UAF PROFESSOR SELECTED TO ESCORT NATION'S TOP TEENAGE SCIENTISTS IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2000

Fairbanks, Alaska - The American Association for the Advancement of Science has selected a University of Alaska Fairbanks professor as one of five science educators to accompany 20 of the nation's most talented young scientists attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Youth Science Festival.

Claudette Bradley, an associate professor with UAF's College of Rural Alaska, was selected from a national pool of applicants to escort the teenaged scientists to the international fair held July 25-August 2 in Singapore. Bradley was chosen based on innovations in distance delivery education at UAF and more than two decades devoted to developing science education programs for Alaska Native and American Indian middle school and high school students.

Known as a leader in Native education throughout Alaska, Bradley has taught and coordinated pre-college summer camps for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and annual academic science fairs for American Indian and Alaska Native students living in Alaska's five cultural regions. She has taken the lead in developing and instructing science courses for undergraduate and graduate students living across the state through distance delivery.

After earning a bachelor's and master's degree in mathematics from the University of Connecticut, she completed her doctoral degree in education at Harvard University in 1987. Since 1988, Bradley has taught science at AISES summer camps held at UAF, Montana State, Colorado School of Mines, Stanford, and Oklahoma State, among other universities.

She began teaching full-time at UAF in 1989 and initiated UAF's AISES chapter with Rural Student Services counselor Sue McHenry to promote Alaska Native and American Indian students studying science and technology related fields. The chapter has since earned top national ranking, being named Distinguished Chapter of the Year twice.

Bradley also coordinated the first Alaska Statewide AISES Science Fair 2000 held January 31. Bradley serves as AISES state coordinator for the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, a program funded by the National Science Foundation and the Annenburg Foundation, which promotes education among rural students.

Prior to her trip to Singapore, Bradley will spend the next two weeks working with middle-school students from rural Alaska in a cultural and classroom science camp held across the Tanana River from Fairbanks.

Sponsored by the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, UAF's AISES chapter and the Howard Luke Academy, the camp allows students to conduct scientific experiments that incorporate Native knowledge from Elders on biological conditions such as fisheries habitats, weather and past environmental factors.

In addition to working with summer camps and fairs, Bradley has been involved with several projects that incorporate science education and rural students. She is currently developing an education module for fifth and sixth graders for the "Yupiaq Star Navigation Across the Tundra" program, as part of NSF-funded Yupiaq Mathematics Project at UAF.

At the university level, she teaches courses ranging from freshman mathematics to master's degree courses in education. To improve the quality of distance-delivered classes at UAF, Bradley teamed up with assistant professor Maria Reyes to create a content-specific course for licensed teachers living throughout Alaska using audioconferencing, classroom web page design and Power Point presentations.

Eight national science organizations submitted nominations for educators to accompany students to the youth science fair. Bradley will be one of two professors representing AISES during the youth festival. AISES was established more than 20 years ago as a nationwide non-profit organization to increase the number of Alaska Native and American Indian college students graduating with science degrees.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Photographers and reporters can visit Claudette Bradley at the AISES Science Camp July 12-23. Call Dixie Dayo at (907) 474-5086 for arrangements.

CONTACT: Associate Professor of Education Claudette Bradley at (907) 474- 5376 or Program Assistant Dixie Dayo at (907) 474-5086.

JCS/7-12-00/01-003