Girls on Ice, a free wilderness education program, is accepting applications now through Jan. 29.

Each year, two teams of nine teenage girls and three instructors spend 12 days exploring and learning about mountain glaciers and alpine landscapes in Alaska or Washington through scientific field studies with professional glaciologists, artists and mountaineers.

The program, operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Natural Science and Mathematics, will offer two expeditions this year:

– Girls on Ice Alaska is designed specifically for girls ages 16 to 18 who are from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Yukon or California. The Alaska expedition runs June 17 to 28, and girls sleep under the midnight sun while exploring an Alaska glacier.

– The Girls on Ice North Cascades expedition is geared toward girls from all countries ages 16 to 18 and explores Mount Baker, an ice-covered volcano in Washington. The North Cascades expedition runs July 10 to 21. To be eligible, girls must be at least 16 years old by June 17 and no older than 18 on July 21.

The program helps girls learn about the natural processes that create the alpine world, develop critical thinking skills and explore the connection between science and art.

Participants learn how to travel on glaciers, design their own experiments and work as part of a team.

Girls are able to participate in this program tuition-free through small grants, gifts from individuals and support from the National Science Foundation, the Alaska Climate Science Center and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

For more information and to learn about the application process, go to http://girlsonice.org/apply/ .