The National Geographic Society on Friday launched its new National Geographic On Campus initiative to connect college students with innovative changemakers in the fields of exploration, scientific research, storytelling and education.
Developed in collaboration with the University of Miami, the first rendition of the On Campus program consisted of a two-day science and storytelling event that brought together National Geographic Explorers, UM scholars and local thought leaders for a series of live talks, engaging panels and educational workshops where students had the opportunity to explore local and global issues and the strategies that can be used to help solve them.
“We want to encourage students to think about careers in the areas that we work on and hope that when they are ready to do a project on their own they think of us for funding. At the college age is really when young adults are making decisions about what they want to do and we’d love for them to think about the themes that we care about and the mission of the society which is creating a planet in balance,” said Kaitlin Yarnall, Senior Vice President of Storytelling for the National Geographic Society.
The program delved into a variety of pressing topics, including, Florida in 2100 which discussed the challenges and opportunities that Floridians will face in the coming decades involving a rapidly growing population, pollution and climate change. Other themes addressed were illegal wildlife trafficking, immigration and immigrant identities, and how to inspire positive change via storytelling.
Asked about why the University of Miami was selected for the inaugural program, Yarnall said, “We love the diversity of the student body, demographically, but also in terms of all of the subjects that the university covers. We have scientists, storytellers and educators all represented here in the faculty and the student body which is representative of our explorer community as well.”
In charge of delivering the keynote presentation was world-renowned primatologist, television host and National Geographic Explorer Mireya Mayor. A Miami native and UM alumna herself, Mayor returned to the university that once inspired her to become an explorer to share with students how they too can pursue their passions and serve as catalysts for positive change.
“The idea that we can now possibly inspire future generations of explorers, scientists and storytellers is incredibly exciting for me. I hope that students are inspired to care more about the world around us and feel empowered that they too can make a huge difference and that every single one of them has the ability to be an explorer and a science communicator because the one thing that you need is a unique story and every one of us has some sort of a unique story, your own journey into that world,” said Mayor.
The National Geographic On Campus program is heading to the University of Virginia next in February of 2019.
