The group has arrived

We've received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in Reykjavik. Below is a message from the leaders:

After an early morning arrival, we headed directly to the Blue Lagoon thermal springs where we soaked in steaming light blue waters until every ounce of travel tension washed away. Everyone is now settling in to our hostel in Reykjavik where we will rest up in preparation for the exciting days ahead.

Bye for now,
Joseph and Uly

Meet the Expedition Leaders

2009 Iceland Expedition Leaders, Uly Horodyskyj and Joseph Lambert

Climate & Geology

Ulyana Horodyskyj. Rice University, B.S.; Brown University, Ph.D. candidate. Uly majored in Earth Science at Rice, where in her senior year she was involved in a climate-related glacial erosion study. She worked on the back-deck of the Nathaniel B. Palmer icebreaker in Antarctica as part of a university-sponsored team. She has participated in numerous international scientific field expeditions, including observing the effects of climate change on coral reefs in Belize and monitoring active volcanoes in Hawaii and Kamchatka, Russia. At Brown, where she is pursuing her doctorate in the Department of Geosciences, Uly’s research focuses on studying climate and weathering processes in Iceland and Antarctica in order to better understand these analog environments and how they compare to planet Mars. She spent six weeks in Iceland in 2008 filming, photographing, and conducting geologic fieldwork on glaciers and volcanoes. Her research findings were presented at the 40th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, and her articles have appeared in research journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and in newspapers, such as The Ukrainian Weekly. Uly is an experienced and widely traveled mountaineer and ice climber.

Photography

Joseph Lambert. Montserrat College of Art, B.F.A. Joseph majored in Photography and Graphic Design at Montserrat and received the Annual Talent Award for achievement in photography. He was a contributing photographer for the History Channel production, History’s Mysteries – America's Stonehenge, and is the photographer and co-owner of Sunrise Publications, publisher of America's Stonehenge: An Interpretive Guide. In 2006 Joseph moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he worked as a freelance photographer and web designer. He has traveled and photographed in many countries around the world. He led Putney Student Travel programs to Australia/New Zealand/Fiji and Alaska, was a resident advisor and photography assistant in the Excel at Bennington program, and taught Travel Photography in the Excel Oxford/Tuscany program. Apart from photography Joseph’s interests include music, cooking, film, drumming, and cultural studies. During the year he works in the Putney Student Travel office designing print and web publications and coordinating Putney’s programs in Peru, Australia, Oxford/Tuscany, and Argentina. Joseph co-led the National Geographic Student Expedition to Peru in 2008.

Welcome!

Welcome family and friends of National Geographic Student Expeditions participants!

We have created this blog in order to keep you updated on the progress of your child’s National Geographic Student Expedition this summer. We hope that occasional updates throughout the expedition will help keep you informed about the activities, projects and successes of the program.

The expedition leaders will post entries approximately once per week during the program. The leaders’ first priority is the students and the program. If updates are infrequent, it is likely due to the group’s very busy schedule and inconsistent internet access. Please know that any important issues that arise during the program will be discussed and resolved with leaders and parents by phone, not through the blog.

We suggest that you subscribe to the blog so that you receive e-mail notifications when a new update is posted. To subscribe, enter your email address under ‘Subscribe via e-mail’ on the right-hand column of the blog.

Best wishes from us all at National Geographic Student Expeditions