Day 2 7/12
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Hi all! Andy here!

Today we had the opportunity to sleep in and catch up on much needed rest. We got out of the hostel and headed to Hellisheidi geothermal power plant. There was a guided tour lead by Chris who was incredibly knowledgeable and gave us a lot of good info on both the technical side and what was going on around the plant. There was two start ups right outside, one was creating algae using the resources from the plant. The other one was using carbon capture to take carbon from the atmosphere and inject it back into the ground where it is going to turn back into rock. They were currently the biggest one in the world but, had plans to expand 10 fold. The plant was currently using grant money but in the future will using carbon tax credits will become profitable. The next place we went was Gullfoss which was a waterfall about an hour away. The views were super scenic and we were able to walk right up close to the edge. The water has some pretty intense flow. Afterwards we went to the Althing which is a historic site in Iceland. Im sure I’m going to forget some of the major events that have happened, some of them are, the signing of Icelands independence, the location of the first ever parliament and where Iceland decided to become Christian. It was selected because it had a megaphone effect and freshwater nearby. Everyone seemed to have a great time but got back to the hostel pretty tired and wanting to rest for the next day on the glacier.
– Andy

Hellsheidi

Gullfoss

Allthing

Landing, then Take Off of Research Adventures!
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Hi all! Sabine here!

Today (July, 11th, 2022), our group of intrepid researchers made it safely to Iceland. We landed at 8:30 in the morning at the Keflavik Airport. It takes a 9 seater van and hybrid car to carry 8 cases of equipment, personal luggage and ourselves. We made our way to the Igloo Hostel, taking over an entire floor and then some.

View from the plane as we landed in Keflavik Airport and car ride photos. (I was lucky enough to have a window seat though I slept through my chance to see Greenland. Any mountains or hills are volcanoes and rocky formations of long cooled lava.)

The next need was lunch. Icelandic airports are small in their food court selection so off to Bonus we went. If you’ve never been in an Icelandic grocery store before and are very used to American stores, it’s shocking how small the store is. The entire store could probably fit inside the produce section of a Mejir or Walmart. There are only a few choices, instead of endless rows of brands and to get anything refrigerated you go into a walk-in fridge. We collected groceries for the next few days, and managed to only need help at the self check out 3 or 4 times and with only one incorrectly labeled produce.

Emmett and Seth in front of the hostel.
(Pictured a brief moment of insanity in front of the hostel before a visit to the museum)

After settling in and eating lunch, our first tourist destination we visited was The National Museum of Iceland. This museum is a walk through history of Iceland from the first Nordic settlers to the country’s adoption of Christianity, all the way to modern day. (www.thjodminjasafn.is/english/)

Each student had their own focuses and interests and I in particular enjoy anything to do with fiber. I am a fiber artist (as well as a scientist) and so I loved seeing the carefully preserved tapestries and embroidery. Below will be some photos of my favorite pieces.


Image of the museum banner and fiber art photos. (I also enjoy slightly absurd faces and creatures in art as well lol).

Finally, we all gathered for our first big group meal. Our fearless leaders cooked first and with every chair from every room and a desk, all 12 of us shared our day’s highs and lows (including a maple syrup explosion in the crate of toiletries).

Image of everyone at the table.

– Sabine

And we’re off!
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I’m here to report that this 10am departure was much better than last year’s 4am.

Hey folks! Here are some highlights of the last couple days.

• Charlie, Emmett & Seth have been working for the last week getting our stuff in order
• Porter spent countless hours helping us get ready. We promise to let him come with next year!
• Students who were off campus arrived yesterday
• Everyone has tested negative within the last 2 days
• Charlie cooked us lasagna and Emmett made bread for our first dinner. Seth did dishes (obv).
• Doug drove us to the airport in Dayton (much closer than Chicago, where he drove us last year!)
• Then, we flew to Chicago where we’ve been waaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiting. It’s been about 6 hours.

Ummm …don’t judge our mess

• Our flight leaves for Iceland in about an hour (~9 pm central).
• We land in Keflavík airport tomorrow morning, where the local time will be 8:30.

This is all just the beginning of the adventure. We don’t return to the US until August 3. More soon!
– Seth

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