“All Abroad!” blog journals SIT Graduate Institute alum’s time in Iceland
July 9th, 2025 | Alumni, Peace Corps, SIT Graduate Institute
In the fall of 2020, Katie Lloyd started SIT’s Global Master's in Climate Change and Global Sustainability program. The first semester of the program took place in Ísafjörður, Iceland, during the COVID pandemic. She wrote about her time there in her blog titled “All Abroad!”—a travel journal of sorts that is informative, humorous, and visually captivating due to her dozens of beautiful photos.
Below one montage of shots, she writes, “Here you can see some beautiful pictures of Ísafjörður bay, blueberry picking in the mountains, and some of the scientific process of data collection in the forest. We were able to use a kiln in the art centre in town today as a way to burn our soil samples. Burning them at a very, very high heat allows us to calculate carbon content.”
Prior to pursuing her master’s with SIT, Lloyd graduated from Miami University of Ohio with a degree in biology and environmental science before serving in the Peace Corps in Cameroon for two years as an agriculture extension agent. The second semester of SIT’s Global Master’s in Climate Change and Sustainability takes place on the island of Zanzibar, Tanzania, and the coast of Kenya. Lloyd says all her experiences abroad and at home prompted her to write her master’s thesis on the impacts of extreme weather on beekeeping practices in the United States and Africa.
Today, Lloyd is the whole farm manager at Rural Action, an Ohio-based non-governmental organization that works to build the economy of rural Appalachia in sustainable ways.
“Throughout my academic and service career, I have noticed an underlying theme of the importance of the local community, especially local food systems, in building resilience in the face of drought and flooding,” Lloyd says on Rural Action’s website. “The communities best prepared for climate change are those that have a network of resources at hand for local and diversified income from agriculture.”
Lloyd chose SIT’s global master’s program because it was a natural extension of her time in the Peace Corps.
“It was a special combination of in-class sessions and fieldwork, and that appealed to me,” Lloyd says. “While it was certainly difficult doing a program like this during COVID, it did give my cohort and me a very unique view of the communities we studied in.”
Lloyd says the fieldwork was “hands down the best part of the program.” In her blog, she shares several photos of her and fellow students collecting field data and doing research in Iceland, writing that the work was a highlight.
“Nothing compares to hands-on learning, and those lessons have stuck with me. SIT did a good job making sure we got out and actually saw what we were studying, to reinforce our education,” she says.
Lloyd stresses the importance of taking advantage of all the program has to offer for those considering a global master’s at SIT.
“Like any program, you get out of it what you put in, so I recommend taking every opportunity to explore and deepen your learning,” she says.
Specifically regarding SIT's Global Master's in Climate Change and Global Sustainability, she notes the program is fast-paced, so advises prioritizing time to get out and travel on your own.
For suggestions on where and how to do that in Iceland, read her recent blog post where she describes trips to natural hot pools, waterfalls, Iceland’s northernmost glacier Drangajökull, seeing the Northern Lights, and more.