Published Aug 22, 2023 by Ava White

While all University of Alaska (UA) institutions offer unique traditional Alaska Native courses on languages and arts, the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ (UAF) Northwest Campus (NWC) offers an atigi, or a traditional King Island parka making course. 

Among the three UA colleges, UAF, University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), and University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), UAF stands as the only university in the United States to offer a class in traditional parka crafting. In Canada, Nunavut Arctic College held a three-week intensive in January where class members made two parkas: one for themselves and another for a child in need. Additionally, it’s the only university worldwide to grant a bachelor’s degree in Alaska Native languages. 

Marilyn Koezuna-Irelan has taught the course on campus since 2008. Along with an atigi class in the fall, Koezuna-Irelan offers a kuspuk making course in the spring semester, so that students can wear their kuspuk during the summer.

The course contributes two credits toward the art requirements necessary for a bachelor’s degree. During the class, students fashion a pattern to their size and sew an atigi, which they can take home upon completing the course. There was a particular student who replicated a parka of her grandmothers, which Koezuna-Irelan said was an amazing experience. 

Published Aug 22, 2023 by Tim Lydon

A growing number of Alaskans are turning to solar energy.

“In the last seven years there’s been a huge uptick in grid-tied solar in homes and businesses,” says Chris Pike, research engineer at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Center for Energy and Power (ACEP), which studies solar energy at high latitudes.

Pike says that solar panels were once limited to cabins or other remote sites in Alaska but have now become mainstream. He gives Alaska’s high energy costs as one reason. “People are always looking to save money,” he says, explaining that solar is increasingly competitive with other energy sources.

Pike adds that while a state like Arizona can produce more solar energy, the savings on Alaska’s high energy costs can add up quicker. A well-placed solar array can pay off installation costs in a decade and the 20-year return on investment can reach seven percent. 

As for Alaska’s unique weather and geography, Pike says they offer some advantages. An obvious one is the long hours of summer daylight. And in spring, solar production can be boosted by sunlight reflecting on snow. Solar panels also perform efficiently in cold temperatures. 

Of course, a downside is the winter darkness. “You never get a sunburn during the winter in Alaska,” says Pike. “So don’t expect solar production, either.”

Pike says 400-450 solar systems are added each year along the 700-mile Railbelt utility corridor between Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula.

Published Aug 21, 2023

UAA employees, join us for Faculty & Staff Convocation Friday, Aug. 25, 8:30-10 a.m. in the Wendy Williamson Auditorium!

Reconnect with colleagues and celebrate staff and faculty milestones as we usher in the 2023-2024 academic year with Chancellor Parnell and UAA leadership.

Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to attend in person or join us online: bit.ly/UAAConvocation2023.

Join us for more UAA Welcome Weekend fun: www.uaa.alaska.edu/about/university-advancement/special-events