Published Mar 27, 2023 by Erik Klemetti

Hawaii is the home of the oldest volcano observatory in the United States. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, or HVO as it is known across volcanology, was established by Thomas Jaggar in 1912 and he was the director for 28 years. Four more volcano observatories followed, the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO, opened in 1980), the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO, opened in 1988), the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO, opened in 2001) and the newest, the California Volcano Observatory (CalVO, opened in 2012, taking over for the Long Valley Volcano Observatory). Yet it wasn’t until 1994 that a woman was put in charge of one of these volcano observatories.

Terry Keith, a retired USGS geologist, has always been a pioneer in volcanology and petrology. She was asked by her classmates to march first across the stage to acknowledge her achievement as the first women to graduate from the then-University of Arizona College of Mines. After working in Alaska with another pioneer, the USGS’ Helen Foster, she became a lab assistant in the USGS, working on the forefront of mineralogy.

Tom Miller, the first scientist-in-charge (SIC) of the Alaska Volcano Observatory, recognized Keith’s skills as both as an excellent geologist and understanding leader. He asked her to come back to Alaska after her family returned to the lower 48 states to lead AVO.

Keith thought the gig was going to be a 3-year sojourn to Fairbanks, but it ended up being 8 years in the country’s most active volcanic region. When she took the reins of AVO, she became the first woman to be put in charge of an American volcano observatory, a full 82 years after Thomas Jaggar founded HVO. Keith remained SIC from 1994 to 1999.



Published Mar 27, 2023 by ICT

The University of Alaska is creating new scientific, historical, and analytical reports to inform Alaska policy makers on Arctic issues. The first issue of the series, released in January, explores economic and resource development through energy.

In a prepared statement, UA said key points covered in that issue include:

• Alaska’s Arctic Oil Economy A history of Alaska’s reliance on oil and its boom bust impact on the state’s economy, as well as outlooks for future oil investment.
• Alaska’s Arctic Energy System How Alaska currently produces and consumes energy, and UA expertise in cold climate renewables and microgrids.
• Climate Smart Infrastructure An overview of high-impact climate changes in Alaska and how planning for future energy infrastructure must consider these changes.
• Alaska in International Affairs How the U.S.’s collaborative and competitive global relationships impact Alaska’s position in the Arctic energy regime.

University experts and partners in the private and public sectors are the report authors. The series pulls together information from scientific studies, policy analysis, and knowledge of state, regional, federal and international governance, said UA. The reports will come with short videos on each topic.

Published Mar 27, 2023

More than a year before his death in 2010, former Sen. Ted Stevens deposited his Congressional papers with the Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where they would eventually be available to researchers and the public.

The other Alaska senators have their papers at UAF, which holds “more than 20,000 linear feet of archives and manuscripts and in excess of one million photographs.”

The vast 4,700-box collection of Stevens papers should have remained in Fairbanks at the largest and finest research library in the state, but the heirs of Stevens decided to move the papers to Anchorage in 2015 for reasons they never explained.

What’s not clear today is to what degree the Stevens papers were sanitized after the family removed the papers from UAF to house them in Anchorage, where they have been under control of the Ted Stevens Foundation since 2015. Members of Congress own the papers they accumulate while in office.

Sean Parnell, now the UAA chancellor, is promoting a plan to spend $20 million over the next three years to expand the UAA library and house the papers of Stevens, the late Rep. Don Young and others.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski earmarked $6 million for the project in the federal budget, while the University of Alaska says it will need at least $14 million from the state over the next few years.

In a press release promoting the “historic gift” of the Stevens papers, Parnell said the university wants an “Alaska Leaders Archive,” but he neglected to mention that the papers had been at UAF when Stevens was alive.

Published Mar 26, 2023 by Tim Lydon

The sun is on fire these days. Ahead of an expected spike in solar activity, it is hurling massive blobs of hot plasma toward Earth. And while this may disrupt civilization, the flipside is that it will likely bring awesome aurora.

According to Don Hampton of the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, approximately every 11 years our sun’s magnetic poles switch. South becomes north, and vice versa. The years preceding this are called the solar maximum. Hampton expects the next maximum to peak in 2025 or 2026.

As a solar maximum approaches, violent events unfold across the sun’s surface—including fierce solar winds, collapsing filaments of electrified gas, distortions in the sun’s magnetic field, and massive ejections of plasma—which send geomagnetic storms hurtling toward Earth.

In space, it can damage satellites and threaten astronaut safety. On Earth, it can disrupt communications, aircraft routes, and even the electrical grid. Hampton says the risk of disruption becomes greater as we rely more on satellites and interconnected power grids. 

But these geomagnetic events also increase auroral activity by agitating nitrogen, oxygen, and other molecules near our planet’s poles, causing them to emit colorful photons of light. 

Published Mar 25, 2023 by Sean Parnell

Last week, a historic gift was made to the University of Alaska Anchorage. I am glad to share it with you.

Catherine Stevens and the Ted Stevens Foundation have gifted the papers of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens to UAA. Our university is very excited to become the new home for this invaluable collection of Alaska history. We are dedicated to preserving and sharing Ted Stevens’ legacy with Alaskans through historic preservation, and creating new opportunities for scholarship and civic engagement. This wonderful gift from the Stevens family will affect future generations of Alaskans and transform the way we share our state’s history with the world.

The Ted Stevens Collection is truly an Alaska-sized archive. It contains more than 4,000 boxes of the senator’s memorabilia, with 8 million pages of records and thousands of photos and audio-visual pieces representing his more than 40 years of public service to Alaska. It is one of the largest documented congressional collections in history.

The collection spans a half-century of Alaska history — and tells the story of our state and its people. It encompasses Sen. Stevens’ career in the military, executive branch, and 40 years as U.S. senator for Alaska. The collection ranges from the early days of statehood to contemporary issues. It features Stevens’ work on landmark legislation, including Indigenous land claims, sustainable fisheries, telecommunications, education, energy, aviation, education, public health, national security and the Arctic.

Published Mar 25, 2023 by Elena Symmes

The Seawolf Hockey Alliance is starting a movement to add a new facility adjacent to the existing sports complex on campus.

The new sports arena on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus will host UAA teams, youth tournaments and community events.

Matt Shasby, the UAA Seawolves hockey coach, is helping to spread the news.

The new community athletic complex would include a renovation of the Seawolf Sports Complex and new additions, including a turf field and another sheet of ice.

The Seawolf Hockey Alliance said the new arena would accommodate much larger crowds than the current facility.

“This arena will comfortably seat more than 3,000 spectators so everyone could come to appreciate and enjoy the excellent level of hockey the UAA Seawolf team provides,” the Alliance wrote in a March 20 message 

Published Mar 25, 2023 by Iris Samuels

Some state lawmakers on Friday signaled their opposition to the nomination of the leader of a conservative advocacy organization to serve on the University of Alaska Board of Regents.

Bethany Marcum is the executive director of the Alaska Policy Forum, which advocates for limiting government and reducing state spending, including on education.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy nominated Marcum for the board earlier this year. Her appointment is subject to confirmation by the entire Legislature, which will vote on the governor’s nominations later this year.

The House and Senate Education committees held hearings Friday to consider Marcum’s nomination, during which some lawmakers questioned whether Marcum was an appropriate choice for the board that oversees the state’s public universities. They cited the Policy Forum’s backing for proposed budget cuts made by Dunleavy in 2019, which at the time included a 40% cut to state funding for the university system.