Applications are now open for this unique, tuition-free wilderness science program!
If you know an adventurous, science-loving teenage Mighty Girl looking for a challenge this year, Inspiring Girls Expeditions is currently accepting applications for their free wilderness expedition science program! This year, the non-profit organization is running twelve different expeditions, including ones focused on mountaineering on an Alaskan glacier, rock climbing in the Rocky Mountains, hiking in the Swiss Alps, and sea kayaking in Alaskan fjords. On each trip, a small team of girls will spend up to 10 to 12 days exploring and learning through scientific field studies with professional glaciologists, ecologists, mountain guides, and artists.
"Our purpose is to give girls a feeling for the processes that create the natural world and provide an environment that fosters the critical thinking necessary to all scientific inquiry," the group explains on their website. "An Inspiring Girls Expedition is the science version of a 'language immersion' experience – where we connect science with all aspects of daily life with the goal of creating lifelong advocates for Earth science, specifically, and the scientific process as a whole."
The original expedition, Girls on Ice, was launched by Michele Koppes and Erin Pettit in 1999, on the Cascade River in Washington State. The program expanded in 2012, when Pettit partnered with the University of Alaska Fairbanks to mentor several graduate students to run the program in Alaska. Since then, Pettit has mentored additional guides and instructors, adding expeditions Canada, Switzerland, Austria, and Central Asia, as well as other locations in the United States. As a result, the organization now calls itself Inspiring Girls Expeditions, and they're constantly looking to expand to add even more adventures.
All expeditions are tuition free; participants provide transportation to the program site, but the organization provides as much financial assistance for travel as they can to ensure that every girl can go regardless of economic situation. They also provide all technical equipment and clothing needed for the expedition.
If you know an adventurous teen who might be interested in Inspiring Girls Expeditions, applications for the 2022 program are now open. Details about each expedition, including age requirements, are listed below. You can also donate to Inspiring Girls Expeditions to allow them to reach even more young women or volunteer as an instructor, guide, or "Gear Fairy". By supporting them, you'll give girls an unforgettable experience that can truly change girls' lives.
Although the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may affect their plans, Inspiring Girls Expeditions is expecting to run in-person expeditions in the summer of 2022, as well as their Expeditions@Home program, which helps girls explore their local area with guidance from virtual workshops and online groups of fellow explorers and mentors. Field expeditions will include any appropriate COVID-19 mitigation measures, with specific measures (masks, vaccine requirement, testing, potential cancellation policy, etc.) to depend on various factors, including host institution policies and the rate of transmission at the expedition's location.
"The Girls on Ice program was an inspirational and eye-opening experience that my 16 year old self was lucky to be a part of!" says Laura Andrich, who participated in Girls on Ice Cascades. "I not only learned how to walk on glaciers, rescue myself from crevasses, climb on ice with crampons, and summit a mountain but I also learned how far I could push myself in different and extreme situations." Girls on Ice Canada guide, glaciologist Alison Criscitiello, has also seen the program's impact firsthand: "There’s a ripple effect. Each girl learns she has the power and passion to change her community."
To learn more about Inspiring Girls Expeditions, to donate, or to apply for one of their expeditions, visit Inspiring Girls Expeditions website. The last day to start a 2022 application is January 24, 2022 with a submission deadline of January 31, except for the Girls on Ice Switzerland program, which will accept applications until February 18, 2022.
Inspiring Girls Expeditions 2022
Girls on Ice Alaska
- 12 days in the Eastern Alaska range exploring the Gulkana Glacier; June 10 to 21, 2022
- Applicants must be 16, 17, or 18 years old on June 1 of the expedition year, and still enrolled in high school or graduating from high school the same year as the expedition
- Prioritizes applications from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Yukon, and British Columbia
Girls on Ice Cascades
- 12 days in the North Cascades on Mount Baker in Washington state; July 10 to 21, 2022
- Applicants must be 16, 17, or 18 years old on June 1 of the expedition year, and still enrolled in high school or graduating from high school the same year as the expedition
- Strong preference to applicants currently living in the U.S.
Girls in Icy Fjords
- 12 days sea kayaking around Bear Glacier near Seward, Alaska; August 2 to 13, 2022
- Applicants must be 16, 17, or 18 years old on June 1 of the expedition year, and still enrolled in high school or graduating from high school the same year as the expedition
- Strong preference to applicants currently living in the U.S.
Girls on Rock
- 12 days climbing peaks in Colorado's Rockies; July 8 to 19, 2022
- Applicants must be 16, 17, or 18 years old on June 1 of the expedition year, and still enrolled in high school or graduating from high school the same year as the expedition
- Prioritizes applications from the Rocky Mountain states and the Southwest (especially Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona)
Girls on Water - Alaska
- 12 days exploring the marine environment in Kachemak Bay, Alaska; July 8 to 19, 2022
- Applicants must be 16, 17, or 18 years old on June 1 of the expedition year, and still enrolled in high school or graduating from high school the same year as the expedition
- Prioritizes applications from Alaska
Girls in the Forest - Alaska
- 12 days traveling along the upper Chena River through the boreal forests of subarctic Alaska; July 31 to August 11, 2022
- Applicants must be 16, 17, or 18 years old on June 1 of the expedition year, and still enrolled in high school or graduating from high school the same year as the expedition
- Prioritizes applications from Alaska
Girls on Ice Canada - Illecillewaet Expedition
- 12 days in Glacier National Park in British Columbia; August 9 to 20, 2022
- Applicants must be 16, 17, or 18 years old on June 1 of the expedition year, and still enrolled in high school or graduating from high school the same year as the expedition
- Accepts applications from girls currently living in Canada
Girls on Ice Canada - Yukon Expedition
- 12 days exploring Yukon glaciers on the shores of Łù'àn Män (Kluane Lake); dates to be determined
- Applicants must be 16, 17, or 18 years old on June 1 of the expedition year, and still enrolled in high school or graduating from high school the same year as the expedition
- Accepts applications from girls currently living in Canada
Girls on Ice Canada - Kootenays Expedition
- This expedition is pending funding; dates to be determined
- A team of approximately ten participants will explore the Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park in British Columbia
- Applicants must be 16, 17, or 18 years old on June 1 of the expedition year, and still enrolled in high school or graduating from high school the same year as the expedition
- Accepts applications from girls currently living in Canada
Girls on Ice Switzerland
- 11 days on the Findelen Glacier in the Swiss Alps
- Open to girls who speak German or French (minimum B2 level, preferably C1 or above)
- Program takes place July 15 to 25, 2022 (German speakers) and July 25 to August 4, 2022 (French speakers)
- Applicants must be 15, 16, or 17 on June 1 of the expedition year
- Preference to applicants from Switzerland and surrounding areas.
Girls on Ice Austria
- This expedition will explore the glaciated mountains of Tyrol; August 19 to 28, 2022
- Open to girls who speak German (minimum B2 level, preferably C1 or above)
- Applicants must be 15, 16, or 17 on June 1 of the expedition year
Women & Glaciers in Central Asia
- This expedition will explore the glaciated mountains of Central Asia; dates to be determined
- Open to young women (18 to 25 years old) from Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan)
