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Icelandic Glaciers Science Presentation Slated At MJC
Dr. M. Jackson

The Modesto Area Partners in Science (MAPS) is offering the presentation “The Secret Lives of Icelandic Glaciers” by M. Jackson, Ph.D., National Geographic explorer and TEDx speaker. The science event is set for Friday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Sierra Hall 132 on Modesto Junior College’s West Campus and both the program and parking are free.

Jackson will explore the impact of climate change on glaciers and the importance of glaciers to people, which she has spent years researching. In The Secret Lives of Icelandic Glaciers, she effectively explains what glaciers are, why they matter to people and landscape, and how understanding the individuality and interconnections of people and ice is critical to engaging with climate change today.

Geographer, adventurer and environmental educator, Jackson studies and writes about glaciers and climate change. She poses a stark question: what actually happens as communities lose their glaciers? By drawing on the glacier-related narratives, knowledges, and practices of people living along the southeastern coast of Iceland, Jackson demonstrates the complexities people worldwide face living within modern transforming environments. She shares unforgettable stories of Icelandic glaciers that will dramatically change how people worldwide think about ice.

Jackson has been selected as a 2018 TED Fellow, joining a class of 20 change-makers from around the world who will deliver a talk on the TED stage this April in Vancouver. She earned a doctorate from the University of Oregon in geography and glaciology, where she examined how climate change transformed people and ice communities in Iceland. A three-time U.S. Fulbright Scholar, she currently serves as a U.S. Fulbright Ambassador. Jackson has worked for over nine years as an Expert for the National Geographic Society. She holds a Master’s of Science degree from the University of Montana, where she focused on climate change and Alaskan glaciers.

Jackson served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia, and worked for more than 10 years in Alaska and the Yukon Territory guiding backcountry trips and exploring glacial systems. Her 2015 book “While Glaciers Slept: Being Human in a Time of Climate Change” weaves together the parallel stories of what happens when the climates of a family and a planet change. She is currently at work on the multi-year circumpolar project “In Tangible Ice.”

The MAPS event is intended for people over 12 years of age. MAPS programs are made possible by contributions from Modesto Junior College, Associated Students of MJC, MJC Foundation, Great Valley Museum, Stanislaus County Office of Education and Modesto Teachers Association.

For more information about the MAPS program visit the website http://maps.events.mjc.edu/, the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Modesto-Area-Partners-in-Science/244618054801.