Pioneers of the Possible
Season 3 · 2026–27 · Hosted by Sunniva Sørby with Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants
For three years in a row, Ive invited people I’ve been lucky enough to meet along my way toshare how they show up for this planet.
Trailblazers. Conservationists. Photographers. Explorers from all walks of life. Climate leaders,
grief experts, stunt women, ice specialists, producers and artists. Each of them helps us better understand and appreciate the many ways people are protecting our amazing natural spaces,
and the people who live in those places, near and far.
There are many legends among us. We stand on the shoulders of great pioneers, and alongside many greats living right in our own neighbourhoods.
One year ago, on October 1st, Dr. Jane Goodall passed away. Her greatest lesson in leadership was also her simplest: every individual makes a difference, and we get to choose what kind.
So this season, we’re focusing on activism and stewardship. What does it look like in action? Our hope is to drop seeds and ideas into your bucket of hope.
Come listen, ask questions, and leave with something to plant.
Upcoming Lessons
We kick off Season 3 on the west coast of Vancouver Island, where the Tseshaht First Nation is bringing underwater forests back to life.
James LaFlamme, the Nation’s Fisheries and Wildlife Manager, leads Tseshaht’s work with Ocean Wise to restore giant kelp in Barkley Sound and the Broken Group Islands. These waters have been part of Tseshaht territory for generations.
Kelp forests are home to otters, fish and hundreds of other species. More than half have been lost or damaged worldwide in the past 50 years.
James and his team are fighting back in two ways:
– Replanting. They transplant young kelp onto rocky reefs, choosing sites using 150-year-old maps alongside the knowledge of the Tseshaht people.
– Restoring balance. Too many sea urchins can wipe out a kelp forest. Trained Tseshaht divers now harvest urchins, a traditional food, and share them with their community and neighbouring Nations.
For James, this work is about more than kelp. It’s about stewardship, and reconnecting with places that have fed people for thousands of years.
And anyone can follow along. An underwater camera streams live from one restoration site, so students can watch a kelp forest try to grow back in real time.
Past Lessons
Take one last virtual field trip this school year and join Polar Explorer Sunniva Sorby, live from Arctic Svalbard!
We’re ending the 2025–2026 school year the way it should end – somewhere extraordinary.
Join Sunniva Sørby live from the deck of the Ocean Explorer in Svalbard, Norway, as she wraps up this season of Pioneers of the Possible with a few surprise guests from the expedition team on board. Who will they be? You’ll have to show up to find out.
This is the Arctic. Expect the unexpected.
Over the course of her career, Sunniva has journeyed to some of the most remote and awe-inspiring places on Earth—from Antarctica’s icy expanses to the fragile ecosystems of the Arctic. For more than three decades, I’ve lived and led at the edges of the Earth—skiing to the South Pole, overwintering for 19 months in the Arctic, and collecting data as a citizen scientist while storms shook the cabin walls.
In celebration of and in the spirit of the recently launched Jane Goodall Institute of Canada’s Hike for Hope – we are thrilled to welcome one of Canada’s most extraordinary visual storytellers to Pioneers of the Possible. Join us Tuesday, May 19th at 11am PST / 2pm EST for a conversation with Michelle Valberg, C.M.
Michelle Valberg is one of Canada’s most celebrated wildlife and nature photographers — a four-decade career that has taken her across all seven continents and into some of the wildest, most sacred places on Earth. A recipient of the Order of Canada, Nikon Ambassador, and Photographer-in-Residence for Canadian Geographic, Michelle creates images that do more than document the natural world. They invite us to feel it. From spirit bears in the Great Bear Rainforest to polar bears in the Arctic, her photography captures the fragile beauty, the emotional truth, and the urgent need for connection between humans and the wild places that sustain us all.
Her work has graced magazine covers, Canadian coins and postage stamps, public art installations, and galleries worldwide. She is a Fellow and Board of Governors member of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a member of The Explorers Club in New York City, Gold medal winner at the 2026 World Photographic Cup in Iceland – one of the most prestigious international competitions in professional photography. Her accolades include the Wildlife Photographer gold medal at the 2022 World Photographic Cup, the Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers, and the Louie Kamookak Medal for making Canada’s geography better known to Canadians and the world.
Beyond the lens, Michelle is a force for community and conservation. As founder of Project North, she delivered over $2 million in sporting equipment to youth in more than 40 Arctic communities over 17 years — a legacy of generosity and connection that speaks to who she is as much as her photography does. She leads immersive workshops and expeditions around the world, from the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary to Churchill’s polar bear habitats, mentoring photographers of all levels to find their vision, elevate their craft, and tell stories that matter.
At the heart of Michelle’s work is a truth that resonates deeply with the spirit of this series: photography is more than an image. It is emotion, connection, and a way to give voice to the wild places and species that need us most. We can’t wait to share this conversation with you.
This Women’s History Month, Pioneers of the Possible is proud to celebrate the women building — quite literally — on the legacies of history’s great explorers. Last summer, co-host Sunniva Sørby joined an extraordinary cohort of eight women at the Steger Center for the Advanced Women’s Timber Framing Course, where participants crafted trusses for a historical replica of Shackleton’s Hut — the iconic Antarctic base camp Ernest Shackleton erected in 1906 during his legendary attempt to reach the South Pole. The original architectural designs were generously donated to the Steger Center by the New Zealand Antarctic Trust following their decade-long restoration of the hut, and now those plans are coming to life through the hands of skilled women in the trades.
Leading that course – and joining us live on March 31st at 2:00 PM EST – is the remarkable Jenna Pollard, a 15-year veteran timber framer and instructor who owns her own log building, timber framing business, and teaching school in northern Minnesota.
Jenna has been swinging a mallet since she was 22, has built or assisted with over a dozen timber frames, and is deeply passionate about growing diversity in the trades through women’s and FLINTA-specific workshops. Don’t miss this conversation as we honor the women who are shaping – and framing – the future. Jenna Pollard (she/her) has been timber framing since she was 22 years old and has taught timber frame workshops across the country. She has built or assisted with building over a dozen timber frames, from her own small cabin to large pavilions for community gatherings. Her passion for teaching has led her to offer women’s and FLINTA – specific timber framing courses as a way to grow diversity in the trades and provide a supportive learning environment for other women. She is excited to be teaching six timber frame workshops this summer, and leading two crews on large community projects. Jenna lives with her partner, two cats, twelve hens and resident rooster in northern Minnesota.
Angela is one of few female IFMGA mountain guides in the world with a career spanning over three decades. She was president of the American Mountain Guides Association and over the past 20 years has trained and examined aspiring guides. She’s led over 30 high-altitude mountaineering expeditions to the world’s Greater Ranges and guided remote trips from the Antarctic Peninsular to Arctic Svalbard. She skied from Sweden to Norway across Lapland, reached the South Summit of Mt. Everest and has led many technical all-women’s ascents.
Angela has a Master’s Degree in International Mountain Conservation, serves on the IFMGA board and is the vice president of the IFMGA Technical Commission where she leads climate change efforts and projects elevating women mountain guides worldwide. In 2011, she was named AMGA Guide of the Year and in 2022 received the AMGA Lifetime Achievement in Guiding Award.
What does it mean to be “well” in a world that keeps speeding up—where stress is constant, disconnection is common, and so many people are quietly carrying pain? More than ever, we need voices that help us understand the why beneath our habits, our health, and our suffering—without shame, and with real compassion. In this conversation, Dr. Gabor Maté invites us to look beneath the surface of stress, trauma, and illness, and to consider a different path forward: one rooted in truth, connection, and healing.
Join us for a powerful, human, and deeply relevant discussion—especially for educators, parents, and anyone navigating the pressures of modern life.
Gabor Maté is a retired physician who, after 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness.
The bestselling author of five books published in over 40 languages, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction, Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness.
For his ground-breaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. His most recent book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture is a New York Times,(London) Sunday Times and international bestseller.
We’re thrilled to welcome 95-year-old Grandma Joy and her grandson Brad Ryan to Pioneers of the Possible! Sunniva first met them all the way down in Antarctica in December 2025, where their joy, courage, and shared curiosity lit up the deck of their small expedition ship. Together they’ve visited every U.S. National Park and just about every continent on Earth—proving that adventure has no age limit and that the bonds between generations are some of the strongest forces on the planet.
Cady Coleman is a retired NASA Astronaut and USAF Colonel who flew twice on the Space Shuttle and spent 159 days aboard the International Space Station. A popular public speaker and media consultant, she is also a regular contributor for space exploration news and a Research Affiliate at MIT’s Media Lab.
Cady’s book, Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change is known for its insights and candid stories. She and her family were featured in PBS’s Space: The Longest Goodbye; and The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station.
An improvisational flute player, she is known for her “Space Duet” with Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and her work with the Irish band, The Chieftains. From space, she coached Sandra Bullock for her role in “Gravity.”
Cady lives in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts with her husband, glass artist Josh Simpson. They have two adult sons and two enormous Maine Coon cats, Saber and Max.
Join us in conversation with Gemita Samarra a former synchronized swimmer, stuntwoman and lead stunt double for James Bond’s Spectre (among many other films) and writer and producer of an animated TV series highlighting forgotten women explorers.
Gemita is a half-Spanish, half-British professional who has spent most of her career in film as a stuntwoman. She has had the privilege of serving as the lead stunt double on high-profile productions, including 007’s SPECTRE, Game of Thrones, and Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy. Gemita is a Jane of all trades… growing up the daughter of circus performers she had a natural attraction to adventure sports. She made it onto the Olympic pathway teams for both modern pentathlon and synchronized swimming before retiring to pursue a career in stunts.
She has worked across the globe with archeologists, activists and doctors as a photojournalist and has an ongoing research project on shortgevity (short life
expectancy).
Join us for this unique opportunity to sit in conversation with Ken Druck “Finding Strength After Hard Times”
Ken is one of the world’s leading authorities on grief literacy. In his talk, we’ll explore how to handle tough moments in life when we lose something or someone important to us. Whether it’s losing a loved one, moving away from a special place, or going through big changes, it can feel really hard to figure out what to do next.
Together, we’ll learn how to take care of ourselves during those hard times—by being kind to ourselves, asking for help, and finding ways to remember the people or things we’ve lost in meaningful ways. We’ll also talk about how to build strength and courage to keep going, even when things feel tough.
Ken Druck is an international authority on courageous living. Recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to Psychology award, he has inspired and guided audiences, clients, readers and communities for over 45 years. His new best-seller, How We Go On, are about meeting and mastering the “What now? Moments” in our lives. Ken’s life’s work since the tragic loss of his daughter, Jenna, in 1996, has come through his mission of service, founding The Jenna Druck Center, his Executive Coaching/Consulting practice, speaking career, writings and work as an educator and community leader.
Christiana Figueres, a visionary leader and Costa Rican citizen, served as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2010 to 2016.
During her transformative tenure, she united an extraordinary coalition of governments, corporations, activists, women’s groups, scientists, spiritual communities, financial institutions, and NGOs to achieve the historic 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This landmark accord saw 195 sovereign governments commit to limiting global warming to well below 2°C—and strive for 1.5°C—to safeguard the most vulnerable populations worldwide.
Since then Ms. Figueres has continued to foster rapid action on climate change. She is the co-author of The Future We Choose, The Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to the Climate Crisis (Penguin Random House 2019) and co-host of the popular podcast Outrage and Optimism.
Renowned for her groundbreaking approach to collaborative diplomacy, Christiana’s work has been globally recognized with numerous awards. Her leadership continues to inspire action and hope in the global fight against climate change. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation with a true pioneer who redefined what is possible.
Rachel is the founder and Executive Director of the international non-profit MarAlliance. She is a marine conservation scientist with over 30 years living in Central America and experience in development, environment and marine projects in Latin America, Africa, and Oceania.
Rachel and her team work towards win-win outcomes to rewild the seas with endangered marine wildlife while improving local knowledge and stewardship, livelihoods, and leadership capacities, notably to improve the sustainability of small-scale fisheries and wildlife tourism to build resilience in the face of impacts such as pandemics and climate change.
Her leadership in marine explorations and discoveries in 73+ expeditions globally has created cohorts of local researchers, explorers, and marine conservationists in data-poor countries, changed attitudes towards species such as sharks, and both consumer and fishing behaviours.
In 2011, she won the Whitley Fund for Nature Gold Award for her work with sharks and communities, in 2021 a prestigious Pew Marine Fellowship for work on hammerhead sharks and communities, in 2022 Oceana’s Ocean Hero Award in Belize and The Explorer’s Club EC50 award. She is most proud of her two sea-loving boys and her diverse, inclusive and talented team at MarAlliance.
Rebecca is a seven-time world champion, Hall of Fame athlete, Emmy Award-winning storyteller, host of What’s the Rusch podcast, and entrepreneur whose career exemplifies resilience, leadership, and the relentless pursuit of peak performance. Known as the Queen of Pain for her dominance in ultra-endurance sports, Rebecca has spent over three decades redefining what’s possible across mountain biking, adventure racing, climbing, and paddling. Her achievements include records at the Leadville 100 MTB and Iditarod Trail Invitational, summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro by bike, and becoming the first person to ride the entire 1,200-mile Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Rebecca’s Emmy-winning documentary, Blood Road, captures her deeply personal journey to connect with her late father, a Vietnam War pilot, showcasing her ability to transform challenges into purpose. This same spirit drives her nonprofit, the Be Good Foundation, which uses the power of the bike to foster community, remove unexploded bombs from war-affected regions, and create global impact.
A bestselling author of Rusch to Glory and an in-demand keynote speaker, Rebecca inspires individuals and teams to embrace an athlete’s mindset, pursue their personal podiums, and push beyond perceived limits. Recognized as one of Outside’s top 40 women in sport and one of the 50 most influential people in American cycling, she is the only athlete to be inducted into both the Mountain Bike and Gravel Cycling Halls of Fame.
Rebecca’s powerful storytelling, grit, and wisdom empower audiences to tap into their resilience, embrace growth, and redefine peak performance—both on and off the trail. Whether competing, speaking, or advocating for mental and physical health, Rebecca’s mission is to inspire others to find meaning, push boundaries, and build lives of impact.
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