At the top of Jonathan Frostad’s bucket list is a remote place near the top of the world where polar bears significantly outnumber human inhabitants part of the year.

It’s been a dream of Frostad’s since he was 12 to one day travel to Svalbard, Norway, a frozen group of islands in the Arctic Ocean that captured his imagination as a child in the pages of National Geographic.

Frostad remembers reading about the polar bears in Svalbard, an archipelago that also endeared him because of his Norwegian roots.

Frostad, 43, is feeling a little giddy these days because a dream he thought would be unattainable is about to come true.

A science teacher from Oak Harbor High School, he was one of 35 educators selected as 2016 Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellows.

In June, he’ll join experts in their field aboard the National Geographic Explorer ice-rated vessel on a two-week journalistic expedition to observe the impacts of climate change around Svalbard.

He applied for the unique professional development opportunity in December after he saw that the Norwegian island group was one of the global field experiences being offered. He noticed it for the first time two years ago but ran out of time to get his application together.

This time, he crafted his essays and met the deadline.

“I still didn’t believe that there would be any chance,” Frostad said. “But I thought, ‘I can’t not try because how awesome would that be.’ ”

For nearly two months, Frostad said he got mired in self doubt about how he might have done better on his essays, remembering details he should have added.

“And then I got the call,” he said with a smile.

In some ways, Frostad couldn’t be a more ideal candidate. He’s become a world traveler whose passion is to experience first-hand the environments he encounters to share with his students.

He’s also somewhat of a poster child for National Geographic magazine, which played an inspirational role in opening his eyes to the world and shaping his life.

“When I was very young, we didn’t have much money,” said Frostad, who grew up on a small subsistence farm on the Palouse outside of Spokane. “My mom would take me to the library once a month-ish and that’s when I fell in love with National Geographic.”

He said his mother somehow scraped up enough money to buy him a subscription for his 10th birthday and his imagination started running wild ever since.

“At that point, I started writing a list of places that I wanted to go with adventures that I wanted to have,” Frostad said. “Since I was about 12, Svalbard, Norway has been on that list.”

Frostad, who’s also a mountain climbing instructor, has traveled to more than 40 countries on five different continents. Yet, as he grew older and began researching it, he didn’t think visiting the remote Arctic region near his ancestral roots would be possible.

“It’s a very, very remote place, very difficult to get to,” Frostad said. “And some time back, I started to figure out what one would have to do to actually get there. And sadly, I realized I was probably never going to get there because it’s such a huge project. If you don’t work there, if you don’t have any business there, you have to charter everything privately to get yourself out there. You can get there. You can fly there, which in and of itself is very expensive. But once you’re there, you can’t go anywhere unless you have your own boat.”

The human population in the Svalbard islands is estimated to be 2,500, which at times can dwarf the estimated population of migrating polar bears, which can range from 1,000 to 3,600.

“Svalbard is one of the few locations in the world where you can observe them on a predictable basis,” Frostad said. “Even better, for this expedition, I will be aboard an ice-rated vessel, which makes observing polar bears even more likely and exponentially safer than trying to spot them on land on foot. Aboard an ice-class vessel is about the only way to observe them up close without risking your life.”

Nobody in Svalbard ventures away from buildings or boats without an armed escort, Frostad said.

“It is prohibited on our expedition to ever be ashore without a rifle in the party,” he said. “This rule is followed in virtually every region of the arctic from Alaska to Greenland to Russia. The polar bear is one of the few top predators on the planet that views everything it sees as food. They don’t scare easily and are always hungry.”

Frostad will fly into Oslo initially, then catch a flight to the town of Longyearbyen, the major population center of Svalbard which isn’t far from the North Pole. From there, they’ll board the ship and take frequent excursions on Zodiac boats and kayaks.

“Nowhere on earth is there a permanent settlement farther north (than Longyearbyen),” Frostad said.

The Arctic region with its disappearing ice sheets is of great interest to Frostad, who calls it the “poster child” to the changes that are happening regarding the climate.

“The changes that are happening are difficult to experience unless you live in the Arctic, and then they’re obvious,” he said. “And I want to see first hand and hear from people who have watched the change over the last 15 years. The pack ice differences are so overwhelmingly different that it’s changing life up there.”

Part of Frostad’s role will be to interview local residents and experts and videotape his many observations for a possible documentary.

He expects the insight he gains will be valuable to offer his science students in the years to come. It’s critical to the purpose of the Grosvenor Teacher Fellow program, established 10 years ago by the National Geographic Society to honor its former chairman Gilbert M. Grosvenor.

Lindblad Expeditions are specialists in expedition travel that partner with National Geographic.

One of the bonuses of the trip is afteward Frostad also will be able to visit some “long lost cousins” who live in the place of his namesake, Frostad, a village in Tomren Fjord.

But the entire ordeal won’t come without one sacrifice.

When Frostad learned that he had been accepted for the fellowship, he found out the date conflicted with Oak Harbor’s graduation.

Not only would he miss his students graduate, Frostad is a senior class advisor in charge of graduation along with Ellen Christensen. It’s a role he’s held for about 12 years and this was to be his last ceremony in that capacity.

“I feel really horrible about it,” Frostad said. “I got really close to this year’s seniors. They’re really awesome kids. They were bummed. I was bummed, then we all got over it and started getting really excited. Everyone’s really excited and that helps.”

Adjustments were made by the school’s administration to allow Frostad to experience the “once in a lifetime” opportunity.

“While it’s unfortunate that our kids are losing (him) this year, his experiences of coming back and being able to share real science and research with our kids is going to be valuable for more kids down the road,” principal Dwight Lundstrom said.

Frostad already spent a long weekend in Washington, D.C., attending a workshop to get ready for the trip.

He’s also already been packing. He’s used to that as he’s chipped away at his bucket list.

“I started calling it that after the movie came out,” Frostad said. “Basically, I’ve spent most of my life trying to go to those places and fulfill that list and I’ve done a pretty good job.”