Paddling the Arctic’s Northwest Passage
Presented by Eileen Visser. Download the flyer here.
$5 suggested donation ~ members free!
This is a hybrid program. To attend online, please contact carlene@slcha.org to receive the Zoom link.
To help kick off Canton Canoe Weekend, join Eileen Visser as she shares her experiences as the first woman to kayak the entire Northwest Passage as part of a four-person team; the first recorded single-season, human powered traverse of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in history. This sea route was long impassable due to thick year-round ice, but climate change has opened the channels between high arctic islands, allowing the team to cross the 1,800 miles in 103 days. During their incredible journey, the kayakers encountered extreme sea ice, wind, and polar bears. Eileen will also address changing conditions in the Arctic and their larger environmental implications.
Eileen Visser is a biology professor at St. Lawrence University. Originally from Alaska, she grew up in an off-grid cabin until she was 16. Eileen earned her BS at UND, an MS in Biological Oceanography at NCSU, and a PhD in Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences at UW. Since 1998, she has lived in Potsdam. Outside work, Eileen participates in canoe and kayak races, including ADK’s 90-miler and the Yukon River Quest in Alaska, using a self-built Guillemot Night Heron kayak.