Published Aug 21, 2023

In the largest initiative of American mammoth research ever conducted, Colossal Biosciences, the breakthrough genetic engineering and de-extinction company, in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, has announced that the first-of-its-kind “Mammoth in the Classroom” initiative has reached its initial research and adoption goal. Through this important initiative, which is part of the Adopt a Mammoth program, 55 mammoth fossils have been donated to school districts across the state of Alaska, allowing students to participate in this scientific discovery.

Additionally, Colossal Biosciences seeks to support the extensive research on American mammoths by radiocarbon dating and genetic sequencing of every mammoth fossil in the museum’s collection. When all is said and done, Colossal’s involvement and funding, in collaboration with the University, will help support the radiocarbon dating of approximately 1,500 mammoth teeth, tusks and bones, which currently exist in the University of Alaska Museum of the North’s collection. To date, 223 specimens of the 1,500 have been sampled, with 25 of the 55 adopted mammoth fossils radiocarbon dated. This is a significant accomplishment as prior to the project only about 10% of the fossils in University of Alaska Museum of the North’s collection had been radiocarbon dated and even less had been genetically sequenced (less than 1%). The identified dates have begun to suggest incredible findings about the behaviors, migrations, and extinction of the American woolly mammoths.

The “Adopt a Mammoth’’ project is led by mammoth researcher and Colossal Scientific Advisory Board member, Dr. Matthew Wooller, who is a Professor and director at UAF’s Alaska Stable Isotope Facility. The project is coupling crowd-sourcing, radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA sequencing techniques to study the UAF Museum of the North’s large collection of mammoth fossils. This project will ultimately shed light on the most recent mammoth that existed in mainland Alaska.

Published Aug 21, 2023 by James Brooks

A former University of Alaska Fairbanks student is suing the university, alleging she was injured during a culinary arts class in 2022.

Ariel Lamp, who left the university after the incident, filed suit July 14 in Fairbanks Superior Court. The suit requests more than $100,000 in damages, plus costs.

Lawsuits against the university are relatively rare; online court records show it listed as a defendant only 13 times since 1988.

Through her attorney, Jeff Barber of Anchorage, Lamp declined an interview request.

According to the complaint, a UAF professor invited students to consume three spoonfuls of “Da Bomb” hot sauce directly. The lawsuit did not name the professor or class.

Published Aug 20, 2023 by Gavin Struve

The University of Alaska Fairbanks has only had two All-Americans in the history of its women’s cross country program, and one came last year. The Nanooks have a chance at surpassing that total this season alone.

Kendall Kramer, Naomi Bailey and Rosie Fordham are each different athletes who have endured different highs and lows in competition, but they’re united by shared experiences. And they could all leave this fall with the same title — ”All-American.”

Kramer has already earned that billing, placing 8th at the 2022 NCAA DII Cross Country Championships, the highest finish in program history. Fordham was three spots away from All-American honors, placing 43rd in the same race. Bailey wasn’t as close, as she placed 90th. However, she entered the national meet with a seasonal resume nearly identical to Kramer’s.

Published Aug 20, 2023 by Ned Rozell

The nostalgic scent of vaporized spruce and willow trees is a normal summer sensation here in middle Alaska. But the 2023 Alaska wildfire season has been anything but normal, according to Rick Thoman.

Thoman is a climate specialist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy. He was also a meteorologist with the National Weather Service for decades before that. He remembers the specifics of random fire seasons in Alaska without looking down at a phone.

This summer has been a weird one, he said.

“There’s nothing like this,” Thoman said at his office on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus recently. “Next to nothing through mid-July, then an explosion.”

On July 24, automated systems recorded more than 20,000 lightning strikes over the face of Alaska and nearby areas in Canada.

“Most of the big fires ignited July 24, 25 and 26,” Thoman said. “Unlucky for us, all of the big fires are within 80 miles of Fairbanks.”

Published Aug 19, 2023 by Caleb Jones

Karli Nielson of the University of Alaska Fairbanks volleyball team was named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team on Friday.

Nielson is entering her junior season. Last year as a sophomore, Nielson averaged 2.73 kills per set. She had 306 kills with a .205 hit percentage.

Defensively, Nielson had 87 digs, which was good enough for .78 digs per set. She also totaled 48 blocks.

This is Nielson’s second consecutive time being named to the GNAC Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team.

Published Aug 19, 2023 by Christina McDermott

Most medical students spend their first two years with a textbook – or several. But this summer, Courtney Stage and Michael Kaden - Hoffmann are working in rural community health as part of ‘RUOP,’ or the Rural, Underserved Opportunities Program through the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Stage is based in Naknek at Camai Community Health Center with her instructor, PA-C Katie Van Atta. She’s originally from Homer, and wants to work in her home community one day. Working in Naknek, she said, has been a great learning opportunity in what rural healthcare looks like.

“I'm really here to listen. I feel like the community has more to teach me than I have to teach them. So I'm definitely taking it all in,” she said.

Stage, who grew up commercial fishing, said she sees a connection to fishing, the area’s main industry, and some of the injuries she’s treated. Naknek welcomes a large fleet as well as several cannery workers every summer.

“You're seeing hand injuries that are happening during fish processing. You're also seeing crush injuries. I've seen a lot of soft tissue infections in hands, things that I have not seen from shadowing in clinics in Anchorage areas,” she said.

Kaden - Hoffmann is from Fairbanks. This summer, he’s instructed by Dr. Ronald Talaga. He said he spent his first two weeks assisting in Kanakanak Hospital before transitioning to the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation Clinic in Naknek. He also made trips to clinics in King Salmon and South Naknek. The work at the hospital, he said, gave him a chance to witness several different departments in action.

“I got to see what emergency medicine looks like there, inpatient medicine, outpatient medicine. I went by the diabetes clinic. I worked with the pediatrician for a day,” he said. “And so it was really cool to see how all of that functions in a rural setting.”

Both students are in the region as part of the WWAMI program. WWAMI stands for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. It’s a partnership between the University of Washington’s medical school and higher education institutions in each state. Alaska’s WWAMI program partners with the University of Alaska Anchorage.