June 8, 2017
UAF and two other universities have received a $4.25 million, five-year National Institutes of Health grant to address Alaska Native suicide prevention. The grant establishes the Alaska Native Collaborative Hub for Research Resilience. The hub will use scientific tools to recognize and build Alaska Native protections against suicidal and related adverse behaviors. It will also develop and sustain tribal capacity to conduct research and use scientific tools for working with Alaska Native youth. UAF’s Stacy Rasmus is co-principal investigator along with James Allen, with the University of Minnesota Medical School, and Lisa Wexler, with the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The Alaska Earthquake Center’s effort to adopt 80 of the 192 temporary EarthScope USArray stations into the Alaska earthquake-monitoring network received a $1 million boost in the U.S. Geological Survey’s fiscal year 2017 budget. The temporary USArray stations, part of a 15-year program to install a dense network of seismographs across the nation, were to be decommissioned in 2018. Instead, the $1 million “seed money” will help Alaska Earthquake Center start the first stage of their goal of incorporating data into Alaska earthquake monitoring and products. The stations are equipped with seismic, pressure, temperature, wind, infrasound and soil temperature instrumentation.
Scientists from SinoProbe, a Chinese project working to image the Earth’s crust, visited UAF’s Geophysical Institute in late May. The 16 scientists toured the EarthScope National Office, housed at the GI, to learn about the program’s emphasis on research collaboration, data sharing and public involvement. The group met with other GI scientists about future collaborations.
The Arctic Oil Spill Response Technology Joint Industry Programme and the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers gave a test basin valued at $270,000 to UAF’s Poker Flat Research Range.
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. gave $37,500 to support UAF’s Rural Alaska Honors Institute. The summer college-preparatory program serves Alaska Native and rural high school juniors and seniors.
Charles Lane gave $29,000 from a silver and platinum sale to the UAF Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Students in the program engage in culturally relevant, American Chemical Society-approved curricula and pursue cutting-edge discoveries in the high-latitude chemical sciences.
KUAC TV in Fairbanks on June 5 added the new PBS Kids Channel, which features quality children's programming 24 hours a day. The channel, located at KUAC 9.5, will feature old favorites such as “Arthur” and new programs like “Splash and Bubbles.” Adding this channel changes some of the TV lineup; details are available at KUAC.org.
Two exceptional staff members were honored with the Chancellor’s Cornerstone Award for their work at UAF this year. Tohru Saito, with the International Arctic Research Center, has been a consistently loyal and engaged member of the research community for more than 15 years and a key liaison to international researchers, students and visitors. Anna Gagne-Hawes, an admission counselor, was recognized for her work with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, military and veteran students and their families, homeschool students and the student ambassador program.