Dennis Schmitt
Encyclopedia
Dennis Schmitt is a veteran explorer from UC Berkeley
who, in 2005, discovered a new island formed by the retreat of an ice shelf in East Greenland. Uunartoq Qeqertoq
, Inuit for "The Warming Island", lies 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
The Sierra Club
reported on a Schmitt quote to the New York Times:
Schmitt is also credited with the July 2007 discovery of the northernmost island on Earth, named Stray Dog West by Holly Wenger. Stray Dog West belongs to a shifting, semi-permanent archipelago locked in the sea ice north of Peary Land in northeast Greenland, named the Stray Dog Islands. The first island of the archipelago was discovered in 1996 by Dennis Schmitt and Bob Palais.
Schmitt grew up in Berkeley, Calif., the son of mixed German and American parentage. His father was a plumber. He showed early aptitude with languages, music and mathematics, and went on to study linguistics with Noam Chomsky in his late teens. Chomsky recruited Schmitt, aged 19, to travel to Alaska's Brooks Range and attempt to learn the Nunamiut dialect. He never left.
Schmitt speaks ten languages, including Russian, Norwegian, Danish, and French. Schmitt lived for four years at an Alaskan Eskimo village named Anaktuvuk Pass
before leading expeditions, including the Sierra Club
. In 2003, Schmitt discovered what at the time might have been the northernmost land in the world, which he named "83-42". In 2007, he discovered "Stray Dog West" at 83º40'30", the others having disappeared under the ice.
Schmitt lives in Berkeley. He composes classical music, being credited for the soundtrack to the 1978 movie, The Alaska Wilderness Adventure. Schmitt also writes sonnets under the pen name D O'Farrell.
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
who, in 2005, discovered a new island formed by the retreat of an ice shelf in East Greenland. Uunartoq Qeqertoq
Uunartoq Qeqertoq
Uunartoq Qeqertaq, Greenlandic for "The Warming Island", is an island discovered in September 2005 by American explorer Dennis Schmitt off the east central coast of Greenland, north of the Arctic Circle...
, Inuit for "The Warming Island", lies 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
The Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
reported on a Schmitt quote to the New York Times:
-
- "We felt the exhilaration of discovery. We were exploring something new. But of course, there was also something scary about what we did there. We were looking in the face of these changes, and all of us were thinking of the dire consequences."
Schmitt is also credited with the July 2007 discovery of the northernmost island on Earth, named Stray Dog West by Holly Wenger. Stray Dog West belongs to a shifting, semi-permanent archipelago locked in the sea ice north of Peary Land in northeast Greenland, named the Stray Dog Islands. The first island of the archipelago was discovered in 1996 by Dennis Schmitt and Bob Palais.
Biography
Schmitt speaks ten languages, including Russian, Norwegian, Danish, and French. Schmitt lived for four years at an Alaskan Eskimo village named Anaktuvuk Pass
Anaktuvuk Pass
The Anaktuvuk Pass is a mountain pass located in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in North Slope Borough in northern Alaska...
before leading expeditions, including the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
. In 2003, Schmitt discovered what at the time might have been the northernmost land in the world, which he named "83-42". In 2007, he discovered "Stray Dog West" at 83º40'30", the others having disappeared under the ice.
Schmitt lives in Berkeley. He composes classical music, being credited for the soundtrack to the 1978 movie, The Alaska Wilderness Adventure. Schmitt also writes sonnets under the pen name D O'Farrell.
Notable events
- The first person to climb Alaska's Brooks RangeBrooks RangeThe Brooks Range is a mountain range in far northern North America. It stretches from west to east across northern Alaska and into Canada's Yukon Territory, a total distance of about 1100 km . The mountains top out at over 2,700 m . The range is believed to be approximately 126 million years old...
from Point Hope to the Mackenzie RiverMackenzie RiverThe Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...
. - Made the first traverse of Axel Heiberg IslandAxel Heiberg IslandAxel Heiberg Island is an island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in the Arctic Ocean, it is the 31st largest island in the world and Canada's seventh largest island. According to Statistics Canada, it has an area of ....
, northern Canada. - Crossing the sea ice of the Bering Straits, including traveling through Eskimo villages of then Soviet-controlled eastern Siberia, earning the name "the boy who crossed the Bering Straits." Upon his return, the FBI detained and released Schmitt without charge.