MS in Geology

Chelsea Hill Start Date: Jan 15, 2022 - End Date: May 14, 2022
  • Iceland
  • Svalbard, Svalbard and Jan Mayen

My Travel Story

by: Chelsea Hill Start Date: Jan 15, 2022 - End Date: May 14, 2022
I have set up this crowdfunding campaign to help me achieve my goal of attending graduate school in Iceland. I wish to study and research glaciers, and what better place would there be to do it than in Iceland? The country is home to 269 glaciers! So, how does a young woman just starting out in her career afford to relocate from the US to Iceland? Of course I'm working full-time now to save up, but recently learned that there is no federal aid available for American students who wish to study in Iceland. I am hoping to raise funds through this campaign to help with my travel and living expenses while studying abroad. Continue reading for some background on my passion for the planet and more details about my plans!

Background of my passion: 
Ever since I was 16 while working a tour-guide job at a local cave (yes, you read that correctly), I knew that I wanted to lead a career in geology. It wasn't until my senior year in college that I knew what that exactly meant or would look like for me.
My second-to-last undergraduate semester [Fall 2020], I decided to take a Climate Negotiations course that was offered. During the course, we had a guest speaker call-in to our class [via zoom] to speak about the cryosphere and how the specifics of the topic related to the class. The speaker, Heïdi, is a glaciologist based in France, who specializes in the dynamics of glaciers in the polar regions. I became intrigued by her lecture, and ask for her email after class to keep in touch. I was specifically interested in learning more about the mountain-building events in Antarctica. We communicated back and forth for quite some time after that, largely just sending scientific articles about Antarctica. 
Upon further discussion with my advisor, I decided to seek Heïdi's assistance in completing an independent study about glaciology. We chose the project to surround an introduction to glacial and geomorphological mapping of Gandbreen, a surge-type glacier located on Edgeøya, one of the islands in Svalbard, Norway. This would involve both an introduction to glaciology, and a concurrent introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies [I was taking a GIS course at the same time]. Going into the project, I knew very little on glaciology and absolutely nothing about GIS. Heïdi worked remotely with me throughout the semester to guide me through the foundations of both glaciology and the geomorphological mapping aspects of GIS. The project took off quite quickly, and the mapping portion of the project was done by the midterm-point of the semester. At that point, I was completely enthralled with learning about surge-type glaciers. It was beginning to feel that this was my calling; glaciology had captured my attention like no other field before. 
As Heïdi was on a research expedition for much of the remaining part of the semester, I worked independently on tying everything together and writing the research paper itself. I don't think I've ever been so motivated and excited to write a paper in my entire undergraduate career! In addition to that, I submitted an abstract to a global (virtual due to COVID) conference that is funded by a National Science Foundation grant. That abstract and presentation has since been officially published by the program (see link below; this is my first career publication!)  With Heïdi's help and once edits, etc. are completed, we intend to submit the manuscript to the Journal of Glaciology for publication.
My independent study and work with Heïdi afforded me the amazing opportunity of attending the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), the annual United Nations Climate Change conference in Glasgow, Scotland. There, I was able to network with other professionals that are involved with the leading-science behind climate change, including glaciologists from all over the globe! And yes, I was able to meet Heïdi face-to-face after having known each other and collaborating on research for almost a year at that point in time. She introduced me to some of those lead scientists, and I was able to network about my own research interests. Never in the career of my education have I been so encapsulated in a subject, let alone find myself reading article upon article about it. I wish to live a life where I am absolutely in love with what I do, and that's how I know that my calling is this very subject. I have never been so sure of something.
My plan:
So that leads me to plan to relocate to Iceland, this summer, to continue my studies, begin my career and to build my life there. I plan on attending Háskóli Íslands, one of the seven unviersities in the country. Iceland has a world-leading database in glaciology, and continuing my education there would allow me easier access to do the fieldwork necessary to complete a successful thesis. I did the necessary research in the time-being before applying, and reached out to two professors at the university. I introduced myself, gave a *brief* discussion of my previous research and further research interests, and inquired about graduate opportunities under their supervision. All positive responses, and both have expressed interest in my addition to the research team at the university. I intend to begin study Fall 2022 (I aim to start fieldwork June/July 2022) to achieve a Masters of Science in Geology, where I would study the distribution of surge-type glaciers. Half of my time at the unviersity would be spent doing course-work while the other half is in my thesis research. During the time of course-study, one of the professors suggested that I do an exchange semester at the University Centre in Svalbard. There, I would have direct exposure to courses that specialize in the exact specifics of my study; courses such as Arctic Tectonics or Arctic Glacier Dynamics. Since Svalbard is essentially a "hot-spot" for surge-type glaciers, this would align perfectly with my thesis. Attendance at Háskóli Íslands and an exchange semester in Svalbard are quisessential for what I wish to pursue, and would allow me to build a successful career in research. 
My overall goal for my career is to conduct research to better understand how glacial surges, specific to tide-water glaciers (glaciers that arrive at sea), contribute to sea level rise.  I wish to have this included in models, as this phenomenen is excluded from such at the moment. An excellent first step in that direction is to gain a better understanding of surge-type glacier distribution, which I intend to study for my thesis. Overtime, I wish to build enough research and scientific data to make a contribution to some of the scientific reports published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). I have every intent to continue my attendance at the Conference of the Parties, and wish to stay at the forefront of the scientific discussion.
My next steps are to secure accommodations and interview for my visa. I plan to continue to work full-time for the remainder of my time in the United States, but one of the requirements for getting accepted for my visa is that I am able to provide evidence that I am financially capable of living on my own under a visa. I am taking every single avenue to assure that this plan works out and this is where FundMyTravel comes in. I wish to raise ~15,000 USD by the time I need to interview for my visa. Any penny counts, and I appreciate you taking the time to hear my story and future plans. I plan to do whatever it takes to get over there; I know it is where I'm meant to be. 

Iceland is truly a remarkable place (I have already had the pleasure of visiting - had to make sure that I would like it before deciding to move there; see first two pictures), and I know that this is where I am meant to end up.
  • Iceland
  • Svalbard, Svalbard and Jan Mayen

Updates

1

  • Forgot To Mention!

    Forgot to mention!
    Forgot to mention that I was able to meet Heïdi at the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland this past Fall!
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