Underwater explorer Jill Heinerth visits Kingston for Earth Day celebrations

Story by Christena Lawrie, CFRC's Broadcast Journalist & Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

Adventurer, filmmaker, and author Jill Heinerth will be celebrating Earth Day in Kingston on Sunday at the Spire. 

Hailing from Picton, Ontario, Heinerth is now one of the world’s most accomplished underwater explorers, her list of accolades including diving iceberg caves in Antarctica with National Geographic and training divers on the set of Avatar 2. 

On Sunday, April 21, she will be sharing her passion with Kingstonians at the Spire in a large multi-media presentation. She will also be joined by local environmental and sustainability organizations, including Kingston Youth Climate Action, Seniors for Climate Action Now, Sustainability Kingston, Sandy Pines, and the Ontario Association for Geographic and Environmental Education, to teach more about our planet and its water systems.

In an interview with CFRC, Heinerth says, “I'm really excited to join you all because I sort of think of Earth Day as this, you know, spring cleaning time when we're all kind of waking up and getting back outdoors and reconnecting with each other and with our environment. And I think this is a fantastic opportunity to meet like-minded people that love the outdoor environment, want to protect it and maybe want a little bit of information about that too. Because I think we're all a little climate anxious these days and sort of environmentally anxious these days. And the best way to learn is just to connect with other people, get some good information and a positive outlook on how we can move towards a more sustainable future.”

The Spire will also be debuting some new features in the historic space. Sam MacLeod, Manager at the Spire, described in an interview how they have been upgrading the space over the years to be a “community hub”, including developing the performance hall to host events like this.

“This Earth Day celebration is one way that we can showcase the space while also appreciating a really important event for our community and for our world,” explains MacLeod.