NOTE: Feature photo: A bundled smile. Jennifer Kingsley after a few hours outdoors at Pond Inlet, Nunavut. Photo by Eric Guth
The Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists, a local member of the Ontario Nature Network will hold their seventh annual Spring Gathering on May 19 at the Almonte Civitan Community Hall. The evening will feature a banquet and a keynote presentation by award-winning naturalist and journalist Jennifer Kingsley.
Jennifer Kingsley first met the north on long canoe trips, and is the author of Paddlenorth: Adventure, Resilience, and Renewal in the Arctic Wild, winner of a top prize at the 2015 National Outdoor Book Awards. Her work as a broadcast journalist has been recognized by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. In 2015 Jennifer Kingsley founded the “Meet the North” project, and during the past year, as field correspondent for Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic she has undertaken a remarkable journey— from home in Ottawa, to Europe, Svalbard (an Norwegian archipelago), Iceland, Greenland and towns in the Canadian Arctic— to understand the ecology, the culture, and most importantly the people of remote and northern lands increasingly the focus of global attention.
In her presentation “Meet the North: Life in the Arctic, One Introduction at a Time.” Kinglsey will take us on a journey around the top of the world with stories you won’t find in any newspaper! With a small project team, “Meet the North” gets its direction from the people of the north. “Their ideas set our path; we listen, and we follow their lead. By meeting one person at a time, and by asking that person to introduce us to someone new, we are getting to know the Arctic community, and we are sharing our journey.” Kingsley provides regular updates at Meet the North.org.” From April 2016 Nunavut: “This berg is within walking distance from town . . . Aside from being very beautiful, it’s a destination for ice harvesters. Iceberg meltwater makes the best tea in town”; Sept 4, 2015: “These [crowberries] are perfectly ripe, with the best balance of juice, sugar and bitterness. Eva is teaching me about what to gather from the land.She’s an Inuk from Baffin Island, Canada, she was the premier of Nunavut, and she is a language expert. I am already looking forward to visiting with her again.”
Join us May 19th as Jennifer Kingsley travels south to share stories and spectacular images with us, taking us beyond the headlines and into the lives of those who call the Arctic their home. For naturalists and travelers alike, it is an unexpected Arctic which Kinglsey will share.
Spring Gathering 2016 begins at 5:30 pm with a reception and chance to share a drink & chat and bid in the silent auction to benefit Environmental Education. Dinner begins at 6:30 pm and then, sit back and enjoy the journey: “Meet the North: Life in the Arctic, One Introduction at a Time”. Tickets ($40) must be purchased or reserved in advance by Friday, May 13 and will be available in Almonte at Gilligallou Bird Store, at The Blossom Shop, Carleton Place, and in Perth at The Office. For more information or to reserve your ticket/s for pick up at the venue, please contact MVFN’s Brenda Boyd at bjboyd@mvfn.ca or 613-256-2706.
