Ten undergraduates traveled to the northern coast of Iceland in June under a pilot “Arctic Sustainability Immersion” program organized by the Institute of Arctic Studies and the Sustainability Office.

Meeting with academics, Arctic policy experts, business leaders, tourism officials, and sustainable development organizations in Akureyri and Húsavik, the students learned about how geothermal energy heats most homes in Iceland and provides about 25% of the electricity. 

They also visited the capital of Reykjavik, giving them a chance to see how heat from the ground can help communities transition to a clean energy future and provided lessons as Dartmouth itself moves to a geo-exchange system as part of the Dartmouth Climate Collaborative.

“In Iceland, I feel like I found a message of hope,” says Jacob Garland ’25, one of the students on the immersion trip.

IAS Director Melody Brown Burkins, Guarini ’95, ’98, says the institute set up the framework for the program last winter with longtime colleagues at the Stefansson Arctic Institute at the University of Akureyri, including SAI Director Níels Einarsson, SAI researcher Sveinbjörg Smáradóttir, and University of Akureyri Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Tom Barry.

“I can’t say enough about the incredible expertise of my Arctic and Dartmouth colleagues who helped create this first Arctic Immersion experience for our students. IAS Program Manager Sanaa Siddiqi with Sustainability Office Director Rosi Kerr ’97 and Assistant Director Laura Braasch developed a unique program that gave students hands-on, real world, community-engaged opportunities to learn about sustainable transitions, Arctic policy, energy systems, tourism, fishing economies, and more directly from Iceland’s leaders,” Brown Burkins says. “We look forward to doing more together.”