Marine explorer Jill Heinerth encourages Calgary kids to find their own adventures

One of the world's top marine explorers kicked off a cross-country tour in Calgary this week, hoping to encourage young girls to get out and do their own exploring.

Heinerth is the Royal Canadian Geographical Society's explorer-in-residence, and she's been diving in some of the most remote places on Earth for more than 20 years.

"The careers in the future are going to be like mine," Jill Heinerth told The Homestretch on Tuesday.

"Difficult to describe, needing collaboration and a lot of different skills."

Heinerth, who holds the record for going farther into deep underwater caves than any other woman, was in Calgary speaking to school kids on Monday about her adventures as a modern day explorer before continuing on to Saskatoon on Wednesday. 

While the job market of the future likely won't be filled with tons of job openings for deep sea divers, Heinerth says there are still a lot of similarities between what she does for a living, and what today's kids will be doing when they grow up. 

Heinerth says she tries to encourage children to take risks and face their fears — and emphasizes that those things don't have to happen at bottom of an Antarctic cave.

"I hope they will bravely go on and embrace what they truly love in life," she said.

"I think a little bit of fear is good. If you feel that tingle of fear, it's probably evidence that you're pushing the envelope a little bit," Heinerth added. 

"And that's good, it pushes society forward."

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With files from The Homestretch