Professional Affiliation

Director of Polar Guardians: Coast Guard Icebreaking in the High Latitudes​​​​​​, Silver Fir Media

Expert Bio

Don O’Brien grew up outside of Chicago and moved downtown to enroll in Columbia College paying his way by running a home screen printing business and art gallery. After film school he took a break from city life and set out on the road looking for stories in the woods, mountains, and waters of North America. In that time, he has worked with scientists to study glaciers on some of our nation's highest peaks, told the stories of Americans who worked on the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project, found himself too close to grizzly bears for comfort and created over 100 films. Currently Don lives on the border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness in Northern Minnesota where he is building a cabin, enjoys hanging out with dog mushers and continues to make films with Silver Fir Media.