Annina Altherr

Annina Altherr
Annina takes the helm of the schooner, Passing Cloud, her classroom for 5 days.

Outdoor school

Roughly a 600 km drive east of Whitehorse, and a 20 km boat ride down Frances Lake, lies a wilderness lodge. There, among the tangled roots of a massive old tree, two sisters are having a tea party using leaves for cups. The next day, the girls paint nail polish on the hooves of a moose’s legs while their parents prepare the carcass for food. During the long summer days, the sisters play in the woods, or on the lake. Their world is void of TV or video games. Their entertainment, and learning, comes from the natural world.

One of the sisters, Annina, continues her education through an outdoor learning based school. Sometimes, her classes are five-day canoe trips where biology lessons consist of dissecting freshly caught fish, or sailing trips off the coast of Vancouver Island. Annina discovers scuba-diving and surfing, and makes a pledge that she will live by the ocean, and always do what she can to protect it. 

Back on the water in a university field school

Annina is now a fifth-year student in UVic’s environmental studies program, and her passion for the environment has only deepened. Last year, the Rhys Davis Scholarship and Lorene Kennedy Field Course Award helped her participate in a field school on coastal-marine conservation. For one week, her classroom was a schooner in the Gulf Islands. She concentrated on making the most of the course, knowing that donations from individuals had made her experience possible.

At the start of the field school, the students met with different groups on the islands to learn about their environmental concerns and grass-roots initiatives. Meeting with stakeholders helped Annina understand the importance of community engagement in addressing environmental issues, adding another layer to her scientific education. 

A youth voice for climate and conservation issues

In November, Annina acted as a Yukon representative at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Morocco, connecting Canadian youth with international climate issues. As she graduates this year, she is resolved to continue promoting a sustainable co-existence between humans and the environment. Thanks in part to donor support, the little girl who played in the forest now has the education and hands-on experience to help tackle some of the world’s complex climate and conservation issues.