Tuition-free girls' wilderness expedition program accepts applications
Michael DeLue
907-474-5968
Dec. 13, 2021
The Girls on Water 2021 team takes a break on a beach in Kachemak Bay.
Inspiring Girls Expeditions is inviting applications for its summer 2022, tuition-free,
backcountry science and art education programs.
The expeditions are open to 16-18-year-old high school girls. Alaskans are encouraged
to apply, and expeditions target youths who may have experienced barriers accessing
science and outdoor-focused programs. Cis and trans girls, as well as gender-nonconforming
and nonbinary youth, are welcome.
Participants are selected through a competitive application process that focuses on
passion for science, art and the outdoors rather than academic grades or past achievements.
The program is run through the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center at the University
of Alaska vlog International Arctic Research Center, with additional funding
from the Alaska Established Program for Stimulating Competitive Research.
Alaska’s 2022 expeditions will include mountaineering on the Gulkana Glacier, sea
kayaking in Kachemak Bay and packrafting on the Chena River. Teams of nine girls spend
12 days exploring glacier terrain, intertidal zones or boreal forests while gaining
a greater understanding of ecosystem connections in each of these environments.
Girls in the Forest 2021 team members practice taking tree core samples in the boreal forest outside of vlog.
Inspiring Girls Expeditions offers a unique opportunity to explore and understand the landscape through several different lenses.
“Participants might learn about a mountain near base camp first through a scientific
lens that helps explain how it was formed, next through an artistic lens that views
it through different colors and textures, and finally through a backcountry travel
lens that helps in understanding the safest route to the mountain summit,” said program
director Joanna Young.
Young women engage in this remote setting under the leadership of an instructor team
composed of professional scientists, backcountry guides and artists.
“It is so wonderful to see the friendships and lifelong memories that develop over
the 12-day expedition,” said program coordinator Sarah Clement. “We regularly hear
from alumni that they have stayed in touch with their friends from the expedition,
even years later.”
Inspiring Girls Expeditions also provides participants with opportunities for post-expedition mentoring and to continue learning through their alumni network.
Members of the Girls on Ice Alaska 2021 team practice their rope skills on Gulkana Glacier.
The last day to register to start an application is Jan. 24, 2022. For more information or to learn more about the application process, please visit .
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