Published May 31, 2023 by Josh Reed

On the college sports scene, UAA had over two dozen athletes recognized for their academic achievements last week. Five gymnasts and eight skiers were honored for their athletic and academic excellence by the College Sports Communicators as part of its 2023 Academic All-District men’s and women’s at-large teams.

Seventeen student athletes, 11 female and six male, were named to the 2022-23 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track and Field all-academic team. The Seawolves were highlighted by sophomore All-American Cole Nash, who is a finance major and was the only UAA honoree who maintained a 4.0 GPA.

Published May 30, 2023 by Katie Anastas, KTOO

Hopkins was working as a fish biologist in Western Alaska when he first considered teaching.

“I was standing in a river, measuring fish, late in the fall with ice chunks coming by, and I figured I wasn’t going to be doing that for the rest of my life,” he said. “The next step for a biologist was to be in a cubicle writing reports, and that did not seem attractive.”

So he returned to UAF – where he’d moved to from Germany to get his biology degree – and earned a teaching credential. Then he taught in Dutch Harbor, then Wrangell, then Delta Junction before settling down in Juneau. 

He’s been in the Juneau School District for 23 years.

“My classroom overlooks Gastineau Channel,” he said. “There aren’t too many teachers that can watch orcas swim by as they’re teaching.”

After working as a technology mentor for teachers and helping set up the district’s homeschooling program, Hopkins started teaching outdoor biology. He transformed the class into one that highlighted Lingít science and subsistence. 

Published May 30, 2023

The Alaska Small Business Development Center’s (Alaska SBDC) Technology Research and Development Center of Alaska (TREND program), in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), will begin accepting applications for the 2023 Phase 0 grant program on June 1, 2023.

The Phase 0 grant program aims to support Alaskan innovators in developing and submitting proposals for federal innovation research grants that will benefit the nation. It serves as an optional phase designed to give Phase I and Phase II proposals a greater rate of success by providing expert reviews and financial support. Though not required, SBIR and STTR proposals submitted under the Phase 0 program have a 30% award rate while the national average is just 15%.

The TREND program provides technical assistance and proposal writing instructions to help develop successful commercialization plans. The top five participants of the 2023 TREND Phase 0 Grant Program will be awarded an SBIR Phase 0 grant of up to $10,000. Examples of allowable expenses include, but are not limited to, organization and analyses of preliminary data, further data collection and feasibility studies, commercialization planning, meetings with collaborators, professional training, literature searches, and technical writing.

Published May 30, 2023 by Houston Thomas III

According to the National League of Cities, drones can “revolutionize” municipal services. “There are many applications for drones within the public sector at the local and state level. Drones can be used for law enforcement and firefighting, as rural ambulances, and for inspections, environmental monitoring and disaster management,” the association notes.

In 2020, The Federal Aviation Administration established a four-year program called BEYOND to partner with state and local governments to study drone flights and their potential benefits to U.S. communities. The eight participants in the program include the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Kansas Department of Transportation; Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority in Tennessee; Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership in Virginia; North Carolina Department of Transportation; North Dakota Department of Transportation; City of Reno, Nev.; and University of Alaska Fairbanks.