During seven days in May seeing firsthand the costs and benefits of various endeavors in Alaska, Professor Christie Byun’s environmental economics class met with experts representing the oil industry, business groups, native Alaskans, and conservation organizations. Among the highlights: this guided tour of the 27-mile-long Matanuska Glacier.

Read more and see a video from the experience at WM Online.

B LU E S N OW ? A glacier is an accumulation of snow that doesn’t melt. As more snow piles up over the years, the weight compresses the snow on the bottom, eventually to the point that most of the air is forced out of the lower layers of snow, which causes glacial ice to turn blue.

—photos by Kim Johnson