Joy Wilson, a humanities and science teacher teacher at Chemainus Secondary School, has been chosen for a National Geographic Lindblad Expedition Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.
Wilson is one of 35 teachers accepted out of the 350 from across North America who applied for a fellowship in 2025.
She will be travelling along Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast and Montenegro from Aug. 16-23 on board one of National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions’ state-of-the-art expedition vessels.
During the trip, Wilson and other chosen fellows will enhance their geographic knowledge of the area with immersive, field-based experiences that they will bring back to their classrooms, communities and professional networks.
“We are proud to welcome our 17th cohort of Grosvenor Teacher Fellows,” said Amy Berquist, vice president of conservation, education and sustainability at Lindblad Expeditions. “These exceptional educators will have the remarkable opportunity to visit some of the most ecologically diverse and unique places on earth, utilizing this firsthand insight for an enriching educational experience and igniting passion for environmental stewardship in students for years to come."
Wilson, who has taught in the Cowichan Valley school district and overseas for the past 15 years, said she is looking forward to this unique opportunity to step outside the traditional classroom, engage in real-world exploration, and transform teaching. Her selection was based on essay answers, a review of her teaching portfolio and resume, and a video submission.
The National Geographic Lindblad Expedition noted on its website that Wilson is the first “second-generation” fellow in the program’s history.
2015 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Janet Ruest was Wilson’s high school social studies teacher and field hockey coach, and she was inspired by Ruest’s teaching style, fondly recalling how she “actively engaged her students in lessons,” and ultimately embarked on a career in education herself.
Then, in 2015, a chance encounter with her former teacher changed the course of her professional life.
“I bumped into Mrs. Ruest at a local restaurant after reading about her expedition to the Galápagos Islands in the newspaper,” Wilson said. “We chatted about her fellowship, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow! What an experience! Imagine if I were to get selected one day.’”
That day has come and she hopes that by sharing her fellowship experience when she returns, as Ruest did with her, she can inspire students to push themselves out of their comfort zone.
The board at the Cowichan Valley school district said at its meeting on June 3 that the district is honoured to have Wilson representing Cowichan on the expedition.
“This is a great reminder to her students that you don't have to come from a large community to do something remarkable with your life,” the board said.
