Today we welcomed a group of 17 very interested US - High School students and their leaders Patrick Hagarty and Steph Yin traveling with the New York Times. The group is visiting the Westfjords to learn about renewable energy and the impacts of climate change in remote arctic communities.

The group was accompanied by John Schwartz, a science reporter at The New York Times who is teaching them how to conduct research and interviews, and write articles based on their findings.

Peter Weiss welcomed the group and introduced them to the work of the University Center, 3 students from the Coastal and Marine Management Program presented their master thesis research, and Petur G. Markan, mayor of Suðavík municipality and chairmen of the association of municipalities in the Westfjords, visited to engage in an interesting talk about the challenges of the Westfjords in terms of its energy safety, climate change effects and perception, population development, tourism, environmental challenges, and many more topics.

Putney Student Travel based in Vermont organizes educational high school programs for students traveling from the United States to Iceland, and their groups have visited the University in previous years. New York Times Student Journeys is collaboration between Putney Student Travel before and The New York Times.