Short Takes
April 29, 1998 | |
| UAF Undergraduates Gain National Praise in Atlanta | UAF undergraduates Pat Race and Jason Tedor finished sixth among the more than 70 national and international submissions in the Association for Computing Machinery undergraduate research competition. The two were invited to present their research at a conference in Atlanta this spring. The students' work is based on an earlier UAF research project funded by the Office of Naval Research under the Arctic Nuclear Waste Assessment Program. Tedor and Rice developed methods to analyze and assess contamination data for the Circumpolar Arctic region. The ACM competition, first held in 1993, offers computer science students an opportunity to demonstrate their work and discuss it with computer science professionals.
Contact: Kara Nance, Department of Mathematical Sciences, (907) 474-6104, or by e-mail: ffkln@uaf.edu |
| UAF Graduate Student Featured in "Ecology" | UAF graduate student Chris Fastie has received the William S. Cooper Award from the Ecological Society of America. The January issue of "Ecology" focuses on the award and Fastie's paper entitled "Causes and Ecosystems Consequences of Multiple Pathways of Primary Succession at Glacier Bay, Alaska." The journal pointed out that the project was interesting because it was based in part on research papers written by William S. Cooper in 1923. Fastie's research provides a different interpretation than Cooper's.
Contact: Michelle Combellick, Institute of Arctic Biology, (907)474-7649 or by e-mail: fnmgc@uaf.edu |
| UAF Undergraduates Are Top in National Mathematics Competition | A delegation of 10 UAF undergraduate students participated in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition and brought home top honors for UAF. In the individual rankings, Michael Schmahl placed at 92.5 while Justin Lindberg placed at 241. The UAF team ranked 141 overall. The competition drew 2,510 contestants from 419 universities in Canada and the United States, forming 313 teams. Considered one of the most reputable mathematical competitions in the country, UAF has proven to do well against larger schools such as Yale, Harvard and Stanford. According to UAF math professor Walter Tape, a high score in the Putnam competition gives students an opportunity to attend virtually any graduate school in the country.
Contact: Zorana Lazarevic, Department of Mathematical Sciences, (907) 474-5374, or by e-mail: ffzl@uaf.edu |
| UAF Student Named Goldwater Scholar 1998-99 | Orion Sky Lawlor, a UAF junior majoring in computer science and mathematics, was awarded a Goldwater Scholarship for 1998-99. The Goldwater Foundation chose 316 students based on academic merit among 1,186 sophomores and juniors nominated from universities nationwide. The one- and two-year scholarships cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 a year. Almost all the students are pursuing Ph.D.s in their fields. Lawlor wants to earn a Ph.D. in computer science. The Goldwater Foundation was established to encourage students to pursue degrees in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.
Contact: Pat Lambert, Department of Mathematical Sciences, (907)474-5105 or by e-mail: ffjpl@uaf.edu |
| Graduate Paper wins National Recognition | UAF geophysics graduate student T.J. Immel's paper presentation at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco was judged to be an Outstanding Student Paper, a recognition given to only 10 percent of the student papers submitted. Immel's paper, which discussed variations in the Earth's far-ultraviolet dayglow within the polar caps, is an example of the strength of UAF's graduate program, according to Immel's adviser John Craven, professor of physics. Immel, who will receive his Ph.D. this spring, will be presented and announced a winner in AGU's newsletter "EOS."
Contact: John Craven, Physics Department, (907) 474-5888, or by e-mail: ffjdc@uaf.edu |
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