Exeter Faculty Explore Iceland’s Living Classroom with GeoCamp Iceland

Reflections on a transformative professional development journey—now featured in The Exeter Bulletin, Fall 2025

When eight science faculty members from Phillips Exeter Academy travelled to southwest Iceland for a six-day field experience last August, they stepped directly into the landscapes that have shaped Iceland’s identity, energy systems and scientific innovation. Their journey—guided by GeoCamp Iceland and designed in collaboration with the University of Iceland—has now been captured in a full feature in the Exeter Bulletin (Fall 2025). It’s a thoughtful and beautifully told reflection on what happens when educators immerse themselves in one of the world’s most dynamic geoscience environments.

For GeoCamp Iceland, welcoming the Exeter team was a natural fit. Their backgrounds in physics, chemistry and biology aligned seamlessly with our mission: to turn Iceland into an active learning space where teachers and students can explore Earth processes, sustainability and climate change first-hand.

A Week of Hands-On Learning in Active Landscapes

The article highlights how quickly Iceland reveals itself as a “living classroom.” Under the guidance of Öli (Ólafur Jón Arnbjörnsson), the group traced fresh lava flows, learned how seismic activity is monitored in real time, and followed retreating glacier margins shaped by warming trends over the last decades.

At one glacier site, they knelt to taste water streaming from newly exposed melt channels—rivulets forming almost in front of their eyes. These “glacier tears,” as one instructor described them, underscored the urgency and emotional resonance of studying climate change on location rather than in theory.

Energy Systems, Geothermal Innovation and Sustainability

The Exeter faculty also toured the Hellisheiði Geothermal Power Plant, where they explored Iceland’s renewable energy infrastructure and the now-world-famous CarbFix project, which mineralises carbon dioxide back into stone.

Their reflections echo a key message we share with all visiting groups: Iceland is not only a landscape shaped by natural forces but a laboratory for sustainable solutions. Seeing miles of geothermal pipelines snake across the valleys, witnessing CO₂ turned into basalt, and discussing the ethics of resource use gave teachers a fuller, more critical view of how societies navigate energy transitions.

People, Culture and Perspectives on Stewardship

The journey wasn’t purely scientific. The Exeter Bulletin piece describes meaningful conversations about Iceland’s social history and cultural ethos—especially the responsibility Icelanders feel toward protecting their natural heritage.

The group visited historical sites, discussed conservation pioneers like Sigríður Tómasdóttir of Gullfoss, and explored how geothermal abundance shapes both daily life and national debate. Teacher Susan Park summarised the experience powerfully: “To be in conversation with a living author who is immersed in the cultural significance of a global science-informed issue was fascinating.”

That author was Andri Snær Magnason, whose book On Time and Water many of the teachers had read before the trip. Their afternoon with him became a masterclass in storytelling, climate communication and hope.

A GeoCamp Tradition: Hospitality and Community

As with many GeoCamp trips, the week ended not in a lecture hall but at a family table—this time at Öli’s farmhouse, where stories, songs and camaraderie flowed as easily as the geothermal hot water beneath the region.

These moments matter. They remind visiting educators that science is lived, shared and embedded in community.

Why This Matters for Teachers—and for GeoCamp Iceland

Exeter’s article captures exactly why faculty development trips in Iceland are so impactful. Teachers return home with sharper tools, richer analogies and a stronger sense of connection between Earth systems and human choices. Their students benefit from that excitement—and from lesson plans grounded in direct field observation rather than distant abstraction.

For GeoCamp Iceland, this collaboration reaffirms the value of our approach: outdoor learning, close partnership with experts, access to cutting-edge science, and authentic encounters with Iceland’s landscapes and people.

We are grateful to Phillips Exeter Academy for sharing their experience so thoughtfully—and we look forward to welcoming future groups who want to step into the same extraordinary classroom.

​Read the Exeter Bullitin [PDF]