Joan W. Miller JIRP Scholarship Fund

Joan Walsh Miller – the late wife of long-time JIRP director Dr. Maynard M. Miller – was the behind-the-scenes engine that made JIRP work.  A January 7, 1984 article in the Idahonian/Palouse Empire Daily News on Joan’s work reports her saying:

“Mal is the ‘soul’ of the program, and she’s the ‘workings’ of it”

For over fifty years Joan was devoted to the success of the Icefield program. Each year, for decades, Joan made the trek to Juneau and on to Atlin to take the helm of the logistics and business administration that steers a successful JIRP field expedition.  Joan’s efforts extended beyond the summer program to off season fundraising, proposal writing, reports, reunion organization, newsletter preparation, writing reference letters for students, and more.  

Joan took much pride in her JIRP efforts as they lead to the direct support of more than 1,500 students and some 400 associated faculty and staff during her decades of involvement.  It is beyond doubt that without Joan’s many years of devoted support our JIRP experiences would not have been.

In memory of Joan, her phenomenal dedication to JIRP and particularly to JIRP students, we are excited to announce the Joan W. Miller JIRP Scholarship Fund.  Donations will be used to help cover tuition costs of selected participants so that the JIRP experience can be accessible to all prospective students.        

Please join the members of the FGER (Foundation for Glacier and Environmental Research) board of trustees, and others in giving generously and supporting future JIRP students.  Help make the JIRP experience that we are privileged to have lived an opportunity for others.  Your tax-deductible donation can be made online via PayPal, or directly to FGER via check or credit card:

Online via PayPal:

By sending a check or credit card details to:

Foundation for Glacier and Environmental Research
4616 25th Avenue NE, Suite 302
Seattle, Washington 98105

Please make checks payable to FGER, and note that your donation is for the JWM JIRP Scholarship Fund.

As with the M3 JIRP Legacy Fund we would like to offer you the opportunity to send a personal note to the Miller family along with your donation.  You may include your personal message in the PayPal checkout process or with your donation via the FGER mailing address.

Your contribution to the Joan W. Miller JIRP Scholarship Fund helps to preserve Joan’s phenomenal legacy and to support future JIRP students in her name.  Thank you for your ongoing support of the Juneau Icefield Research Program.

Maynard M. Miller JIRP Legacy Fund

Dear friends of JIRP,


Our dad (Dr. Maynard M. Miller, M3 ) is 92 and living at home in Idaho.  He is weak but is generally happy and gives thumbs up when discussing the future of JIRP.

To boost his spirits we often talk about the icefield. And as a special boost we have an idea for a gift, that if successful, we would like to share with him.  In the coming months we want to celebrate him and his decades of leadership with a gift that will help bridge to a bright JIRP future – the M3 JIRP Legacy Fund.

Donations will be used to ensure ongoing maintenance of the icefield infrastructure that he worked so hard to make possible, and which continues to enable the annual JIRP field season.  Funds will be used to endow maintenance of this vital infrastructure, and, specially, to renovate his room at Camp 10 as a student research lounge, archive, and museum of JIRP history. In addition, resources will be allocated to organizing and archiving data, photographs, maps, films and other documentation of the nearly 70 years of work on the Juneau Icefield.  These two streams of focus – maintenance of icefield infrastructure and archival of historical data – constitute a significant portion of  M3’s legacy, and the legacy of JIRP.

We ask you to join us, members of the FGER (Foundation for Glacier and Environmental Research) board of directors, and others in giving generously to the M3 JIRP Legacy Fund.  Your tax-deductible donation can be made:

Online via PayPal:

By sending a check or credit card details to:

Foundation for Glacier and Environmental Research
4616 25th Avenue NE, Suite 302
Seattle, Washington 98105

Please make checks payable to FGER, and note that your donation is for the M3 JIRP Legacy Fund.

Along with your generous donation we would like to offer you the opportunity to send a personal message to our dad, and to have your name included in a list of donors that will be presented to him and on a commemorative plaque in the future, renovated building at Camp 10.  Include your personal message in the PayPal checkout process or with your donation via the FGER mailing address.  Please specify if you wish to remain anonymous.

With your help we can give M3 a tremendous gift - one that honors him, but also helps ensure a bright JIRP future for decades to come. 

We also want to introduce the forthcoming Joan W. Miller JIRP Scholarship Fund, which will be formally announced in October, and have the ongoing goal to help make the JIRP experience accessible to all prospective students.  Through these two funds we - along with the FGER Board – aspire to honor our parents, recognize their many decades of leadership, and ensure a bright future for JIRP.   

Thank you for your generous support of the Juneau Icefield Research Program.

Sincerely,


Lance and Ross Miller