Funding is available for Arctic adventurers
Funding is available for young Arctic-bound explorers.
Anyone aged under 30, who is living or studying in Scotland can apply for help from the Scottish Arctic Expedition Fund if they are going travelling, mountaineering, exploring or studying.
Each year, the fund gives grants to individuals and expeditions and the deadline for applications is coming up soon on January 31.
In the past, it has helped undergraduates and PhD students from the Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS) at Dunstaffnage.
One of those was Regina Huttuten, a fourth-year student writing her dissertation on the oceanography of the Barents Sea and hoping to return to the University Centre in Svalbard in the next couple of years.
‘The expedition fund helped me participate on two field trips organised by the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), as part of my exchange studies last spring.
‘One was a snowmobile trip to a mining town Sveagruva to conduct experiments on ice, and another was a scientific cruise looking at sea ice floes in the Barents Sea Opening. UNIS offers great opportunities for students to participate in these great and educational field trips, but the fund helped me to meet the cost.’
The fund also helped Matt Hey from Perthshire spend five weeks in the Arctic, targeting first ascents of mountains in the Stauning Alps and doing some climate research. He is now working as a fitness instructor and author in London with a focus on climate change. Leo Carew, who journeyed with him, is joining the army.
❚ scottisharcticclub.org.uk