What, you may ask, are this group of 22 women doing standing around a fire-pit and what does this have to do with the EGU Cryosphere blog? This group of scientists, artists, teachers, and coaches gathered 2 weeks ago in Switzerland to learn how to become instructors on an Inspiring Girls Expedition. But what, you may ask again, is an Inspiring Girls Expedition? Well read on to find out more…
What is an Inspiring Girls Expedition?
In 1999 Glaciologist Erin Petit, Geographer Michele Koppes, and 5 high-school girls hiked out onto the South Cascade Glacier in Washington State. For the next week, this motley crew spent their time camped out on a glacier moraine, exploring the landscape and performing scientific experiments by day, and talking and listening to each others thoughts and stories by night – that was the birth of Girls on Ice.
Over the next 13 years, more expeditions took place and more instructors (scientists, artists and mountain guides) started to get involved. In 2012, a second Girls on Ice expedition was born in Alaska and, in the years since, there have been Girls on Ice expeditions in 4 different locations and in 2 different languages! The idea has expanded to other areas of wilderness expedition as well, with new projects starting up: Girls on Rock, Girls in Icy Fjords and Girls on Water – nowadays these expedition are collectively known as Inspiring Girls Expeditions!
But I haven’t really answered the question – what is an Inspiring Girls Expedition? It is a wilderness and science education program for high-school aged girls. Over the course of around 12 days, these girls get the chance to explore a wilderness setting, learn about scientific thinking, increase self-confidence, and push their physical and intellectual boundaries as part of a single-gendered team. And, importantly – it’s FREE – opening it up to girls who might not have the financial means to do something like this otherwise. Everyone who goes on the expedition from scientists to mountain guides and instructors is female, making this expedition pretty unique! I think the philosophy of Inspiring Girls is best described by their mission statement:
Our mission is to bring out your natural curiosity, inspire your interest in science, connect the arts and sciences, free you from gender roles, provide a less competitive atmosphere, and encourage trust in your physical abilities.
The workshop
I’ve been following the work of Girls on Ice for a while, so when I saw a chance to go on an instructor training course, I enthusiastically signed up! Over 4 days in June 2018, a group of women from at least 8 different countries got together in a hiking hut in Switzerland for an Inspiring Girls Instructor Workshop, hosted by Swiss Girls on Ice. We came from a broad range of backgrounds: glaciologists, climate scientists, biologists, artists, architects, professional coaches, teachers (I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone!). We started off by learning more about the Inspiring Girls philosophy, what they expeditions aim to teach, and how they keep the girls safe and deal with any issues that might arise. Then came the thinking part for us…How do you teach in a wilderness setting? How to keep teenage girls engaged in what you are doing? What is a good leader? This gave us a lot of food for thought and we discussed a lot of these issues late into the evenings!
Then the fun part (although we all look rather serious in the pictures – below), working on ideas for new Inspiring Girls Expeditions (the current expeditions are often over-subscribed so there is certainly scope for more expeditions in more places) with the hope of inspiring more girls! So definitely watch this space for more expeditions coming to a mountain, cave or forest near you!
Figure 2: Workshop participants designing new Inspiring Girls Expeditions [Credit: Marijke Habermann]
It was a fantastic few days, with a fantastic bunch of women and I certainly came away feeling inspired myself!
I have to admit, this isn’t your usual Image of the Week blog post, however, I hope the relevance to scientists, science educators, and anyone else that follows the blog is clear! There is a need to show girls and young women that they have the potential to do what they want: be that a glaciologist, a mountain guide (both very much male dominated careers) or something entirely different! This type of expedition, in a single-gendered environment, is a very effective way to help build courage, confidence, and self-reliance!
This sounds cool – how can I get involved?
The team at Inspiring Girls are always looking for new people who are keen and enthusiastic about their project to get involved as volunteers, by donating a bit of cash or simply spreading the word about the expeditions – check their website to see how you can help out!
Edited by Clara Burgard
