August 3, 2018
Forty high school students from 29 rural Alaska communities graduated in July from the 2018 Rural Alaska Honors Institute. RAHI was established at UAF in 1983 to help prepare rural and Alaska Native students for college. This past academic year alone, 46 former RAHI students earned bachelor’s degrees, eight earned master’s degrees, one graduated from law school, and another earned a Ph.D.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks hosted the Small Business Innovation Research Road Tour on July 20, attracting more than 60 participants and a visit from Gov. Bill Walker. SBIR is a federal program that encourages domestic small businesses and entrepreneurs to pursue research and development that has the potential for commercialization. The event was offered through UAF’s Center for Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has chosen Patrick Druckenmiller to be the new director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North, replacing the recently retired Aldona Jonaitis. Druckenmiller has served as earth sciences curator and as a faculty member in the Department of Geosciences since 2007. He is a vertebrate paleontologist with a research emphasis on Mesozoic marine reptiles, particularly plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, and dinosaurs of Alaska. He will continue to serve as the curator of earth sciences at UAMN.
UAF Vice Chancellor for Research Larry Hinzman was elected president of the International Arctic Science Committee in June at the IASC Council meeting in Davos, Switzerland. IASC is a non-governmental scientific organization that promotes and supports interdisciplinary research to foster greater scientific understanding of the Arctic region.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has named Greg Sparling head coach of the Alaska Nanooks men’s basketball program. Sparling becomes the 12th head coach in program history, succeeding former bench boss Mick Durham. Sparling spent the last 24 seasons as the men’s basketball head coach for Central Washington University, where he compiled an overall record of 386-253.
The weather station at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm is one of four long-term observing stations in the U.S. that will be recognized this fall by the World Meteorological Organization, a United Nations agency. The experiment station started collecting weather data in July 1911. The National Weather Service says it is the longest continuously running weather observation station in Alaska. The station is part of of the university’s Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
UAF eLearning and the Fairbanks North Star Borough hosted a Google Apps for Education training for K-12 teachers on July 24-26. Instructional designers led sessions about Google Classroom, Google Forms, Google Drive and more. UAF houses the largest group of Google for Education certified trainers in Alaska.
UAF’s annual alumni reunion, Nanook Rendezvous, attracted 119 registrants to a variety of events in the Fairbanks community from July 19-21. Participants traveled from 10 states, including Alaska, Texas, Washington, California, Indiana, Arizona, New York, Arkansas, Oregon and Colorado.
Amy Kirkham, a University of Alaska Fairbanks doctoral student, is the recipient of a 2019 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship in Washington, D.C. The Knauss Fellowship is administered by Sea Grant, a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and universities in 33 states and U.S. territories. Kirkham was nominated for the fellowship by Alaska Sea Grant.
Kris Hundertmark, associate professor at the Institute of Arctic Biology and the Department of Biology and Wildlife, has been elected to professional membership in the Boone and Crockett Club. The nonprofit organization promotes the conservation and management of wildlife and its habitat, as well as the wise use of wildlife resources. Hundertmark is the fourth professional member from Alaska and the only wildlife biologist.