November 14, 2014
The UAF Geophysical Institute now has an office in Iceland. As an expansion of their partnership with Unmanned Aircraft Systems Iceland, UAF and Icelandic officials inaugurated the new office on Oct. 30. The new office is located at the former U.S. Navy base in Keflavik and will support science, research and aviation technology development. As a result of this partnership, UAF now has access to several aircraft hangars, office and conference facilities, billeting, and more than 20 airstrips with their associated infrastructure to support its large unmanned aircraft test and evaluation and science and research programs.
UAF will lead a new project to enhance mining workforce training throughout the state. The project, funded by an $8.1 million federal Department of Labor grant, will include partners at UA Southeast, UAA Prince William Sound Community College and the UA Mining and Petroleum Training Service. The pay in the mining industry averages $100,000 per year. Yet, many jobs are difficult to fill because of lack of training opportunities in the state.
The remains of two Ice Age infants at a site in Alaska represent the youngest human remains from that epoch ever found in northern North America, according to a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The site and its artifacts provide new insights into funeral practices and other rarely preserved aspects of life among people who inhabited the area thousands of years ago, according to Ben Potter, a UAF professor and the paper’s lead author.
UAF received an $11,000 award from the Junior Science and Humanities Symposia program to support the 30th Alaska Statewide High School Science Symposium. The Alaska event is one of 48 regional symposia where high school students complete original research in science, technology, engineering or mathematics and compete for scholarships and cash prizes. UAF’s College of Natural Science and Mathematics will host the symposium on March 27-29, 2015. The $11,000 award will help fund the event, cash prizes and travel support for attending students.
The UAF Homeland and Emergency Management program, directed by Cameron Carlson, was ranked nationally in the top five U.S. programs in the October issue of the Emergency Management Degree Guide. It was ranked fifth in the United States for quality of program and second in affordability.
McKinley Capital Management made a $10,500 gift to the School of Management. The Rasmuson Foundation made $25,000 gifts to the Cooperative Extension Service 4-H Endowment and to the UA Museum of the North for development of a dinosaur display.
UAF will celebrate and honor the philanthropic dedication of its donors at the annual donor recognition event Nov. 20. The honorees include:
- John and Fran Zarling, individuals
- Totem Ocean Trailer Express, corporate
- Digital Globe, special gift of state-of-the-art equipment
Committee chairs overseeing the planning for UAF’s centennial are scheduled to meet Nov. 20 at the chancellor’s residence. The first event, on July 6, 2015, will commemorate the setting of the university’s cornerstone.
Nominations for the Usibelli Awards in the areas of teaching, research and public service are due to the Provost’s Office by Friday, Dec. 5. Guidelines and information can be found on the office’s website, https://www.uaf.edu/provost/classes/usibelli-information/.
Mary Matthews, director of UAF Disability Services, will spend eight weeks in residence at the McColl Center for Arts and Innovation in Charlotte, North Carolina. Matthews is one of four Alaskans selected for the 2015 Artist Residency Program by the Rasmuson Foundation. Matthews hopes to create a piece about the experience of disability, incorporating concepts about the connections women feel to each other and how they identify and find influences.
During November, KUAC is accepting submissions of art to be considered for the public radio and television station’s annual poster. Copies of the poster are presented as a thank you gifts during the station’s spring fundraiser.