Canada’s Greatest Explorers

Recently, Canadian Geographic Top 100 explorers posted a list of 100 of the nation’s top modern-day trailblazers. This list consists of adventurers and astronauts, deep-sea divers and conservationists. We were very pleased to see more than a few NSB Speakers on the list. These speakers teach us about resilience, overcoming obstacles, delving into the unknown, and seeing the world through new perspectives. One of the top explorers listed, Dr. Joseph MacInnis helps define what it is to be an explorer:

Exploration is an extremely hard word to unravel. (My first expedition, the American Man in Sea project supported by the U.S. Navy and National Geographic, took place in 1964. I’ve been struggling with a definition of exploration ever since.) Here’s a version that came from our team on the recent James Cameron-National Geographic Deepsea Challenge expedition: “Exploration is about forging dramatic new relationships with the natural world and telling essential stories to accelerate our understanding of the critical importance of these relationships.” In a story about astronaut Dave Williams, I wrote: “Exploration is a way of thinking and acting, a way of living that fully engages you in the wonder and beauty of natural and human-made worlds. Exploration keeps you asking questions, accepting challenges, and developing the mental dexterity needed to solve 21st-century problems. Exploration keeps you young. There are a lot of ways to define this essential human principle. There may be as many forms of exploration as there are explorers.”

  Learn more about some of the trailblazing speakers below:

Wade Davis | Anthropologist, Bestselling Author and Photographer

Widely recognized as one of the most compelling storytellers of our times, his presentations, beautifully illustrated, are a wild and moving celebration of the wonder of the human spirit, as expressed by the myriad of cultures he has encountered in a lifetime of travel, exploration and ethnographic research. Wade’s work as an anthropologist and botanical explorer has taken him throughout the world from the forests of the Amazon to the mountains of Tibet, from the high Arctic to the deserts of Africa, from Polynesia to the grasslands of Mongolia.  

Greg Johnson | The Tornado Hunter

Greg Johnson, one of North America’s top professional storm-chasers and severe weather experts, is also an accomplished photographer, speaker, author and workshop leader. As a former staffer on Parliament Hill and marketing executive, Greg left his desk job to pursue his passion and turn his hobby into a business. A firm believer in the ‘Bucket List’ philosophy, Greg’s mission is to inspire others to chase their own passions, while sharing and teaching the lessons he has learned from pursuing his.  

Rob Stewart | Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker

“If we’re going to turn the fate of humanity around, we’ll call the best of humanity to the height of their potential and usher in a new era of human revolution.” Rob Stewart is an award-winning wildlife photographer and filmmaker. His film, Sharkwater, won the most documentary film awards in 2007, bringing in more than 30 awards at international film festivals, including a Canada’s Top Ten Award at the Toronto Film Festival. Rob has had a life-long fascination with sharks and put his own safety in jeopardy to create awareness for one of the ocean’s most misunderstood creatures. Audiences will be captivated by his determination and courage as he shares how he overcame multiple challenges to tell his story.

Dr. Joe MacInnis | Member of the Titanic Discovery Team

During the past 40 years, Dr. Joe MacInnis has acquired an international reputation for his pioneering work in science, business and the environment. Drawing on experiences as exotic and various as diving beneath the North Pole and exploring the wreck of the Titanic, Joe MacInnis relates how teamwork and leadership can turn effort into victory. An eloquent and stirring speaker, his volume of research into human performance in high-risk environments is changing the way audiences think about business, achievement and life.

Adam Kreek | Olympic Gold Medalist & Social Entrepreneur

“You row an ocean by taking one stroke at a time. You build a business by solving one problem at a time. Make forward progress one inch at a time. Inch by inch. Repeat!” A world-class and interactive storyteller, Adam’s timeless performance philosophies serve to embolden organizational culture, re-boot team performance, and expand resiliency. Adam delivers keynote addresses and workshops on the topics of Shared Leadership and Teamwork, Managing Change Successfully, Cultivating a Safety Culture, and Strategies for Peak Performance.  Relevant, powerful, and transformative, Adam’s keynotes motivate, inspire, educate, and entertain.  

David Suzuki | Award-Winning Scientist, Environmentalist & Broadcaster

David has received consistently high acclaim for his thirty years of award-winning work in broadcasting, explaining the complexities of science in a compelling, easily understood way. He is well known to millions as the host of the CBC’s popular science television series, The Nature of Things with David Suzuki. David has received numerous awards for his work, including a UNESCO prize for science, a United Nations Environment Program medal and is a Companion to the Order of Canada. He has 26 honorary doctorates from universities in Canada, the US and Australia.  

Colin and Julie Angus | Change, Risk Management & Teamwork Experts

“It’s not about being born with special talents; it’s about having the right strategy and frame of mind to reach your goals.” Through exploration and adventure Julie and Colin strive to motivate others to lead active and environmentally-sustainable lifestyles.  Their work with Healthy Heart and Active Communities, two organizations dedicated to conveying these ideals to youth, has enabled the team to reach out to students around the world. Colin and Julie continue their efforts in promoting zero-emissions transportation as a healthy way to maintain a healthy world.  

Les Stroud | Bestselling Author, Filmmaker & the original Survivorman

Best known as the award winning producer and star of the hit TV series Survivorman, Les Stroud is the only producer in the history of television to produce an internationally broadcast series entirely written, videotaped and hosted alone. The godfather of ‘Survival TV’, Survivorman is one of the highest rated shows in the history of OLN Canada, the Science Channel US and Discovery Channel US. A proud member of the prestigious Explorers Club, Les received Fellow (highest rank) of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society.  

Roberta Bondar | Canada’s First Female Astronaut

Roberta Bondar first came to international prominence as the world’s first neurologist in space, as an astronaut on the space shuttle Discovery mission STS 42 in 1992. Globally recognized for her contributions to space medicine, she continued as head of an international space medicine research team working with NASA for more than a decade, finding new connections between recovering from floating in space and neurological illnesses such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease.  

Geoff Green | The Consummate Expedition Leader

Geoff has led over 200 worldwide expeditions to some of the most remote corners of the globe, including over 100 expeditions to Antarctica and the Arctic. He inspires and motivates groups of all ages around the world with tales of adventure, incredible visuals, and personal observations on topics such as leadership, vision, teamwork, climate change and the power of youth. A charismatic and entertaining speaker, Geoff’s presentations are educational, inspirational, and unforgettable.     Learn more about these and all of our adventurers, explorers and trail-blazers.