The North Face awards $15,000 to Girls on Ice

July 8, 2015

The North Face has granted $15,000 to the free outreach program Girls on Ice at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The 2015 Explore Fund grant will allow Girls on Ice instructors to buy tents, clothes and other supplies for the summer program, during which high school girls use science to explore a glacier in Alaska or an ice-covered volcano in Washington.

It's a room with a view. The girls of the Girls on Ice program set up a basecamp at the foot of a glacier in the Alaska Range and then explore the glacier and the surrounding area daily. Photo courtesy of Girls on Ice.

Casey Brown, a Girls on Ice instructor, said she requested the grant to replace donated tents and gear that had seen quite a few seasons in the high country. Brown, a UAF graduate student in biology and wildlife, has helped the program for the last three years.

“We’re on a limited budget, but you need to update equipment to keep things safe,” she said. “This grant will let us buy tents, sleeping bags and scientific equipment — enough so that we can have separate gear sets in Alaska and Washington. Right now, I’m just about to board an airplane with five 50-pound duffel bags worth of gear that we’re trying to get from Alaska to Washington. This grant will really help us out.”

Girls on Ice is hosted through UAF’s College of Natural Science and Mathematics and is one of 47 organizations that The North Face, an outdoor gear and clothing company, selected for the grant. As part of Girls on Ice, two groups of high school girls spend nine days learning how to do roped-up glacier travel, conduct scientific experiments and explore the icy wilderness with glaciologists, other scientists and an artist who help the girls with their observation skills. The girls come from all over — Alaska, the Lower 48 and even other countries.

Ann Krcik, senior director of outdoor exploration at The North Face, said the company awarded grants to programs, such as Girls on Ice, that help future generations become environmental stewards.

“It is exciting to see the incredible organizations who are just as passionate about giving more kids the opportunity to experience the outdoors as we are,” she said “Together we are making an investment in the next generation of outdoor explorers who will grow to love and protect the wild places we all love to play.”

Erin Pettit, the founder of Girls on Ice and a UAF associate professor of glaciology and geophysics, said the program relies on and looks to other organizations and individuals who share elements of the program's vision for youth science and outdoor education.

“I have been impressed with the efforts of The North Face Explore Fund to empower and educate youth in the outdoors for several years," said Pettit. "We received a small grant from them in 2013, and this current grant will be a huge help with sustaining our existing programs and our hopes to expand towards more inspiring girls expeditions in the near future. ”

The North Face introduced the Explore Fund in 2010 as part of its mission to start a global movement of outdoor exploration. The program has since provided more than $1.5 million in U.S. grants to more than 300 nonprofit organizations committed to inspiring the next generation of outdoor explorers and conservationists.

The National Science Foundation and the Alaska Climate Science Center are substantial supporters of Girls on Ice. The program also receives private donations.

CONTACTS
Casey Brown, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Biology and Wildlife, College of Natural Science and Mathematics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, clbrown12@alaska.edu (in the field July 8-10 and 13-24)
Erin Pettit, associate professor of glaciology and geophysics, Department of Geosciences, College of Natural Science and Mathematics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, pettit@gi.alaska.edu (in the field July 8-10, 13-15 and 21-27)
Pamela Bennett Ajello, senior communications manager, The North Face, 510-748-2742, pamela_ajello@vfc.com

ON THE WEB
Girls on Ice: www.girlsonice.org
The North Face Explore Fund: www.explorefund.org