Heather Bervid

Glacial Geomorphologist, Instructor

pronouns: she/her/hers

I first learned about Inspiring Girls* Expeditions in 2011 when I was an undergraduate at the University of Washington. Growing up in a small mountain town in the Sierra Nevadas and coming from a low-income family, this is the program I wish I had known about in high school.

As a first-generation college student, I studied geology because I wanted to learn more about how my favorite landscapes formed and how natural processes (like those caused by glaciers and rivers) shape the earth. I also studied English and writing because I wanted to share this knowledge with others, hoping that my passion could get them interested as well. In graduate school, I studied topics ranging from glacial geology and paleoceanography in southeast Alaska to the hydrogeomorphology of floodplain forests along the Willamette River. I am fascinated with the way landscapes respond to glacial and river processes and am interested in how the retreat of glaciers across the world is influencing sediment budgets and river systems. I now work as a fluvial geomorphologist studying river landscapes and processes across the Pacific Northwest.

All those years ago, I felt connected to the concept of Inspiring Girls* Expeditions and hoped that I would someday be able to help open doors for others to pursue their own interests in these fields. Now, I can't think of a better place to combine my passions for teaching, scientific communication, and learning about the landscapes around us than with Inspiring Girls* Expeditions!

Girls* on Ice Cascades Instructor 2019, 2022
Expeditions@Home Field Instructor 2021
Girls* on Ice Cascades Onsite Coordinator 2018