FRANÇOIS PRÉVOST
Age
First saw the light of day on November 6, 1965 in Montmagny-les-Oies-Blanches, in the middle of a snowstorm.
Profession
What is a profession? If you mean work for pay, well, I have been (and sometimes still am) a doctor, filmmaker, writer, pubic speaker, photographer, painter, designer, busking guitarist, and renovator of old houses.
Education
PhD in medicine, Université de Montreal
Residence as a general practitioner with advanced training in emergency medicine, infections, and obstetrics, UMF Chicoutimi
Additional training In Wilderness Medicine, Travel Medicine, and transpersonal psychology.
Studies toward a B.A. in physical education, specializing in outdoor sports, Laval University.
Self-taught guitarist and painter.
Relevant Experience
Family medicine in the Far North, among the Inuit of Salluit, Puvirnitug and Unukjuak, Inuulitsivik and Nunavik. Occasional teaching assistant affiliated with McGill University Faculty of Medicine.
Chair of the board of directors, Inuulitsivik Health Centre, Nunavik.
Health columnist for Geo Outdoor magazine.
Designer, screenwriter, cameraman, sound recorder, producer and director of the film, What Remains of Us, a feature-length documentary shot inside Tibet. With the participation of the Dalai Lama. Premiering at Cannes, the film received the Jutra Award for the Best Documentary and also won several international prizes.
Producer for Radio-Canada’s Le Point: Silence de vie ou de mort, a feature on the social and political situation inside Tibet.
Winner of La Course Destination Monde, a television series broadcast on Radio-Canada: 20 short documentaries filmed in 26 countries spanning 5 continents, including Antarctica. First prize for the overall series; an image quality award; an international development award, and a people’s choice award.
Short but significant trips, with Doctors without Borders, to Ruanda and Lhassa in Tibet.
Expedition leader and special photographer in the Far North and the Himalayas; trip down the Korok and Narsajuak rivers, ski crossing from Ivujivik to Salluitm Nunavik crater, sea kayaking in Hudson Strait, trekking at two base camps at Everest (Nepal and Tibet), among others.
Solo bike trip across Canada.
Job During Mission Antarctica
As doctor to the crew, I will do my best to oversee the health of my shipmates. I will participate in the NASA behaviour study and also pursue my own modest personal research into human behaviour. As well, I will be responsible for helping the scientists in their research, and also provide assistance in camera and editing work.
I'm versatile and up for anything.
Personal Goals and Motivations
Being part of a team in a project that inspires me. Reconnecting with Antarctica, a sublime natural world, a demilitarized continent of whiteness, a fragile place where all hopes are still possible.
What I Hope to Accomplish During the Expedition
Living fully in the present.
Greatest Fears During the Expedition
Fear of forgetting that right now I am not afraid.
Wintering
