Read individual stories from the 2018 issue of SNRE Annual Highlights below, read the entire issue online or download the PDF.
Name change reflects focus of degrees
Academic Director David Valentine said faculty felt that the new name better reflects what the degrees are about. Many of the school’s classes also relate to the environment, such as air and water quality, forests, wilderness and park management, and environmental decision-making and ethics.
Valentine also believes the name change, which became effective with the fall 2018 semester, will help recruit students. UAF Admissions says a number of students who want to study the environment and use that term in online searches. “More students who are looking for us will find us,” he said.
Preparing for emergencies and helping communities after a natural disaster
Extension also helped Alaskans respond to the 7.0 earthquake that rocked Anchorage and Southcentral on Nov. 30. Staff in Anchorage and Mat-Su worked with local emergency officials, spoke with community members and monitored social media to determine what was needed and how Extension could best respond.
Immediate concerns included the need for a clean water supply and advice for homeowners on assessing hazards. Other identified needs were dealing with emotional trauma after the quake, choosing a reputable contractor for home repairs and testing for radon.
Resource economics: analyzing feasibility, resource policy
Josh Greenberg, a natural resource economist with the School of Natural Resources and Extension, teamed up with the Reindeer Research Program to develop a series of business plans that will allow Savoonga and possibly other villages to evaluate different production strategies for a reindeer meat industry.
Innovative agent helps residents thrive
Lewis, who is based in Juneau, already had a strong interest in food security before coming to Extension six years ago. She had trained as a Master Gardener and served on local foods groups in Juneau.
As a new agent, Lewis worked with other agents to sharpen her food preservation skills — and started offering classes. She teaches a variety of pickling and fermenting, canning, and preparing wild foods classes in Juneau and other Southeast communities when the travel budget allows.
Did you know?
- Nutrition educators in Fairbanks, Tok, Anchorage, Palmer, Soldotna, Bethel and Juneau provided nutrition education to 1,651 low-income youth and 501 adults.
- Extension agents taught 62 food preservation and food safety workshops to 914 Alaskans in 21 communities from Nome to Sitka.
- The Mining and Petroleum Training Service graduated 26 new underground miners and 15 new surface miners at its facility near Delta Junction. Eighty percent of graduates are employed one year after completing a mine training.
- Seventy-seven individuals in seven communities trained as certified food protection managers through Extension’s videoconference training. The state requires at least one manager on staff at all Alaska food establishments to ensure food safety.
- 4-H reaches more than 2,500 Alaska youth who participate in clubs, after-school programs, school enrichment and camping programs. Five hundred volunteers support these activities.
- Alaska FFA gained chapters in Tok and Seward and has 18 chapters with 330 youth interested in agricultural education and leadership development.
- Extension has received a four-year $679,000 grant to help Alaska farmers and other agricultural workers with disabilities. The grant is one of 14 awarded to Extension projects around the country as part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s AgrAbility program.
- More than 80 presentations at the Sustainable Agriculture Conference in Anchorage covered diverse topics, including seaweed farming, reindeer husbandry and gardening in rural Alaska.
Note from leadership
The School of Natural Resources and Extension seeks to make a difference in Alaskans’ lives through our academics, research and outreach.
On the academic side, we teach students how to manage Alaska’s resources and promote stewardship through relevant instruction, research opportunities and internships that help students get jobs. In 2018, the school changed the name of its undergraduate and master’s degrees to natural resources and environment. This better describes what the degrees are about and will help us recruit students.
Our researchers study the impact of how a changing climate affects Alaska’s forests, soils and agricultural possibilities and the feasibility of enterprises, such the peony or reindeer industries. This research is vital to Alaskans. We welcomed an energetic new director of the Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center in Palmer. Jodie Anderson’s goal is to expand research, instruction and outreach at the facility.
Extension provides trusted, practical information to Alaskans through multiple channels. This research-based information is shared through events offered across the state, publications, videos, news releases, web and social media. Extension provides leadership and skills training to youth, and programs on food and production agriculture, food preservation, food safety, energy, health, mine training and more.
Changes are coming in 2019 as the result of a university reorganization. The School of Natural Resources and Extension will not exist as of July 1, but our programs will continue. The academic degree programs will move to the College of Natural Science and Mathematics but faculty and staff will continue to conduct research through the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. Extension will continue to work with the experiment station to extend research information.
The leadership of our unit is also in transition. In February of 2019, I was named acting director of the School of Natural Resources and Extension. After July 1, I will become the acting director for a new unit that will include Extension and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. I have been an animal science professor and researcher with the university since 1999 and am honored to lead our programs as we strive to provide relevant research and education.
I thank faculty and staff for their hard work and dedication to our mission. I also thank our many stakeholders who advocate for our programs.
Sincerely,
Milan Shipka
Acting Director, UAF School of Natural Resources and Extension
Past Annual Highlights
- Boreal Alaska - Learning, Adaptation and Production
- Deltana canola developed at UAF
- Embracing technology to reach more Alaskans
- Extension celebrates 100 years
- Field course, NRM degree prepares Alaska students for careers
- New guide provides Alaska herb information
- Peonies new cash crop for Alaska
- Youth program offers diverse activities
- 4-H club from Tanana addresses the issue of suicide by speaking out
- Grass-roots Peninsula Change Club makes exercising just a little easier
- Helping to preserve Alaska foods
- In search of the best tasting potato
- Rhodiola rosea: helping develop a new high-value specialty crop
- Signing up for Chicken University
- Spotlight: Approaching energy needs with inventive solutions
- 2006 Program Highlights
- 2007 Annual Report
- 2007 Regional Impacts
- 2008 Annual Report
- 2008 Regional Impacts
- 2009 Annual Report
- 2010 Program Highlights
- 2012 Program Highlights
- 2013 Program Highlights
- 2014 Annual Highlights
- 2015 Annual Highlights
- 2016 Annual Highlights
- 2017 Annaul Highlights
- 2018 Annual Highlights