Published Apr 13, 2023 by UAF File Photo

In the wake of leading the University of Alaska Fairbanks hockey team to an end of the season 15th-place ranking in the Pairwise standings, coach Erik Largen has been rewarded with a five-year contract extension.

“We still have things we want to accomplish as a program,” Largen said. “It has been an honor to lead this program and I look forward to building on the great traditions of Nanooks hockey both on and off the ice.”

Largen, 36, was considered for multiple national coach of the year awards after turning around a Nanooks program that had been 0-36-8 in the two seasons before the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered the doors in 2021-22. Additionally, he had to do so by constructing a team — and a schedule — as an independent program in NCAA Div. I.

“Erik has shown that his incredible dedication and vision for the future of Alaska Nanooks hockey will pave our path to success for years to come,” Nanooks athletics director Dr. Brock Anundson said in a statement. “Under Erik’s guidance, the program has risen to one of the top-ranked teams in the NCAA. I know with Erik at the helm, we will continue to solidify the championship culture he has put in place.”

Published Apr 13, 2023 by Robert Woolsey, KCAW

It’s an unpleasant fact for everyone who eats fish in Alaska: Mercury is in the food chain, and it’s particularly prevalent in seafood.

And while the amount of mercury found in Alaskan seafood remains far below dangerous levels, a pair of researchers want to keep an eye on it long-term. The best way to do this, they’ve found, is not by testing fish coming over the docks, but by testing human hair. They’re in Sitka to report the findings of a pilot study begun five years ago.

O’Hara and Castellini hope that their pilot study with the National Institute of Health will take off into more permanent monitoring of mercury in coastal Alaska. They see monitoring as an incentive to a healthy diet, rather than a deterrent. 

“If that’s all people hear about, then they start to be afraid to eat good, healthy foods,” said Castellini. “And so it’s really nice to be able to get a broad study where we can look at communities and say actually ‘You might eat a lot of fish, but your mercury concentrations in general are still not that high.’ And it’s a good reassurance.”

Published Apr 13, 2023 by Alaska Media, LLC., Steve Keller designer and application developer

About 60 eighth-grade students from Utqiaqvik Eben Hopson Middle School walked onto the sea ice to learn about its properties.

The 8th Grade Sea Ice Field Trip — hosted by UIC Science in collaboration with the North Slope Borough School District, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub, the University of Washington, the National Ice Center and other organizations — was a two-day event. On March 30, students went outside close to the football field, split into smaller groups and rotated between four hands-on learning stations. On March 31, they reinforced their learning during lab activities.

"It's a whole day out on the sea ice, the whole day is filled with activities for them," said Bernice Aviuk Oyagak, outreach and engagement manager with UIC Science. "Then the next day, they're going to take what they learned that day in the field, and start looking at everything under microscopes and having more in-depth discussions about it in the labs at the school."

"The objective of the event is to get students in Utqiagvik engaged with some of the sea ice work that's being conducted there," Dilliplaine said. "There are so many scientists who go through the area and really don't engage with the community in any way. So this was an opportunity to say, "Hey, this is what we're doing," but also get the students interested in the science ... and hopefully inspire some students in the area to get involved so it's not all just outsiders coming through every year during the work."

Published Apr 12, 2023

Kenai’s Maggie Winston is a program director with the Independent Living Center, in Soldotna. Last month, she was awarded the University of Alaska Anchorage 2022 Alumni Humanitarian award.

She spoke with us about her advocacy for Alaskans with disabilities, her work with the Soldotna Independent Living Center and why she thinks vulnerability is an important part of being a leader.