April 20, 2012
Indigenous studies doctoral student Jacqueline Rahm is the first recipient of the Peace Corps Paul D. Coverdell Fellowship. Rahm, who received her master's degree from UAF in 1995, is working on a project to help define Alaska Native peoples’ perceptions of health and wellness. The fellowship is awarded through the Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development.
The March issue of Science magazine featured the launch of a National Science Foundation-funded project led by INE’s Matt Nolan. Data rescue of the Austin Post air photo collection, will digitalize, preserve and extend scientific access to a collection of large-format photographs that document the size and topography of glaciers in Alaska, Canada and Washington. The images will give scientists a record of changes in the glaciers over more than 50 years.
UA has signed its first major commercial licensing agreement, giving California-based SeaSpace exclusive use of SwathViewer, a piece of software developed at UAF by Dan Stahlke. SwathViewer provides access and manipulation of global imagery and mapping data. The Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization negotiated the contract.
Kelly McFarlin, a biology and wildlife PhD student, was recently awarded the Oil Spill Recovery Institute Graduate Research Fellowship. The fellowship provides three years of funding to identify the microbial communities and their genetic potential to degrade oil in Shell Oil's proposed drilling lease area in the Chukchi Sea. McFarlin's advisor is Mary Beth Leigh, associate professor with the Institute of Arctic Biology and the Department of Biology and Wildlife.
UAF has selected three finalists for the position of dean at the Community and Technical College. The finalists are Robert Holden, director of auxiliary, recharge and contract operations; Fred Villa, UA associate vice president of academic affairs; and Jim Whitaker, vice president of the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center Trust.
A webcast of Traditional Foods, Contemporary Chef features Ann Fears and chef Flora Deacon. The women have both completed the occupational endorsement in the Rural Nutrition Service Program. The webcast is one of a series produced by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s wellness and prevention leaders Dr. Gary Ferguson and Desiree Bergeron Simeon, registered dietitian and instructor for RNS.
Gov. Sean Parnell appointed Kes Woodward to the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Woodward is an academic affiliate of the UA Museum of the North. He is a professor emeritus of art and northern studies, and previously served several terms on the Alaska State Council on the Arts.
Newly named I-AC director Teisha Simmons received Sandy Parnell's Volunteer of the Year Award.
UA Press received a starred review in Publisher's Weekly for Marjorie Cole's posthumous book of short stories, The City Beneath the Snow.
The Faculty Senate has named David Valentine, professor of forest soils at the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Outstanding Senator of the Year. He was also elected president-elect of the Senate and will take the leadership role in the fall of 2013.
Students are wrapping up their competition to challenge each other to save electricity in their residence halls. The competition used Energy Dashboard software to track the most efficient hall.
The Alternative Spring Break team has returned from a week of service in Florida. A dozen UAF students spent the week contributing more than 500 hours of service to various Gulf Coast restoration projects. Participants made a personal contribution of $600 toward the trip and spent several months raising the additional $21,000 required for the project.
Financial Aid hosted the "I'm Going to College" program this week. The event allows area fifth- and sixth- graders to get a feel for college life. Students work through an activity book in which they explore different types of colleges, financial aid and careers, and receive a certificate congratulating them on completing the program.
The Alaska Native Language Center hosted the second Dene-Yeniseian workshop, Exploring the prehistoric linguistic connections across Bering Strait. The March workshop featured Professor Edward Vajda of Western Washington University.