Lena Hellmann

Geographer, Girls on Ice Switzerland Workshop Coordinator

After my Geography-studies in Würzburg (Southern Germany), I moved to Switzerland to write my diploma thesis about the wood anatomical identification of Arctic driftwood at the Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape research (WSL). For the following PhD thesis, I investigated the paleoenvironmental potential of Arctic driftwood as a proxy archive. Living in Switzerland, I extended my enthusiasm for mountains and mountain sports and spent almost all my free time hiking, climbing, or skiing. After finishing the PhD, I moved to Argentina for 18 months to realize a Postdoc project at the Argentinian Institute for Snow, Ice and Environmental Studies (IANIGLA). There, I fell in love with the fascinating mountains of the Andes with their huge glaciers.

At the moment I am working in a mountain sports shop and in environmental education programs. However, I am still fascinated by field research and the endless possibilities for environmental reconstruction by using tree rings, glaciers or other proxies. Girls on Ice allows me to stay in touch with science, and this in the ideal case of a connection with mountains and an incredibly inspiring team of other women. And it is always very fulfilling to see the enthusiasm of the participants when they walk on the glacier for the first time, take their first scientific field data, or when they reach the summit as a team.

Since 2020, I am very happy to work on the conceptualisation and organisation of school workshops about glaciers and climate change or art and science, which are led in tandem by Girls on Ice Switzerland participants together with scientists from our association.

Co-founder Girls* on Ice Austria

instructor Girls* on Ice Schweiz 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

Board Member Girls* on Ice Switzerland 2018 - present

Workshop Coordinator 2020 - present