Standing mere feet away from wild polar bears named Bearnard and Bearack Obama gave Hopkins High School junior Georgia Lucas a new view on environmental conservation.
Lucas, 16, was one of 16 ambassadors who traveled to the Arctic Circle from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 with Polar Bears International (PBI).
The nonprofit organization emphasizes conservation through research and education to discuss ways of raising awareness of the dwindling polar bear population.
A typical day for Lucas included traveling on a tundra buggy to find bears, listening to presentations and blogging about her day.
"[PBI President] Robert Buchanan woke us up every day with this horrible rendition of 'Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,'" Lucas said. "We embraced it by the end, but it was really bad."
Lucas, who has volunteered at the Como Zoo for four years, was given the opportunity to travel after writing a five-page essay, giving a speech to three people at the zoo and being interviewed by the same group. Lucas was chosen over five other zoo volunteers, an accomplishment for which she was both surprised and proud.
"It was just weird competing against these other people, my good friends, for something we all wanted," she said. "I never thought I would get it."
"Georgia does a great job around here," said Matt Reinartz, Como Zoo marketing and public relations manager. "She'll do a lot for us in the next year."
As Como Zoo's Arctic Ambassador for the next 12 months, Lucas will speak at the zoo and several schools to push the green initiative and conservation, as well as be a crucial part of the zoo's new polar bear exhibit opening next May.
"I'm really excited that I'll be the ambassador for this new exhibit," Lucas said. "It's a big improvement from the current one and it exceeds AZA [Association of Zoos and Aquariums] standards."
The six days she spent in Churchill, Manitoba, opened her eyes to the need for environmental conservation, Lucas said.
"It was such a powerful experience, and conservation is now at the forefront of my mind," she said. "Before, it was like, somebody should do that, but it made me realize, well, I can do that."
Now, Lucas is thinking of ways to shrink not only her own, but others' carbon footprints.
"PBI really motivated me to get out there," she said.
In terms of her future plans, Lucas said she is looking at several options. They include studying zoology, film theory or becoming a college professor.
"I just really like the idea of learning as much as you can about something," she said.
For now, though, her concentration is catching up on the schoolwork she missed while she was getting acquainted with polar bears up close.
"It's stupid, though, I don't want to be doing history homework. I want to do something important, like planting trees," she said.
