Climate issues are pretty hard to ignore in Iceland. Glaciers that once dominated much of the land are melting at a markedly fast pace, and the changing landscape has ripple effects across local lifestyles and broader implications for our planet. For visitors, being in Iceland and understanding climate change with all our senses can impact how we connect with our environment and the reality facing our world. But how do we share that impact with others? How can we expand people’s experience with climate change the way we will experience it ourselves?

Once again, Atlas Workshops will guide Lawrenceville students as they take part in an expedition around southern Iceland, exploring the unique geology and climate of the region as well as the people who live there. This program will focus on how the people have adapted to the conditions of Iceland as well as how they are threatened by the current trends in climate and weather. On this program, we work to understand and translate glaciology and the interwoven impacts of climate warming. We will head East to learn about and experience this massive Vatnajokull glacier and lagoon; we will spend time hiking and exploring the waterfalls coming down from the highlands; and we will see the changing landscapes and geothermal impacts of the tectonic plate boundary. Along the way, we will work as a group to think about how to bring our understanding and experience home.

Throughout the trip students will engage in different types of research as we tour various ways that the people of Iceland use geothermal energy as a means to provide food and power to the island.