Harvey Scholar Travels - Will D. in Iceland

Over the summer, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Iceland on a short term study abroad trip. The trip was focused on renewable energy, which is something I am very interested in, so I was excited about the opportunity to learn more while also traveling abroad. The only other time I have been to Europe was when I was too young to remember many of the details, so I was very excited about the opportunity to go again. On top of that, looking at pictures of the mountains and glaciers in Iceland sold me on the trip. The scenery looked amazing, and I couldn’t wait to see it for myself.

The program I travelled with was called the GREEN program, and they focus on leadership in renewable energy. During the two week trip, I took classes at Reykjavik University’s Iceland School of Energy about all of the renewable energy sources used in Iceland. This included classes from actual professionals about geothermal energy, hydroelectric energy, as well as biomass technology. We also learned about the energy economics in Iceland. The school where we took classes was amazing, and there were tons of really interesting people there. 

To compliment these classes, we were able to tour a number of actual power plants, including one of the largest geothermal plant in the country, two hydroelectric plants, and a biomass farm. These experiences gave me a really good understanding of what it would be like to actually work in the field of renewable energy, and we got to talk to a number of people who worked at each facility. My favorite visit was to a retrofitted hydroelectric plant that had been in Reykjavik since the beginning of the city. It still operated using all of the old dials and electronics that it did when it was first built.

While it was very interesting to learn all about Iceland’s energy, my favorite part of the trip was the adventure we got to go on after class. Iceland is a very beautiful country, and I got to see a lot of it, whether that was by hiking, super-jeeping, or snorkeling. We hiked to hot springs where we were able to swim and relax in extremely hot water, even though there was snow all around the river. We also got to go backpacking up into the mountains, where we had an amazing view of one of the largest glaciers on the island. On our way back from the hike, we went super-jeeping through the rock fields at the base of the mountains and then went to the black sand beaches. On another day, we put on crampons and hiked up onto a glacier. Finally, we also got to snorkel through glacier water (wearing dry suits of course!), which was one of the most amazing experiences of the trip. The water was clearer than I have ever seen before, and we could see almost 100 feet down to the bottom of a ravine.

Overall, the trip was an amazing experience. I met tons of interesting people from all over the United States who were also on the trip with me, as well as a number of people from Iceland. Our guides had amazing stories about their experiences and world travels, and I loved hearing about Icelandic culture. The trip was a great way for me to experience another culture, and being out of my comfort zone made me want to travel even more. Finally, I hope to pay it forward by taking was I was given on this trip and using it to address the energy crisis we are facing in ways that does not pollute the planet. I found that while in Iceland, everyone had a much more positive attitude towards energy and the future. Rather than being motivated by money, they seemed like they cared more about the natural world around them. I hope that I can bring this mindset back to the United States with me and make a difference in the way that we think about energy.