L.A. woman quits job for ANWR film project

Heather Dunkin has a successful career in human resources with The Jim Henson Company (of Muppet fame) in Los Angeles. But the U.S. Senate's recent actions to pursue oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic refuge prompted her to give all that up. She has given two months' notice to her employer, and plans to travel to ANWR for a digital film project to document the natural wonders of the refuge.

In a recent exchange with ANWR News, Dunkin described what drove her to do this.

"My main motivation is to film digitally and show this footage and pictures of the flourishing life in this section (ANWR)," she said. "My passion is to truthfully inform people of what we will lose if we continue raping the Earth and her inhabitants for short-term gratification. I plan to bring with me another filmmaker or photographer and anyone else who will caravan. Aside from this, I will continue to do research and look for potential sponsors in order to give the area the best possible coverage."

Dunkin said she initially planned merely a two-week vacation from her job to film in ANWR. Beginning her research, she found a "disappointing amount of posts" from people on the Internet in support of ANWR drilling. This prompted her to quit her job and commit herself to ANWR. She posted a notice on Craiglist.org seeking likeminded artists and others to join her, and received "overwhelming" support.

"I received no e-mails to the contrary. People either sent me their resumes or responded that they couldn't come, but were supportive of my quest," she said.

Here is Heather's Craiglist posting.

Anyone interested in joining Heather or offering words of support may contact her at funnychix@comcast.net

I commend Heather for following her dreams, and for making an effort to further the debate about ANWR with moving pictures. Hopefully we'll hear more from her both during and after her journey.