From ‘Sea-to-Sky,’ UMaine students learn about our dynamic Earth in Iceland  - UMaine News - The University of Maine

From ‘Sea-to-Sky,’ UMaine students learn about our dynamic Earth in Iceland  - UMaine News - The University of Maine
UMaine News
From ‘Sea-to-Sky,’ UMaine students learn about our dynamic Earth in Iceland
Apr 15, 2026
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In a short 30-minute hike up several hundred feet, Abigail Hall of Olympia, Washington, was standing atop a volcano surrounded by a rocky expanse of red-brown igneous overlooking green hills, a small village and the Atlantic Ocean. She and a dozen other students marveled at the lava fields below with steaming vents and ruined buildings as they learned about a 1973 eruption that destroyed hundreds of buildings and wreaked havoc on the nearby farms.
The visit was part of a 10-day trip across Iceland in May 2025 that brought students not only to a volcano but also a geyser, a glacier, mountains, and the rugged coastline. They even trekked through a lava tube created by an eruption through a fissure in the surface, their hard hats with headlamps lighting up the dark cavern shaped by jagged walls of hardened lava.
“I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life,” Hall said.
Maddie
I’m most excited to go on the glacier.
Abby
We are on top of the volcano right now.
Jacob
Here we are at the geyser. Wowzers!
Abby
There’s so much cool stuff here.
Karl
Sea-To-Sky is an international travel study course. We are interested in attracting a wide range of students. Anybody interested in Earth sciences, climate sciences, environmental sciences, engineering, really the whole gamut.
And the idea is to take students on an international trip. Some place where there’s a lot of really dynamic Earth processes going on so students can see that kind of thing in real time.
Carina
We are at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge right. Over there is the Eurasian Plate. Over there is the North American plate.
Evie
It’s so fun! This is one of the things I was most excited to be here for.
Ashley
Look at that mafic sand, guys.This is why we took a six hour redeye flight for. Worth it!
Aaron
I think this experience is important for our students, in particular because they may have spent the last three years or so studying the Earth system from a classroom. This is an opportunity for them to take that knowledge and apply it to the real world.
Seth
We have good GPS signal right here, which is great. This circle is, think of it as like a hemisphere above us. And each of those dots represents where our satellites are. So the better spread of satellites, the better geo-referencing we have, effectively, of the data.
When you put students on a glacier looking across the entire Atlantic, or when you put students on an area where you have the separation of major plate tectonics, and put them in different cultures as well, that can be highly impactful.
Casey
I mean, I’ve never done ice coring, and that was way more fun than I thought it could be. It was literally just a hand drill and a lot of sticks, and (making drill sounds). That was, that was really fun to do.
Daniel
Some of the Sea to Sky students really get bitten by this research bug. And you can see the light in their eyes as they’re working with the equipment, understanding how the world works around them. And it’s just, you can see their brains expanding. It’s awesome.
Abby
Chris loves this. Yeah. This is so cool.
Jill
I think the value of the Sea to Sky experience is in how there’s a lot of different types of projects that students can study. They’re also having to learn how to have kind of, like, an end product, and how you go about once you do research, communicating it. I think the students love the course and they learn so many things from it, and I think it inspires, in a lot of ways, that they both expect and don’t expect.
Kat
I think I’ve used information from every single class I’ve taken since freshman year this past five days. It’s crazy how much stuff I’ve learned.
Jacob
Tell them what you think Christopher?
Chris
There’s got to be, like at least a couple of gallons of water per second, or over that.
Jacob
Wow! One more time for the people in the back: Wow!
Abby
Charlie, if you could describe this Sea to Sky trip in three words, what would it be?
Charlie
Magical. Fascinating. Happiness.
Abby
Yes!
Evie
It’s been such an amazing experience.
Abby
I’m gonna remember this for the rest of my life. Genuinely.
Karl
We work with our students quite a bit here in Maine. Maine is an incredible landscape, we all know that. But really, what we want to do is take students and show them the world.
The experience is a central component of an upper-level travel study course called “ERS410: Sea-to-Sky Experience,” in which students explore dynamic landscapes and conduct real-world research on the oceanic, geologic, atmospheric and ecological processes that shaped them.
In Iceland, students drilled ice cores, obtained water samples, conducted isotope and radiocarbon dating and used ground-and ice-penetrating radar to gather a wide range of data.
The faculty also coordinated opportunities for students to meet and interview local residents affected by the natural processes they were studying for qualitative data and personal context.
“I have been quite interested in natural disaster sciences and mitigation since I began my undergraduate career and seeing the ways that the recent volcanic events have impacted both the landscape and the surrounding communities was extremely interesting,” Hall said. “Having the opportunity to connect with people who were affected first hand by these tragedies was eye-opening and gave me a further sense of direction in my career planning.”
Unlike similar programs at other universities, “Sea-to-Sky” also trains students to become effective science communicators by teaching them how to translate complex research into more accessible formats for a general audience, including drawings, paintings and creative writing.
Karl Kreutz, course instructor and director of the School of Earth and Climate Sciences, said what sets the program apart is the internationally recognized researchers who teach it —  Seth Campbell, associate professor of glaciology, and Aaron Putnam, George H. Denton Professor of Earth Sciences; Daniel Dixon, director of UMaine’s Sustainability Office; and renown environmental artist and alumna
Jill Pelto
’15, ’18G.
“Our students are exposed to real-world problems that they help solve, and they work with some of the best scientists in the world,” Kreutz said.
“Sea-to-Sky” has been offered four times over the past decade — once in Iceland and three times in Alaska. The idea took shape while Kreutz and Campbell were stranded on a glacier mountain during a five-day storm, where they began brainstorming a program that would immerse students in real-world field experiences in unique environments.
Open to students in earth and climate sciences, environmental science, engineering or other programs, “Sea-to-Sky” prepares participants to become future scientists by engaging them in independent research projects and faculty-led work in the field.
As a capstone course for Earth and climate science students, “Sea-to-Sky” requires participants to present their findings through presentations or posters at public events like the UMaine Student Symposium. By contributing to faculty research, students may also receive credit in peer-reviewed journal publications, helping launch their professional scientific careers.
The next “Sea-to-Sky” experience is scheduled for May, when faculty will once again bring students to Iceland for continued research. The program is supported by a gift endowment from the Golden family in honor of Nicholas Golden, an Earth and climate science student who passed away.
Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721;
marcus.wolf@maine.edu
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UMaine News
5703 Alumni Hall, Orono, ME 04469
Tel: 207.581.3743
Email: umaine.news@maine.edu
Orono, Maine
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