Hello Fellow Explorers!

My name is Stephanie, I am a geologist and will be joining you all in Iceland this summer as part of your Smithsonian Student Travel program that will be immersive in geology, climate change and renewable energy. Specifically, I’ll be joining for the first part of the trip in Reykjavík and Snæfellsnes peninsula. Iceland is one of my favorite places, it is a stunning, unique island that has a lot more going on than just puffins and little elves (Huldufólk). As an earth scientist, I see the world a bit differently, and hope to share some of my knowledge with you!

I am a professional exploration geologist from Canada. I studied in Canada but also aboard, where I completed a PhD in Australia in 2017. I have worked all over the world, in places like remote islands in Papua New Guinea, to the high Andes of Perú. I am fortunate to have an exciting career that has exposed me to different cultures, lands, ideas, and of course rocks. I’m also enthusiastic about scientific communication, and write various articles, as well as participate in school outreach programs. One of our stops together will be the beautiful Snæfellsnes peninsular. Here resides the infamous Snæfellsjökull stratovolcano with a small ice cap on its summit (featured in Jules Vernes’ “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”). A stratovolcano is a steeply shaped volcano that forms from viscous lava (sort of like peanut butter). The other most common volcano is a shield volcano (broader-shaped volcanoes formed from less viscous lava… sort of like ketchup). Surtsey is an example of this (also these are what most of the volcanoes in Hawaiʻi are, like Kīlauea and Mauna Loa).

The name Snæfellsjökull, and other Iceland names like Eyjafjallajökull (the famous eruption in 2010 that caused enormous air travel disruptions in Europe… and no one could pronounce), might seem like a mouth-full and strange, but there is a reason and pattern behind this. Snæfellsjökull is a compound word, from snær (Icelandic word for snow), fells (isolated mountain) and jökull (glacier). You will notice lots of the names are like this and catch on to the pattern (e.g., foss = waterfall).

We will also be going to the black-sand beaches and see some strange rock formations (again, another product of the unique geology of Iceland). Iceland, geologically, is both Europe and North America, in fact, that is why it exists. It is above an active spreading rift between these two large tectonic plates. We’ll have time to dive into more about these processes together.

Even as an isolated, small island, Iceland has been making some big efforts with tackling climate change and the increasing CO2 levels that continue to rise in the atmosphere. For example, due to all the volcanic activity, a large portion of the energy is geothermal (a clean and renewable energy). This is something you will also personally enjoy with various hot springs like the Blue Lagoon. There are also world-leading initiatives in Iceland, like the Carbfix/Orca project which essentially takes CO2 from the atmosphere and turns it into rocks.

As you can see, lots to experience and learn together! Looking forward to meeting you all in the land of fire and ice this summer 🙂

Cheers,
Stephanie Sykora, PhD