“I wrote a book called The Aquanaut for kids. I realized that our best hope for humanity is to ignite the imagination of kids. There were lots of things I was afraid of when I was a little kid. I was afraid of the dark. I was afraid to go down the basement stairs, and yet now I live most of my entire career in the dark, in places that would make people feel terrified and claustrophobic. So a lot of those young life experiences that I had I actually turned into my superpowers. And I want to encourage children to know that anything they dream of that they can make it come true with hard work and dedication. I talk all the time to groups, big and small, and I still get asked by people, 'Do you believe in climate change?' And I'm like, it's not a question of belief. It's science. It's happening. And although I might feel frustrated, I try to never communicate that frustration. I recognize that for whatever reason, someone just doesn't have the knowledge. So maybe it hasn't been taught at school. Maybe they've become subjected to the very strong voices of a political entity that has steered them away from believing in climate change. And so I try to take people at wherever they are and try to just very carefully and without judgment share what I've seen and my experiences and try to gently guide them towards better information sources because we can't just be polarized. We can't just call each other names when we don't understand. We have to help people to understand, put out a hand, and, hopefully, bring them onto our side, onto a better understanding of the science of what's occurring.”

Jill Heinerth is a Canadian cave diver, underwater explorer, writer, photographer, and filmmaker. She is a veteran of over thirty years of filming, photography, and exploration on projects in submerged caves around the world. She has made TV series, consulted on movies, written several books and is a frequent corporate keynote speaker. Jill is the first Explorer in Residence for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, recipient of Canada’s prestigious Polar Medal and is a Fellow of the International Scuba Divers Hall of Fame. In recognition of her lifetime achievement, Jill was awarded the Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration from the RCGS and the William Beebe Award from the Explorers Club.

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