"Icy worlds, like some moons of Saturn and Jupiter, are a top priority in the planetary science community. These environments are key to exploring the possibilities of extraterrestrial life and the habitability of other planets, according to lead researcher Jacob Buffo.

"'A lot of these worlds have tens of kilometers of ice overlaying these oceans that we really want to know about. And so this is kind of our window that we have to look through,' Buffo said.

"The Dartmouth team will investigate environments on planet Earth that are analogous to the places they hope to learn about, using a variety of lakes in the Cariboo Plateau region of British Columbia to learn about ice on other worlds."

..."The NASA grants will fund the two projects for three years. Dartmouth researchers are hoping that these grants will lay the groundwork for more planetary research in the state of New Hampshire."