Change the Narrative

Season 5 of Change the Narrative is a series of conversations with Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellows. These teachers from across North America went on expedition to places like Antarctica, Galapagos, the Arctic and others, to learn about the natural world and bring back inspirational learning experiences for their schools and colleagues. Find out how the experience changed them forever, and their tips and resources for bringing inquiry, wonder, and purpose back to the classroom.

Ben Walker is a National Board Certified science teacher in Anchorage, Alaska. He is the 2018 Alaska State Teacher of the Year as well as the 2013 Alaska science awardee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science teacher. He is the 2019 national awardee for the NSTA Shell Science Teaching Award, a National Geographic Certified educator, a member of National Geographic Education’s inaugural Teacher Advisory Council, and a 2020 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow. He is the proud parent of two children in public school and married to an award winning teacher and Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, Catherine Walker.

Learn more about the ⁠Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship⁠.

See Michael's book about authentic learning, ⁠Storytelling With Purpose: Digital Projects to Ignite Student Curiosity⁠.

Contact show producer and Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Michael Hernandez: [email protected]

Find out more about Producer and Host, Michael Hernandez ⁠on Linked In⁠ and on Instagram: ⁠@Changing.The.Narrative⁠

Season 5 of Change the Narrative is a series of conversations with Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellows. These teachers from across North America went on expedition to places like Antarctica, Galapagos, the Arctic and others, to learn about the natural world and bring back inspirational learning experiences for their schools and colleagues. Find out how the experience changed them forever, and their tips and resources for bringing inquiry, wonder, and purpose back to your learning space.

Kim Young is a long-time public school social studies educator who is passionate about cultivating her students' identities as explorers and global citizens.  While researching innovative educational pedagogy and new ideas for lesson plans always beat out other items on her to-do list, she draws most of her inspiration for classroom activities from first-hand experiences in the field. As a 2017 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, 2019 National Geographic Explorer, and 2020 National Geographic Education Fellow, Young worked to scale curricular innovation around student activism through design thinking and technology. When she can’t get into the field, she works on projects for Earthrise Education, a non-profit focused on creating student-centered satellite-based investigations for environmental and human rights.

Links and resources referenced in this episode:

Earthrise Education

The Moth Teacher Institute

GTF Lesson - Arctic Council Simulation

Edge of All Life - iNaturalist Species Edge Range Citizen Science Investigation

@9thWorldHistory

Learn more about the Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.

See Michael's book about authentic learning, Storytelling With Purpose: Digital Projects to Ignite Student Curiosity.

Contact show producer and Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Michael Hernandez: [email protected]

Find out more about Producer and Host, Michael Hernandez on Linked In and on Instagram: @Changing.The.Narrative

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Facts and statistics have so far failed to get humans to change our behavior to address the climate crisis. But can beauty?

In this episode, host Michael Hernandez talks with marine biologist Jonny Reid about the importance of noticing, and how the beauty of the world may just save us–if we make time and space to do so.

This episode was produced as part of Michael's Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.

Maybe you’ve tried (and failed) to take photos–of a concert, a skyscraper, or the Grand Canyon–that truly captures the immensity of the object or experience. In this episode, host Michael Hernandez talks with National Geographic photographer Susan Seubert about the limits of photography, especially when trying to convey something as vast as Antarctica, yet at the same time, emphasizing the importance of the photographic record of the impact on animals and the continent brought about by climate change.

In a surprising side conversation, Susan also shares what it’s like to be a woman in a male-dominated job, and how the opportunities for work and acknowledgements have changed as she ages.  

This episode was produced as part of Michael's Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.

While we often assume that Antarctica is an untouched, pristine continent, there is actually a long history of exploration and research–and yes, exploitation–of Antarctica. On an expedition to the Great White Continent, host Michael Hernandez visits the British research station at Port Lockroy, now operated by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, which the busiest tourist attraction on the continent, visited by over 18,000 people each year.

Michael talks with Base Leader Lucy Bruzzone, who led an all-female staff this season, about what we can learn from the past and how it can help us make good decisions about our relationship to the natural world moving forward.

This episode was produced as part of Michael's Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.

Wildfires, hurricanes, and droughts caused by climate change are finally starting to get our attention in mainstream media and the public consciousness. But these changes in climate are even more extreme in Antarctica, a fragile and diverse ecosystem that the entire planet relies upon, even more than the Amazon rainforests. But what can we DO about it?

While in Antarctica, host Michael Hernandez talks with climate scientist and naturalist Zachary Brown about what–and WHO–is behind the climate crisis, and some surprising and unexpected solutions.

This episode was produced as part of Michael's Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.

Each of us has to decide which battles are worth fighting. After speaking with Chilean journalist and naturalist while on expedition to Antarctica, host Michael Hernandez discovers what it means to defend--rather than "protect"--Antarctica, and by extension, the rest of the planet.

This episode was produced as part of Michael's Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.

Join host Michael Hernandez as he kicks off Season 4 to get a glimpse of life at the bottom of the world, and insights about his expedition to Antarctica as part of his Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship. See episode notes and resources at www.changethenarrative.net

Sometimes words just don't cut it—especially when you’re making fun of the president. That’s where Lalo Alcaraz comes in. I sat down with the Pulitzer recognized, Herb Block-winning editorial cartoonist about visual storytelling, taking on corrupt politicians, taking heat from haters, and how working with Pixar got him accused of selling out. And: What happens when you call BS in a world of extremists and replacement theory nuts?

Whose story gets told and how do the stories we hear affect our understanding of the world and other people? What if we reclaimed the stories of our families and culture, and used story as a way to build empathy?

In this episode, I talk with James Beard and Telly award-winning writer, director and producer, Erick Galindo, about his work at the New York Times and LA Taco, his podcasts WILD, and Idolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sanchez, and his upcoming TV show for CBS, Mexican Beverly Hills. Erick shares his ideas about what makes for a good story, and the importance of representation in media. (Don’t miss the part where we compare his true crime podcast to Rashomon!)