A world-renowned polar bear biologist who helped list polar bears as an endangered species visited Ball State Tuesday.
"Can Polar Bears Be Saved? A Conversation with Steven Armstrup," was simulcast from the University Teleplex Virtual Studio Tuesday.
Armstrup is the 2012 winner of the biennial Indianapolis Prize and chief scientist of Polar Bears International.
The award is known as the premier award for animal conservation, and Amstrup has spent 30 years studying polar bears.
According to associate vice president for marketing and communications Tony Proudfoot, the simulcast, which he described as a "tremendous success," was made possible by a partnership between the university and the Indianapolis Zoo.
"It's a great opportunity to demonstrate our expertise in emerging media and all the great things that we can do here," Proudfoot said. "Not only with our students and faculty but also the incredible facilities."
This was Ball State's third simulcast with Indianapolis Prize winners. The zoo initiated the partnership because of Ball State's media facilities with the intention of broadening the reach of the prize and the conservationists' work.
The event was attended mainly by donors, university deans and senior administrators, along with a number of students with interest in conservationist areas. It was broadcast as far away as Dallas, Texas and Tucson, Arizona through limited PBS stations, including Muncie's WIPB, in addition to its live availability online through indianapolisprize.org.
Background on Amstrup's career was provided by video shown during the conversation, and Amstrup took questions from viewers who called in, along with questions submitted via Twitter. The event was moderated by the former associate director of university communications Glenn Augustine.
Amstrup provided information about polar bears and discussed working in the field, but his main points stressed that the polar bear crisis is a harbinger of serious climate change issues.
"People are so handicapped by their personal beliefs," Amstrup said. "I think it may take a real disaster [for people to take action against climate change]. How many years can we have like we just went through here in Indiana. How was the corn crop here? People are starting to become aware that there is a real problem."
His message, however, showed hope.
Amstrup emphasized the damage is not "irreversible."
He outlined that change will depend on individual actions like turning the thermostat down in the winter, insulating homes and driving less. Efforts like this will help, along with business acting sustainability and leaders making conservation a priority.
He instructed viewers who care about the cause to "vote with your dollar and with your ballot," by supporting sustainability-minded leaders and businesses.
"Polar bears can indeed be saved," Amstrup said. "But it's up to us."
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