Growing up, I followed in the footsteps of Arctic wildlife and was drawn to the vast, icy world of polar bears. Studying them as a researcher felt like a natural path, but over time, my frustration over the lack of action to protect such a vulnerable animal grew. Despite overwhelming evidence that polar bears could vanish from the earth within the century, they are still killed for the international fur trade. Meanwhile, our planet has surged past climate record after climate record. If we truly want to protect them, we need policies that fully account for the reality of a warming, destabilized world and rethink how we safeguard the most vulnerable species. I never want to live in a world without polar bears, and I still believe we can change the climate narrative. #internationalpolarbearday