Frontiers North, along with Polar Bears International, host a number of world-renowned polar bear researchers and scientists on our Tundra Buggy Lodge each Autumn. This provides our Lodge guests the added-value opportunity to learn first-hand about polar bears in their natural environments and the effects they face from climate change from leading Species Experts in the field. 

Dr. Andrew Derocher

Dr. Derocher chairs the IUCN's Polar Bear Specialist Group and teaches biology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. He holds a B.S. from the University of British Columbia (1983), an M.S. from the University of Alberta (1987), and a Ph.D. from the University of Alberta, working in Dr. Stirling’s lab (1991). His field research focuses on polar bears in the Canadian Arctic and the polar bears of Hudson Bay. He has also worked with polar bears in Svalbard, Norway, through the Norwegian Polar Institute. Over the course of 20 years of studying polar bears, Dr. Derocher’s research has focused on the limiting and regulating factors of polar bear populations including habitat use, harvest effects, and predator-prey relationships. His current work includes assessment of the effects of climate change and toxic chemicals on polar bears.

BJ Kirschhoffer

Mr. Kirschhoffer is the Director of Field Operations for Polar Bears International where he is on the front line helping design and maintain field base technologies used in education and research. Under this title he spends much of his time in polar bear habitats, whether that be in the polar bear capital of the world more commonly referred to as Churchill Manitoba, Canada or the bitterly cold and desolate North Slope of Alaska. Mr. Kirschhoffer, along with Polar Bears International, Frontiers North Adventures and other partnering organizations are helping save one of earths most important species.

Dr. Donald Moore

Dr. Moore is the Associate Director for Animal Care at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and Founding Vice-Chair and Current Advisor of Animal Welfare for the American Zoo & Aquarium Association (AZA). Dr. Moore holds a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from Syracuse University. He is a zoo and animal-behavior professional, wildlife biologist, and educator. Dr. Moore has worked closely with polar bears in zoos during the course of his career, including his present position with the Smithsonian's National Zoo and his previous work with the Wildlife Conservation Society's zoos in New York City. He helped spearhead a nationwide effort to reduce stereotypic behavior (stress) in polar bears in zoos. Dr. Moore has published over four dozen papers or manuals on animal husbandry and behavior; serves as a peer-reviewer for several scientific journals; and has received national and local awards for excellence in the interpretation of natural history and behavior of wildlife. He recently wrote the children’s natural history book, “Disney’s Wonderful World of Animals (2006), based on questions about animals that kids ask him most frequently.

Mr. Richardson began working in western Hudson Bay 10 years ago as an undergraduate student doing research on arctic and red fox den site selection. He completed a Masters of Science at the University of Alberta with Dr. Ian Stirling, focusing on polar bear maternity den site selection in Western Hudson Bay and continues to work alongside as a wildlife biologist for the Canadian Wildlife Service conducting polar bear research in the Beaufort Sea and western Hudson Bay. He is currently working towards his Doctorate at the University of Alberta.

JoAnne Simerson

Ms. Simerson has pioneered behavior management techniques with the polar bears at the San Diego Zoo, training them to participate in studies that test their hearing range and estrus cycles. These studies not only provide scientists with valuable information, but are intellectually stimulating to the bears and thus help prevent stereotypic behavior. Simerson actively volunteers each year with PBI's In Field Lecture Series in Churchill, Manitoba, where she helps to educate the public about polar bears, climate change, and the Arctic.

Dr. Thomas S. Smith

Dr. Smith is an associate professor and research wildlife biologist in the Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He holds a B.S. in Zoology from Brigham Young University (1982), an M.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of Alaska – Fairbanks (1987) and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from Brigham Young University (1992). His work over the past 15 years has been mainly focused on North American bear conservation and conflict management. His current studies with polar bears focus on den emergence ecology and response to human activities on the North Slope of Alaska.

Dr. Ronald Swaisgood

Dr. Swaisgood a scientist with the San Diego Zoo and the associate director of the zoo's Center for Reproductive Studies (CRES). He has worked with a number of species including giant pandas, rhinoceros, and, of course, polar bears. He has authored or co-authored more than 40 scientific papers and has received numerous grants and awards. The major focus of Dr. Swaisgood's current research is on scent communication, which plays a major role in solitary species like polar bears in terms of finding and competing for a mate and other aspects of social and reproductive behavior. He is also studying maternal behavior in several bear species. 

Mr. Winhall is the curator of mammals at Sea World San Diego. An enthusiastic supporter of PBI's efforts, Bill has worked with us on various research projects involving zoo bears, including their recent study on the polar bear's hearing range.

Geoff York