Sebastian Copeland - Polar Explorer, Climate Advocate, Award-Winning Photographer & Author

The One Way Ticket Show

Sebastian Copeland is a polar explorer, climate analyst, photographer and author. In 2017, he was named one of the world’s top 25 adventurers of the last 25 years.

Noted as a photographer “who has produced works that are of outstanding artistic merit and communicates messages of urgent global significance,” Sebastian has led numerous record-setting expeditions, documenting the endangered Polar regions while covering more than 10,000 km on skis over the ice.

Since 2000, he has warned of systemic transformations taking place in the polar regions and their geo- economic consequences. Sebastian has addressed audiences at the United Nations, institutions and governments globally, as well as Fortune 500 companies, about the urgent need for a market transformation towards a sustainable economy.

He is a fellow of The Explorers Club, and member of the International Glaciology Society, the American Polar Society, and a founding member of Artists for Amazonia.

Sebastian's books have sold in over 70 countries. He was named four times Photographer of the Year, including twice in 2020 (IPA and TIFA) for Antarctica: The Waking Giant (Rizzoli 2020). In 2024, he released his sixth monogram titled: The Arctic: A Darker Shade of White (Rizzoli) with a foreword by Dr. Jane Goodall.

In 2018, Sebastian received a Bambi award in Germany, in the “Our Earth” category. He was named a Knight twice by the French government: in the National Order of Merit, and in the Order of Arts and Letters.

Our guest on episode 228, Sebastian returns to the program to quickly revisit his one way ticket destination before talking about his sensational new book, The Arctic: A Darker Shade of White (Rizzoli). In the course of the conversation, we cover:

• The changes in the Arctic and its impact on our lives outside the region
• Svalbard Global Seed Vault
• The Arctic as home to some of the oldest known life-forms (FYI: In 2011, scientists discovered 750-million-year-old bacteria trapped in ice)
• His approach to taking award-winning photos (and the importance of patience in the process)
• How icebergs are like people
• The wildlife found in the Arctic
• The connection between the peoples of the Arctic and the landscape, and the strains placed on their maintaining their traditional way of life
• Dr. Jane Goodall writing the forward to the book and her influence on his work
• Tourism's impact on the polar regions
• What we all can do to help the environment.

The Arctic: A Darker Shade of White made the NYT & the New York Post Best Holiday Gift Guide lists!