes to the source of the climate change crisis: Antarctica. The film profiles the brave scientists working at Vernadsky Station andwith the British Antarctic Survey as they concentrate their efforts, living in often harsh and life-threatening conditions in their heroic attempt to save theworld. The film reports on the new phenomenon of suicide among penguins, the imminent rise of theworld’s sea level due to ice melting, startling new data on the ozone hole and how new vegetation is now growing in the world’s largest desert.  

Mark Terry, Explorer in Residence

Mark Terry is a Fellow International member of The Explorers Club and recipient of the Canadian chapter’s highest honor, the Stefansson Medal for his international field work “documenting our natural world”. As well as a Community Leader for the David Suzuki Foundation, Mark is also this year’s winner of the Gemini Humanitarian Award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television in recognition of his work with the United Nations with his documentaries. Working closely with the world’s scientific community in Antarctica and the Arctic earned him the recognition of the United Nations Environment Programme in 2008. His last two films – The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning and The Polar Explorer – were made in partnership with the UNEP and both premiered at the Climate Change Conferences in Copenhagen and Cancun. Together, both films have won 20 international film awards for excellence. As a member of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Canadian Council for Geographic Education, the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the University of Alberta's Northern Research Network, Mark lectures and speaks regularly about the environmental issues affecting the fragile eco-systems of the polar regions and, by extension, the world.