Seaquam Secondary student Ahmed Masood is the recipient of a National Geographic scholarship that will send him on a fully-paid expedition to Iceland with more than 20 other students from around the world.

Masood applied for the scholarship in February of this year, and said he decided to apply to help bring an awareness of climate change to students in his school.

鈥淚f I can share my experiences with students here, I think I can make more of an impact.鈥�

Masood found out he was accepted to the expedition in late March, and will be in Iceland from June 27 to July 11.

According to Masood, the acceptance rate for scholarship applications to a National Geographic expedition is about six per cent.

While in Iceland, Masood will visit Reykjavik鈥檚 Hellisheidi Power Station, which provides geothermal energy to much of the city. He鈥檒l be learning how the plant works, and then meeting with scientists to discuss the effects of climate change.

Later in the trip, Masood will measure Iceland鈥檚 glacial outcrops to see how fast they are disappearing.

He hopes this trip will give him a better understanding of climate change, and ignite his passion in that area.

鈥淩ight now, I feel like I鈥檓 less passionate about it because I haven鈥檛 seen it first person,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e been given the opportunity to go ahead, and with my own hands, map the recession of glacial tongues to see with my own eyes glaciers that are falling apart.鈥�

This National Geographic expedition isn鈥檛 Masood鈥檚 first venture into environmental and humanitarian efforts. In Grade 8, Masood joined his school鈥檚 environmental club.

More recently, he鈥檚 led a campaign petitioning the Nigerian government to neutralize the Boko Haram terrorist group, transited to the Downtown Eastside to bring food to Vancouver鈥檚 homeless population and worked with a number of projects and groups, including WE Scare Hunger, WE Are Silent, WE Are Rafiki, The Ivy Pull Initiative, Spread The Net, the Hot Potato Initiative and Federation of Canadian Secondary Students.

He said it鈥檚 more than helping the world; it鈥檚 about being engaged with people in a time when Masood feels they are more engaged with their phones.

鈥淓veryone鈥檚 so self-centred, focused into themselves [and] a very small circle around them, that we fail to see the bigger picture of the world,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he things that I might get to experience in Iceland are things my children and later generations might not get to experience. So I want to raise awareness about that.鈥�