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JUNE 28, 2012
As part the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program, six students from across the nation are now housed in the GI’s atmospheric sciences offices conducting projects under Associate Professor Gerhard Kramm and Professor Nicole M lders. Over the next 10 weeks, the students will work on research specific to the Interior: wind energy, air quality and free convection, a process associated with cloud and thunderstorm formation.
More than two dozen middle and high-school students took part in a unique blend of science and Alaska Native culture in the Troth Yeddha’ Summer Culture Camp June 18 - 22, 2012 at Effie Kokrine Charter School in Fairbanks. The program is designed to bolster students’ communication and leadership skills while they explore the topic of climate change.
UAF has joined Google in the launch of the Endangered Languages Project, a collaborative website that will allow people worldwide to find and share the most up-to-date information about endangered languages. UAF's Alaska Native Language Archive will contribute materials for the project, which is backed by a new coalition of organizations, the Alliance for Linguistic Diversity.
Progress continues on a number of construction projects including the West Ridge Steam Capacity Expansion. Excavation is near completion and approximately 900 feet of concrete utilidor has been constructed. The mechanical piping is on schedule for providing additional steam heat to West Ridge for the Life Sciences Building this winter.
A campuswide steam outage is scheduled for August for the installation of deaerator equipment for the Atkinson combined heat and power plant. The CHP has been in continuous service since 1964. This is a critical replacement -- if this equipment were to fail, the entire power plant would be out of service. Meanwhile, the switchgear project reached its first milestone with the reworking of the Atkinson-diesel engine generator tie. UAF will be disconnected from GVEA for the next month. UAF will gradually connect all the campus buildings to the new system once it's operational.
South Chandalar construction for the UAF main wasteline repairs started in mid-May at Lola Tilly Commons and continues up South Chandalar and Salcha Street to the campus core. Vehicle access and parking in and around Eielson and Signers' Hall is closed and is scheduled to return to service July 12. Construction will continue throughout the summer into the core area by Wickersham Hall and Wood Center with scheduled completion Aug. 15.
UAF has advertised the request for proposals from contractors to construct the engineering building. UAF has chosen to move forward with at least the foundation, structure, and exterior shell of the building and plans to request the remaining funding in 2013 and complete the building by 2015.
The Sustainable Village is accepting residential applications for the 16 student rooms available this fall. UAF's overall commitment to sustainability will be highlighted in an upcoming issue of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s STARS Quarterly Review.
The 2013 - 14 season WCHA hockey playoff will match UAF and UAA in the first round in a best-of-three series unless one wins the regular-season championship.
The Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy hosted a statewide webinar in June focused on the Alaska Local Environmental Observer network, which provides rural Alaska communities with tools to improve monitoring of the changing arctic environment and climate.
The Poker Flat Research Range, the world's only university-owned rocket range, is hosting an open house July 19. Activities will include tours of the lower range, displays of model rockets, the university's fleet of unmanned aircraft, and presentations on the history since opening in 1969.
The University Fire Department increased the requirements for student fire fighters to 12 credits per semester from the previous 6, which increased the program’s overall credit hours from 292 to 504. Meanwhile, the career placement rate has improved; nearly 80 percent of alumni are working in fire departments and emergency services. The fire science program will host its six-week academy in July. Nearly two dozen students will earn 12 credits and a State of Alaska Firefighter 1 certification.
The Geographic Information Networking of Alaska since 2001 has shared its diverse data and technological capabilities in remote sensing with Alaska, arctic, and world communities.
And now the public can follow current activities on Tumblr at www.tumblr.com.
The 8-foot-9-inch brown bear specimen that has greeted visitors to the University of Alaska Museum for more than 40 years will help promote an upcoming exhibit, "Hibernation and the Science of Cold." The museum is asking the public to send in their favorite photos. The bear is nicknamed "Otto" in honor of Otto Geist, who developed the museum's initial collections.