On March 3, 1990, a team of six men from six different countries and their 42 sled dogs completed the first-ever dogsled crossing of the Antarctic continent. The 1990 International Trans-Antarctica Expedition, led by Minnesotan Will Steger, travelled 3,741 miles in seven months, enduring temperatures as low as -54F and winds as high as 100 mph. In early December 2010, the team will gather for the first time in 20 years to reflect on their journey and its impact, felt around the world by both lawmakers and school children.

We invite you to join us at these public events:

• Free public forum - Perspectives on Climate Change, featuring China team member and scientist, Dr. Qin Dahe and University of Minnesota's Associate Professor Elizabeth Wilson. Dr. Qin Dahe is a well-known glaciologist, climatologist and a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as the former Administrator of the China Meteorological Administration. Dr. Wilson spent 2009-2010 as a guest professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China researching energy and environmental policy issues. Details: Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, Cowles Auditorium, December 10th, 7 pm. Click here for more details.

• Expedition Reunion Event - Team members representing France, UK, China, Japan, Russia and the US will share their stories and video clips from the expedition at a public event on Saturday, December 11th from 3-5 p.m. The event will be held at Anne Simley Theater at Hamline University, 1536 Hewitt Avenue, St. Paul. Tickets are available at The North Face Stores in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The tickets are free; a donation of $5 for students and $10 for adults is suggested. Click here for more details.

The landmark expedition could not be replicated today: not only have dogs been banned from Antarctica, but the Larsen A and B Ice Shelves, on which the team travelled for a month, no longer exist, its demise a major indication of the impacts of climate change.

The impacts the team has made on a global scale are monumental. Following the expedition, the team members met with the heads of state in France, China, Russia, Japan and the US, calling for the ratification of the 1961 Antarctic Treaty; the Treaty involves 39 countries that cooperatively manage Antarctica for scientific purposes only. The team and sled dog "Sam" met with President and Mrs. Bush at the White House on March 27, 1990. In 1991, the Treaty was ratified, protecting Antarctica from oil and mineral exploration and preserving it for science.

In 2007, team member Dr. Qin Dahe of China shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for his work on climate change. Dr. Qin's scientific contributions were largely based on the ice core samples he took across the entire Antarctic continent during the expedition.

Frenchman Jean-Louis Etienne and Minnesotan Will Steger both have committed themselves to raise awareness about climate change, informing citizens through expeditions and public speaking on how they can make a difference. Locally, Will Steger established the Will Steger Foundation to educate, inspire, and empower people to engage in climate change solutions. UK team member Geoff Somers has worked with numerous polar expeditions and lectured widely. Dr. Victor Boyarsky of Russia heads the Arctic and Antarctic Museum in St. Petersburg and has led numerous expeditions in the Arctic. Japanese team member Keizo Funatsu runs Silver Cloud Kennel in Alaska and has competed several times in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.

As a result of the success of the expedition's adventure learning program, the Will Steger Foundation has incorporated the successes of this early online learning model into our nationally recognized climate change education programming. The courage, tenacity, perseverance and commitment to education that defined this expedition are core values of the Will Steger Foundation today.

"The Trans-Antarctica Expedition had a huge impact on my teaching style ," explains Louise Huffman, a teacher from Illinois, and past presenter at the Will Steger Foundation Summer Institute for Climate Change Education. "The expedition was truly interdisciplinary; students experienced the interplay between social studies, art, math and history. Also, I was inspired by working with the Antarctic scientists and was able to bring more energy to my teaching."

The educational program, which relied on the early computer networks of Prodigy, CompuServe, Minitel and Apple (as the internet was not yet available to the public), reached 25 million children worldwide. The team received letters, cards, handmade books and drawings from schools around the world, including rural communities in China and even the Australian Outback.

"Wherever I go," explained Will Steger, "I meet people who were affected by the expedition. Many of them followed the expedition in elementary school. Now that they are parents, they are teaching their children about global cooperation and the importance of working together to solve problems like climate change."

The expedition was the focus of four hour-long ABC-TV specials which won the station a National Sports Emmy Award. It was featured in the November 1990 issue of National Geographic Magazine. Jazz great Grover Washington wrote a song and dedicated his 1990 national concert tour to the expedition, called Protecting the Dream. Major sponsors Target Stores, The North Face and Gore-Tex launched an expedition exhibit in an 18-wheeled truck that travelled the country, providing armchair explorers a "vicarious" experience.

When the team reached the South Pole they shared this message with the world, still very relevant today:

"The 1990s will be a decade of global change, demanding a new way of thinking and renewed commitment to action. For the first time in history, there is hope for world peace, and yet the planet is threatened by an imminent environmental disaster. This generation must reverse the tide of destruction and strive to preserve the future. As we learned anew in crossing Antarctica, the only limit to achievement is the limit you place on your dreams. As you seek your own way in the world, look beyond personal gain to your responsibility as stewards of the Earth. Let your vision be guided by hope, your path be adventurous, and the power of your thought be directed toward the betterment of tomorrow." International Trans-Antarctica Expedition Team Statement