Kate Harris
After graduating from GDHS in 2000, Harris went to the University of North Carolina, where she received her Bachelor of Science, with a major in Biology, and a minor in Geology — all on a full scholarship. She had a cumulative grade-point average of 3.95, has made the dean’s list every semester and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as a junior. At the end of her four-year degree, she received a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University in England. She spent the next three years working on her Masters of Philosophy in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine.
Named one of Canada's top modern-day explorers, her award-winning nature and travel writing has featured in The Walrus, Canadian Geographic Travel, Sidetracked and The Georgia Review, and cited in Best American Essays and Best American Travel Writing. She also reports on UN environmental negotiations for the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Harris worked for two weeks at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, a simulated habitat designed to prepare humans to explore the red planet.
Fascinated with questions about the origin and abundance of life in the universe, Harris began exploring the night sky by telescope as a child. She shared her passion with others her freshman year at UNC by founding SpaceTalk, a student group that presents astronauts and others as lecturers, hosts astronomy observatory sessions and gives educational presentations at secondary schools.
Kate has led or participated in scientific research and endurance expeditions on all seven continents, including Antarctica. She hopes to ultimately translate her love for polar and glacial places into a life of science, adventure, exploration, and public advocacy for the preservation of the world’s cold, icy wildernesses.
She once longed to visit Mars, but in recent years she has come to realize that Earth is a pretty marvelous place. For one, there’s the breathtaking view of the Juneau Icefield from the window of her off-the-grid log cabin in Atlin, British Columbia. It served as the perfect inspiration to document her epic journey of 10 months, 10 countries and 10,000 kilometers (over 6,000 miles) by bicycle with her best friend Mel Yule across the Silk Road, a network of ancient trade routes connecting Europe and Asia.
The result is her insightful 2018 travelogue, Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road, which has garnered praise and prizes in her native Canada and the United States.
Named one of Canada's top modern-day explorers, her award-winning nature and travel writing has featured in The Walrus, Canadian Geographic Travel, Sidetracked and The Georgia Review, and cited in Best American Essays and Best American Travel Writing. She also reports on UN environmental negotiations for the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Harris worked for two weeks at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, a simulated habitat designed to prepare humans to explore the red planet.
Fascinated with questions about the origin and abundance of life in the universe, Harris began exploring the night sky by telescope as a child. She shared her passion with others her freshman year at UNC by founding SpaceTalk, a student group that presents astronauts and others as lecturers, hosts astronomy observatory sessions and gives educational presentations at secondary schools.
Kate has led or participated in scientific research and endurance expeditions on all seven continents, including Antarctica. She hopes to ultimately translate her love for polar and glacial places into a life of science, adventure, exploration, and public advocacy for the preservation of the world’s cold, icy wildernesses.
She once longed to visit Mars, but in recent years she has come to realize that Earth is a pretty marvelous place. For one, there’s the breathtaking view of the Juneau Icefield from the window of her off-the-grid log cabin in Atlin, British Columbia. It served as the perfect inspiration to document her epic journey of 10 months, 10 countries and 10,000 kilometers (over 6,000 miles) by bicycle with her best friend Mel Yule across the Silk Road, a network of ancient trade routes connecting Europe and Asia.
The result is her insightful 2018 travelogue, Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road, which has garnered praise and prizes in her native Canada and the United States.