The group is open to anyone with a love of Glaciers or Glacial Environments, subject only to the requirement that they think it's more important to be nice than to be right, and more important to be right than to be famous. An appreciation of cake, beer, chocolate, good malt whiskey and pretty pictures of landscapes is also an advantage. Membership is free.

The Enjoyment of Glaciers Group is the independent, international and informal wing of its sister group,  SIMPLE.

MEETINGS AND ACTIVITIES
The  Group is based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, UK, and holds meetings at venues in that area. Folk from far away who don't anticipate being able to join us for meetings may nevertheless join the group as "far away" members, and keep in touch through our e-mailing list and web-page. Members who are not far away can come along to group meetings to natter about glaciers, look at pictures, and indulge in glaciological pursuits of a diverse nature. We may one day organise field trips and  "discussion-evenings", and we will certainly sit around a lot eating and drinking,  looking at pictures, and talking about glaciers. Members will hear about meetings through the e-mail circulation list. Non-members, of course, won't.
 

ORGANISATION OF THE GROUP
The group is  not organised. It has a laughable figurehead with the official title "Laughable Figurehead of the Group". At present that role is held by me, the Laughable Figurehead 
(see contact details below). 
 

HOW TO JOIN THE GROUP
To join the group,  just tell the Laughable Figurehead that you want to be a member.
 

CONTACTING THE GROUP
The Laughable Figurehead is: Dr. Peter G. Knight. 
e-mail:

 

 GRANTS of FINANCIAL SUPPORT
The group offers grants of financial support to appropriate projects. Appropriate projects are likely to involve enjoyment, glaciers, and members of the group. To apply for a grant, contact the Laughable Figurehead. Grants are funded by the sale of Enjoyment of Glaciers merchandise and by funds raised at Enjoyment of Glaciers fundraising events. The  Grant fund currently stands at £0.00 Donations may be made directly to the Laughable Figurehead.
 

ENJOYMENT OF GLACIERS MERCHANDISE
T-shirts and other memorabilia are available at a price.
Actually that's not really quite true, but we can arrange some if people would like.

Tad Pfeffer
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado 
" I like your philosophy re: nice/right/famous (is this a mission statement?), and the laughable structure as well. This fits in well with my contention that there's something intrinsically funny about the fact that we get paid to do the kind of work we do.... Somehow I don't get to England especially often in my professional travel, but perhaps I can offer local accomodations and activities of the kind you mention for people who make it to Boulder. Photography, hiking, climbing, skiing, music - plus some science to keep it all legitimate!"

Clare Wallett
Liverpool Hope University:
I would like to join the enjoyment of glaciers Group. I am really interested in Glaciers, and saw my first one last summer while in the alps - which was awe inspiring.
PS. I think your website is rather funny.

John W. Hall
Professor Emeritus, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA .
Halloa, Laughable Figurehead: Whilst searching hither and yon for images of glaciers and glacial landforms, I happened upon your site.  I had not known of social glaciologists before.  As a geologist/geographer/anthropologist, I know that when the sun is past the yardarm, those folk are known to cluster for a time of "attitude adjustment." Like the late Groucho Marx, I am not sure that I want to be part of an organization that would have the likes of me as a member, but you sound like a jolly group.  I like jolly groups.  All right, I hereby apply for membership (full) in the Enjoyment of Glaciers Group.  My interest is not only historic, but prehistoric, as I have traced my family line back to the Mid-Pleistocene.  I even know that that ancestor was named Neander T. Hall, and that he established a research center (location as yet unknown) somewhere in Europe (or whatever it was called in those bygone days).  It is known as The Centre for Research and Studies Into the Obscure, Weird, and Bizarre, and has branches (not always active) in London, Paris, Washington, DC and Shreveport, Louisiana. I would be pleased to communicate about divers things, including glaciers, with any and all members-- assuming that I will be elected to membership.

Gabriel Wilkinson
"I am a professional glacier guide on the Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand . I believe we have a unique guiding style as we have to our knowledge the only tour in the world that will get you "into" the ice fall . We have developed ways of reading the cravasses and cutting our way into the bottoms of them and creating tight blue ice tracks with 30-40 ft of ice wall above you.Of course this takes alot of monitoring to negate flakes and block hazards , which we do daily .I believe glaciers are simply awsome and love my job alot ..we do 6-8 hour full day hikes from the valley floor , terminal face , defiance icefall and pinnicles icefall on the Franz Josef glacier. I have many pics to share and i am on this glacier daily and would love to converse with others  that spend their lives on the living ice .

Kellie Shin 
(from Keele and Canada!)
"Hello Laughable Figurehead! I took my first glacier course this year and became facinated with these glorified ice cubes! I was randomly doing a search on glaciers (not for last minute essay research) when I happened upon your site.  I became interested in joining your group and when i read about the possibility of t-shirts, I was sold.  Hope you can include me in your group!  Kellie
ps. i think having badges would be a nice idea!"

Doug Clark and Niki Bowerman
(Western Washington University)
We both have reached the profound conclusion that glaciers are nifty, and well worth enjoying in any form.  Given the distance from the Puget Sound to Staffordshire, we’ll have to remain remote members for now, although we’d love to join a meeting to “natter about glaciers” when we next make it to your side of the Atlantic.  We’d also be more than happy to host any folks who’d like to visit our numerous glaciers out here (including our newest one, growing in the crater at Mt. St. Helens!).  I’ll second Tad P.’s comment that it’s a wonder that we get paid (in some sense) to goof around on glaciers.  The best science starts from a pure emotional enjoyment of the phenomenon.

Margaret Stewart 
(Imperial College, London)
Hello Laughable Figurehead,  I would be much privileged to become a part of your group, as I enjoy glaciers very much, and am finding that my friends and colleagues do not always share the same feelings, especially now I have absconded to a geology department....

Alan Parkinson
(geographypages.co.uk)

Other Friends of the Group include Carrie Paterson of Minnesota,  Roy Wolf, who has invited us all to visit him in Cedarville, Illinois, Thaienne van Dijk of The Netherlands, and of course all the current incumbents of the SIMPLE Research Group!
 

Enemy of the group: the factory ship of Evil. 
Fatly bloated paranoid evil-doers from nastyland:
we don't like the sailors on that ship.

Well, Kel rose to the challenge and we have our new logo. Thanks very much!

New members! See latest entry statements above. Welcome to Doug Clark and Niki Bowerman of Western Washington University, and margatet Stewart of Imperial College.
Also welcome to Alan Parkinson (aka Geo Bloggs!), who runs the excellent website You geographypages.co.uk . You can read more about him at http://www.geographypages.co.uk/misterp.htm
 
 
 
 

NEXT MEETING of the GROUP

Meetings will be announced by e-mail to members who seem to have any chance of getting here for it. If you are a far-away member planning to visit, let me know and we'll have a meeting in your honour!

back to top of page