Published Apr 24, 2024

UArctic and the UArctic Foundation (US) were a proud sponsor of the 2024 Arctic Encounter Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska, 10-12 April.

UArctic Board members in attendance included President of the University of Alaska Pat Pitney, and Member of the Folketing (the Danish Parliament) Aaja Chemnitz. Some of UArctic senior leadership also joined the event: Morgan Dulian, UArctic Executive Director of Development and Executive Director of the UArctic Foundation (US); Diane Hirshberg, UArctic VP Academic; and Gä̀gala-ƛ̓iƛ̓ətko (Nadia Joe), UArctic VP Indigenous. UArctic ChairN in School Effectiveness and School Improvement Kirk Anderson also joined the senior leadership in representing UArctic during the three-day symposium.

The mission of the Arctic Encounter Symposium is to convene leaders and experts from every arena to tackle the shared interests and concerns of the United States and the global community as we look North to the last emerging frontier - the Arctic. The Arctic Encounter strives to challenge the status quo dialogue, critically address challenges to realizing the Arctic's full potential, advocate for the peoples who live there, and collaborate on sustainable solutions for the future.

UArctic and the UArctic Foundation (US) look forward to growing their relationship with Arctic Encounters to continue the important work of showcasing the UArctic member universities, institutes and organizations, and the UArctic Thematic Networks' work to the North American audience.

Published Apr 24, 2024

On March 27, 1964, the largest earthquake in U.S. history struck Alaska. With a magnitude of 9.2, it was the second-most-powerful quake ever recorded on Earth. In Anchorage, streets split in half and an entire neighborhood slid into the sea. Along the Alaskan coast, massive tsunamis destroyed ports and washed entire villages away. The disaster caused $3 billion in damage, when adjusted for inflation, and permanently changed the people and landscape of Alaska, which had gained statehood just five years before. Businesses left. Entire communities had to relocate and rebuild.

But perhaps the Great Alaska Earthquake’s most significant and lasting impact was on science. It struck at a key moment in scientific history, right in time to reshape our understanding of earthquakes, tsunamis and the nature of very ground beneath our feet. Even today, scientists studying the quake’s impacts are making unexpected discoveries in surprisingly disparate fields. A look back at the quake, 60 years after it happened, reveals just how much it transformed our understanding of geology and geophysics.

In the disaster’s immediate aftermath, the U.S. Geological Survey flew field geologists to Alaska to investigate the quake’s origins. Over weeks and months, those scientists carefully measured the impact on the landscape, discovering vast expanses of Alaska had experienced massive uplift and subsidence, permanently rising up or dropping down as the ground shook and buckled. A section of coastline they measured near Kodiak had risen by roughly 30 feet. Some 185 miles to the northeast, near Anchorage, the land had dropped by about ten feet. Those detailed measurements provided the first real-world evidence for plate tectonics, a theory that was then vigorously debated. That theory holds that the Earth’s crust is made up of plates floating on the hot mantle, and where those plates converge, sliding over or under each other, major earthquakes strike that can warp and reshape the landscape. Before the 1964 earthquake, scientists lacked the data needed to prove the existence of subduction zones—areas like that off the Alaskan coast where the Pacific oceanic plate subducts, or slides under, the North American continental plate. After the Alaskan quake, they had it: carefully documented, irrefutable evidence visible across tens of thousands of square miles of forest, coast and village that the crust had shifted in a way that couldn’t be explained by anything other than plate convergence.

Published Apr 24, 2024 by Anna Canny

A new University of Alaska research project will look at how human-caused climate change affects fishing, farming and harvesting in the Gulf of Alaska to build resilience for communities that rely on the ocean.

$20 million dollars of funding from the National Science Foundation will support the work of 23 researchers at all three University of Alaska campuses in Fairbanks, Juneau and Anchorage.

Jason Fellman of the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center is one of the principal investigators on the Interface of Change project. He says warming from the burning of fossil fuels is changing the weather across Southeast Alaska, bringing more extreme rainfall and less winter snow.

It’s also rapidly accelerating glacial melt, which creates a steady trickle of freshwater, sediment and nutrients. 

“What’s running off the landscape potentially ends up in the nearshore marine,” Fellman said. “So these connections — land ocean connections — could be changing quite rapidly.”

Understanding those changing connections is important because the Gulf of Alaska supports vital commercial and subsistence harvests. 

Published Apr 24, 2024

Bethel Community Services Foundation (BCSF) would like to inform incoming and returning college and university students that the application period is open for two scholarship opportunities. The deadline for both scholarships is May 20, 2024.

John Active Memorial Scholarship

BCSF and KYUK have partnered to honor the life and legacy of John Active, a giant in native media and tireless advocate of Yup’ik language and culture. This $1,000 scholarship is available for one individual in 2024.

Mary Ciuniq Pete Legacy Scholarship

This scholarship was created by BCSF in collaboration with a leadership team from KuC and Pete’s partner, the late Hubert Angaiak, to honor the life and legacy of Mary Ciuniq Pete, a fierce advocate for high-quality education, a healthy and thriving environment, and the safety of women and girls in Bethel and across Western Alaska. This $1,000 scholarship is available for three KuC students in 2024.

The John Active Memorial Scholarship and the Mary Ciuniq Pete Legacy Scholarship are currently open for applicants. Anyone interested in learning more or submitting an application can find information and an online application form for each scholarship on the BCSF website, bcsfoundation.org, under the Scholarships tab. Both scholarships have a deadline of May 20, 2024. Questions about eligibility can be directed to Lisa Whalen at lisa@bcsfoundation.org or 907-545-1855.

Published Apr 24, 2024 by Patrick Gilchrist

In December 1808, a 38-year-old Ludwig Van Beethoven debuted his Fifth symphony at a theater in Vienna.On Saturday in Fairbanks, his composition echoed across time as hundreds of people laced up their tennis shoes to battle it out with the German composer. The 2024 race saw 516 runners participate, skyrocketing past 2023′s numbers, when 129 people completed the course.

Racers started Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra’s (FSO) “Beat Beethoven” 5K at the Patty Center, as they snaked through the University of Alaska Fairbanks to the rhythm of the Fifth symphony.

The piece lasted about 31:45, meaning it required roughly a 10-minute per-mile pace or faster to beat Beethoven on Saturday.

Musicians or not, 297 of the 516 racers strummed their hamstrings with enough haste to cross the finish line before the final movement concluded. Kirk Hogenson cut it the closest with a final time of 31:38.

Published Apr 23, 2024 by Davis Hovey

Heavy rain drenched hillsides and flooded rivers around Kodiak last week. According to the National Weather Service, several inches fell in a matter of days, setting climate records and increasing the risk of landslides.

“The highest three-day rainfall exceeded the previous spring record by one to two inches as there was enough rain Wednesday through Friday for this to rank in the top ten three-day rainfalls any time of year in all of Kodiak’s climate history,” Rick Thoman, a climatologist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said.

Typically, spring rainfall is not as heavy as it is in the fall for Alaska. But Thoman said the state as a whole has been experiencing wetter conditions in recent years. That’s mainly due to climate change causing warmer surface water temperatures across the Gulf of Alaska. That means more precipitation.

“We’re really under the firehose here in Alaska over the last five years. Temperatures have not been so extreme as they were in the late 2000-teens, but boy these high end precipitation events are really hammering the state,” Thoman explained.

Published Apr 23, 2024 by Alaska Native News

A 1,000-mile snowmachine journey across Interior Alaska is helping the Fresh Eyes on Ice program monitor Alaska’s lake and river ice during freeze-up, over winter and during breakup.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks-led project also uses drone surveys, satellite imagery and citizen science in an all-hands-on-deck approach to making river and lake ice travel safer for Alaskans.

A team that included Chris Arp, the lead investigator and researcher with the UAF Institute of Northern Engineering, completed the statewide snowmachine traverse in stages. In 2022, they traveled from Willow to McGrath, picking up from there in 2023 and continuing to Galena. This March, they began in Galena and ended back home in Fairbanks three weeks later. 

The project is funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA and provides critical on-the-ground confirmation of ice conditions. These are then compared to satellite observations or used as inputs into models of ice and snow conditions. Most critically, all observations from the citizen science applications, community teams and scientists are immediately used by the National Weather Service.

Published Apr 23, 2024 by Matthew Schmitz

When I came back to UAA in 2022 to study journalism, one of the first classes I took was called Business Foundations. It was taught by the associate dean of the College of Business and Public Policy, Dr. Terry Nelson.

She was an extraordinary professor. How often do you see students line up on the last day of class to shake a professor's hand?

Nelson has received numerous teaching and service awards. Recently, she was recognized for her leadership and community service in the 2023 YWCA Women of Achievement award.

Recently, it was announced that Nelson would be stepping into the role of interim dean of the College of Business and Public Policy in the middle of this summer.

The college will be going through accreditation next year and Nofsinger said that Nelson has been closely involved with the details of preparing for that, so it makes sense to have her step in as interim dean.

“She is the main heavy lifter in the accreditation, that’s one of her primary jobs, accreditation, as associate dean,” he said.

“I think the choice of [Nelson] being interim dean is a really good choice.”