Will Steger
Will Steger (born August 27, 1944 in Richfield, Minnesota is a prominent spokesperson for the understanding and preservation of the Arctic and has led some of the most significant feats in the field of dogsled expeditions; such as the first confirmed dogsled journey to the North Pole (without re-supply) in 1986, the 1,600-mile south-north traverse of Greenland - the longest unsupported dogsled expedition in history at that time in 1988, the historic 3,471-mile International Trans-Antarctic Expedition - the first dogsled traverse of Antarctica (1989–90), and the International Arctic Project - the first and only dogsled traverse of the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Ellesmere Island in Canada during 1995. Steger had been invited to testify before Congress on polar and environmental issues based on his first-hand experience in the Polar Regions and environmental expertise. Steger co-founded the Center for Global Environmental Education (CGEE) at Hamline University in 1991 following the successful International Trans- Antarctov Expedition which reached 15 million students worldwide. In 1993, he founded the World School for Adventure learning at the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota). In 2006, due to his high growing concern of climate change, Will Steger established the Will Steger Foundation to educate and empower people to engage in solutions to climate change. In 2014, Steger launched the Steger Wilderness Center, his final phase of his larger mission to keep the planet sustainable for future generations.