Published Jun 1, 2023 by Todd Paris

The University of Alaska Fairbanks 2023 Legacy Lecture will honor author and professor emeritus Mary Ehrlander. The lecture is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, June 5, in the BP Design Theater, Room 401 of the Usibelli Building.

The annual Legacy Lecture celebrates UAF alumni who have made significant contributions to the community.

Ehrlander is professor emeritus of history and former director of the Arctic and Northern studies program at UAF. She is the author of numerous books and publications, including “Walter Harper, Alaska Native Son,” for which she received the Alaska Library Association’s Alaskana Award, and “Equal Educational Opportunity: Brown’s Elusive Mandate.” She received the Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching Award in 2016.

Published Jun 1, 2023 by Iris Samuels, Sean Maguire

After the Legislature narrowly voted to reject Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s appointee to the University of Alaska Board of Regents, the governor appointed Wednesday former chief of staff Tuckerman Babcock to the position.

Babcock served as Dunleavy’s chief of staff at a time when the governor proposed deep cuts to state services, followed by vetoes of hundreds of millions of dollars in state spending, including to the university system. Some of the cuts were eventually restored amid widespread backlash.

Those 2019 proposed cuts were one of the reasons cited by lawmakers when they earlier this month voted to reject Dunleavy’s first pick for the Board of Regents, Bethany Marcum.

Published May 31, 2023 by Kjersti McElwee

WHAT DO A RENEWABLE SNOW CONE MACHINE and an app for tracking dangerous wildlife have in common? Both are award-winning ideas dreamt up by Nome youngsters. Fifth-grader Denali Walrath and second-grader Bradley Rowe recently took home awards from a statewide competition for innovation in the Arctic.

Walrath, who took first place in the aptly-named Cub Division, says she came up with the idea of tracking animals like bears or musk oxen while picking berries with her family in Nome. The app would alert users if a dangerous animal like a bear or musk ox had been spotted recently at a specific location. Denali’s dad, Doug, says thanks to the researchers who heard her presentation, the app may become a reality.

Published May 31, 2023

“Skipper Science is a valuable resource for researchers, managers, and policy-makers. Fishermen participating in the Skipper Science Partnership have demonstrated their ability to translate observations into quality data through the use of the app and dialogues with managers. We are thrilled to be working on projects like the Nushagak King Salmon Mapping Project that shows how the program is working directly with fisheries managers and the scientific community to meaningfully incorporate fishermen’s data and observations into their decision-making.” said Hannah-Marie Garcia, Skipper Science Program Coordinator who works for the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island. 

 “As a Bristol Bay fisherman impacted by fishing closures due to recent low Chinook returns on the Nushagak, I am proud and grateful to be able to lend a meaningful hand to our fisheries managers as we work together as a Bristol Bay community to allow for as much commercial fishing activity as possible while protecting Chinook returns. SkipperScience gives us a tool to do just that and I hope that fellow fishermen will join me in rolling up our sleeves and lending a hand here so that we can all come out the other side of this with plentiful Chinook escapement up the Nush and abundant early June fishing time as well,” said Michael Jackson, Bristol Bay fisherman, and BBRSDA board member. The Nushagak King Mapping Project gives Fishermen a chance to be part of the solution, and to put their expertise to work”. 

“Conservation of king salmon in the Nushagak district during the (predominantly) sockeye fishery is a key issue in the spotlight after several years of extremely strong sockeye runs and relatively weak king returns. Better understanding of the spatial distribution of kings in the Nushagak district, and how that might change across the season, is critical. The existing Skipper Science app is a perfect platform for the fleet to provide catch rate data that can enable managers in future years to make decisions on when and where commercial fishing can open while still allowing for adequate Chinook escapement,” said Curry Cunningham an Assistant Professor with the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.