Published May 17, 2023

Ice jams that blocked two Alaska rivers broke loose over the weekend, unleashing a surge of ice and water that caused major floods, damaged homes and left behind huge chunks of ice as tall as 12 feet (3.7 meters).

“The combo of a cold April and deep snowpack really loads the dice,” said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

However, Thoman said this kind of flooding is expected to become less common in the next few decades as springs warm.

Published May 17, 2023 by Wrangell Sentinel

Alaska is the home of the world's biggest piedmont glacier - meaning it falls from a mountain into a flat plain. But a new study has revealed that the Malaspina Glacier is not quite as big as previously believed, and that its low elevation makes it more highly susceptible to melting that would affect the rise in global sea levels.

At the same time, the land barrier that separates Malaspina from the ocean is shrinking as lagoons on it expand. Earlier research by the National Park Service, University of Arizona and University of Alaska Fairbanks indicates that saltwater is already encroaching through that dwindling land barrier and that Malaspina may be transitioning into what is known as a tidewater glacier.

Published May 16, 2023 by Targeted News Service

The University of Alaska Southeast is pleased to announce that Dr. Carlee Simon has been named as the Interim Dean of the School of Education (SOE), and started with UAS on May 8. In her two-year appointment, Dr. Simon will lead the SOE in its mission to work cooperatively with PreK-12 schools and the community, as well as the faculty to identify, prepare, and strengthen effective teachers for sustained contributions to the education profession in rural and urban settings in Alaska and the nation. She will promote interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, inter-college, and internal collaboration, cooperation, and research across the UA System and with external partners.