These science trips for girls are so cool, they’re glacial

Want to see a glacier? Applications to join an expedition are due by the end of January

inside glacier

Applications are open for girls ages 16 to 17 to have an experience that is truly “cool” — exploring a glacier.

Anna Omelchenko/istockphoto

A science-based way to escape the summer heat? Yes, please! Inspiring Girls Expeditions is offering free science expeditions for girls to explore glaciers and help conduct research in summer 2017. Groups will travel to the Gulkana Glacier in Alaska, Mount Baker in Washington or to the Findel Glacier in the Alps in Switzerland. One group will even explore Bear Glacier in Alaska by kayak.

Inspiring Girls Expeditions provides immersive science experiences for teen girls. Teens admitted to one of its programs will work with glaciologists — scientists who study glaciers — to study and learn about these huge masses of ice. The girls will explore these unique environments with female engineers, mountain guides, marine biologists, ecologists and other scientists and wilderness experts.

Four trips are currently available:

  1. Girls on Ice – Alaska will accept nine girls who will travel to the Gulkana Glacier in Alaska from June 16 to 27, 2017. The trip is open to girls from Alaska, California Oregon, Washington and Idaho, as well as British Columbia and the Yukon Territories in Canada.
  2. Girls on Ice – Cascades will accept up to nine girls from all over the world. This group will travel to Washington and explore Mount Baker from July 16 to 27, 2017.
  3. Girls in Icy Fiords will accept eight applicants from anywhere in the world. These girls will explore Bear Glacier in Alaska and the surrounding environments by kayak from August 11 to 22, 2017.
  4. Girls on Ice – Switzerland is a German-language trip to the Findel Glacier in the Swiss Alps from July 15 to 25, 2017. Applicants must be able to understand German.

Applicants must be 16 or 17 on June 1, 2017 to qualify. Girls will be selected based on a diversity of life backgrounds and experiences. Applications, found here, are due January 31, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. Alaska time.

Inspiring Girls Expeditions is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Girls on Ice – Switzerland is supported by the Swiss Federal Institute of Hydrology and Hydraulics in Zurich, the Geographical Institutes of the Universities of Friborg and Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute.

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Bethany Brookshire was a longtime staff writer at Science News Explores and is the author of the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. She has a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology and likes to write about neuroscience, biology, climate and more. She thinks Porgs are an invasive species.