In recognition of commitment to geographic education, Craig Hemsath, a science teacher at Union High School in La Porte City was selected as one of the 2016 Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellows. Every year, K- 12 educators are encouraged to apply for this professional development opportunity that allows them to bring immersive geographic learning experiences back to their classrooms and communities. Hemsath is one of 35 highly respected educators from the United States and Canada to receive this honor.

Craig has been passionate about nature and the human interactions within it his entire life. Dedicated to immersing his students in how their decisions can have impacts across the globe, he has taken students from the Rocky Mountain West to the Costa Rican rain forest. Through the Grosvenor Fellowship, he hopes he can at least bring a little of the Arctic back to the classroom to share with students.

Later this year, Hemsath will embark on a 10 Lindblad voyage aboard National Geographic Explorer to the Svalbard Archipelago for a one-of- a-kind field experience, accompanied by Lindblad-National Geographic expedition experts. The expedition will provide him with new and exciting knowledge to bring back to Union High School and the community.

Before the voyage, Hemsath will travel to National Geographic Society’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to participate in hands-on workshops covering photography and outreach, and will have the opportunity to meet Lindblad Expeditions’ naturalists and to network with previous years’ Fellows.

This year marks the tenth year of the Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program, established to honor former National Geographic Society Chairman Gilbert M. Grosvenor’s lifetime commitment to geographic education. The program began with two Fellows in 2007 and has grown each year. The expeditions were donated in perpetuity to the National Geographic Society by Sven-Olof Lindblad and Lindblad Expeditions to mark Grosvenor’s 75th birthday in 2006 and to honor his service in enhancing and improving geographic education across the United States.