Galapagos Bound!
- Joe Grabowski
- Jul 17, 2016
- 3 min read
Last February I received a pretty awesome phone call informing me that I had been selected as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow! The news got even better as I was informed that I'd be heading to the Galapagos on a 10 day expedition with National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions.
So what is a Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship? The fellowship was established to honor former National Geographic Society Chairman Gilbert M. Grosvenor’s lifetime commitment to geographic education. Onboard expedition accommodations for this program were donated by Sven-Olof Lindblad and Lindblad Expeditions in 2006 to commemorate Grosvenor’s 75th birthday and honor his service to the enhancement and advancement of geographic education. Sven's a pretty awesome guy, I had the privilege of hosting a Google Hangout with him on World Oceans Day during Exploring Oceans by the Seat of Your Pants. He's doing some amazing work with Lindblad Expeditions as well as with National Geographic and Pristine Seas.
Each December, K-12 educators, as well as educators in other institutions such as aquariums, across Canada and the United States can apply for a fellowship. They are offered in recognition of a sustained commitment to geographic education. This year, 35 teachers were selected as the 10th group of Lindblad Expedition and National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellows. The 2016 Fellows will embark on global expeditions onboard the Lindblad expedition ships, National Geographic Explorer and National Geographic Endeavour, in pursuit of enhancing their geographic knowledge with hands-on field experience that they will bring back to their local communities. The Fellows will begin their 10- to 17-day expeditions, starting later this year, to locations including Arctic Svalbard, Iceland, Greenland, Antarctica, the British Isles and the Galapagos Islands.
As someone who grew up reading National Geographic and studied biology and zoology in university, this opportunity is a dream come true! There is no place in the world I'd rather visit right now, the history with Charles Darwin and the amazing wealth of endemic species are an irresistible combination. As an avid diver, I can't wait to do some free diving with marine iguanas, sea lions, Galapagos penguins, sea turtles and of course, sharks.
In April, I traveled to National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C. to meet the other fellows and to participate in hands-on, pre-expedition workshops covering photography and outreach planning. We were also able to meet with Lindblad Expedition naturalists and past Fellows. Washington is an amazing city and it was a blast meet the other fellows and explore the headquarters of National Geographic. While there, I was able to visit some of the Smithsonian Museums including the Natural History and Air and Space Museums. Another highlight was getting introduced to using 360 cameras to capture fully immersive experiences from our trips. We'll be able to post and share these images with our students and our communities.
It's all looking pretty good leading to my departure on August 19th, except for one little thing I haven't mentioned yet. When I had applied for the fellowship in December, my wife and I weren't expecting. Shortly afterward, we got the awesome news that round two was on the way. I joked with my wife that if I'm successful with the fellowship, it will naturally fall on the due date. Sure enough, the phone call came, and the initial excitement turned to a sinking feeling in my stomach, I'd be returning the day before the due date! I had 24 hours to decided whether I was in or out. My wife and I talked it over and in the end, she said to go ahead and role the dice (best wife ever)! A couple of days later, another phone call had the expedition moved up due to a scheduling error. I now have an 8 day window between my return and the due date! Better, but still tight!
I hope you'll join the adventure and follow along this August, whether through this blog or social media. I'll do my best to post updates and photos everyday. They'll be lots of photos, videos, 360 camera footage and of course lots of underwater action. At the very least, you'll want to tune in to see whether or not the baby waits till I return!
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