He has written nine books, had articles published in “The Washington Post,” starred in and written programs for television and twice won the Banff Book Festival’s award for best adventure book.

But Jonathan Waterman, a writer, photographer and adventurer, struggled through high school and never went to college. He knew he wanted to pursue his passion, the outdoors, since he was 12 years old. After his senior year, he did.

Waterman will be lecturing about arctic warming at 7:30 p.m. on April 3 in the University Union Ballroom.

He will be speaking about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and the effects of global warming through the arctic north.

His parents always wanted him to get a college education. But the more important message he got from his father was to follow his passion.

“It was obvious to them that I was passionate about (the outdoors), and it meant the world to me,” Waterman said.

His career turned out to be a career he could learn by doing. He said he had a wide range of curiosity, which might have compensated for his lack of education. He definitely does not regret his choice.

“Knowledge is really all about curiosity,” Waterman said in a phone interview.

Waterman started taking trips to the arctic in 1984 and continued to return year after year.

“If you love wilderness, you can’t help but be drawn to the arctic,” he said.

Waterman’s disheartening experiences seeing radical changes over the years in the far north helped drive him to want to spread the word about global warming.

But he has also seen and photographed the beauty of the vast landscapes and the animals that one could only see in these environments, Waterman said. On one adventure, he saw a wolverine swimming in front of his kayak.

One of his greatest physical accomplishments was completing a 2,200-mile paddling adventure alone in the arctic in a three-year span.

Waterman is very proud of his first book, “Surviving Denali: A Study of Accidents on Mt. McKinley,” because he said it was his noblest work and continues to sell today.

But being a father of two sons is one of his greatest accomplishments, and his hope for his children lies in the arctic. He said there is always a sense of mystery to the arctic that needs to be preserved.

“I want my children and their children to have that,” he said. Zenia Diokno, programs advisor for UNIQUE Programs, said it wanted to bring something environmentally related back to campus since the viewing of Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” a couple of weeks ago was packed each of the four times it showed it.

Volunteers also got great feedback from the different departments and programs, such as the American Democracy Project on campus. They felt it would be good to bring Waterman to lecture.

“We are also looking at having him here earlier in the day to meet with classes,” Diokno said.

Waterman said that though Al Gore’s Oscar win was ironic, it was great that he is bringing awareness to global warming.

“It’s wonderful to see someone find their niche. I don’t care who they are. He’s brought this issue to the forefront,” Waterman said.

The freedom to express himself through writing and share with others the magnificent places that he’s been is what satisfies him the most, even though he said he is terrified of being confronted with a blank page.

Waterman has never been to Sacramento and said he is looking forward to asking students to take action by writing letters, e-mails or postcards encouraging representatives to take action to save the arctic refuge.

“This is the age where people need to get involved in the climate change issue because it affects us all,” he said.

Waterman will enter students who take action into a drawing where they could win up to $11,000 worth of items in a raffle next year from groups that support conservation.

“I want to change the world,” Waterman said. “I want to inspire other people to see the value in these places.”

More information on Waterman and the global warming issue is available on Waterman’s website, www.jonathanwaterman.com. Gia Vang can be reached at [email protected]