In recognition of their commitment to geographic education, 45 educators have been selected as the 13th group of Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellows.

The 2019 Fellows will embark on expeditions to locations including the High Arctic, Alaska, Central America, Antarctica and the Galápagos Islands on board Lindblad Expedition ships to enhance their geographic knowledge with hands-on, field-based experiences that they will bring back to their pre-K–12 classrooms, communities and professional networks, according to a press release.

“When this program launched in 2006 as a tribute to Gil Grosvenor, chairman emeritus of the National Geographic Society, we had high hopes for it. We are thrilled that it has evolved to support 265 Fellows over the course of the program’s history. These exemplary educators are vital to educating and inspiring the future stewards of our planet, and our mission remains to provide them impactful experiences in the world’s remote places to stimulate their knowledge and passion to help shape their students,” said Sven Lindblad, CEO & President, Lindblad Expeditions.

The 2019 class of Grosvenor Teacher Fellows is the largest ever selected in the program’s 13-year history. This diverse group of formal and informal educators, representing an array of grade levels and subject areas including social studies, STEM, second-language programs and art, are from across the United States and Canada as well as a U.S. Department of Defense Activity School in Japan.

“We are immensely proud to support Grosvenor Teacher Fellows — extraordinary individuals who share our passion and commitment to inspiring the next generation of planetary stewards,” said National Geographic Society Executive Vice President and Chief Education Officer Vicki Phillips. “At the Society, we’re dedicated to providing educators with unparalleled resources and transformative experiences so they can advance students’ understanding of the world and empower them to generate solutions for a more sustainable future.”

To prepare for their voyages, the new class of Fellows just completed a multiday, hands-on, pre-expedition workshop at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., where they learned a range of skills from photography and video editing to outreach planning and public speaking. Lindblad Expeditions’ staff and naturalists as well as past Fellows also participate in the workshop, serving as mentors to the new class now and when the new Fellows return to their classrooms and communities after their expeditions.