September 28, 2018
Chancellor Daniel M. White reflected on his first year as UAF’s chancellor and outlined his vision for the university on Sept. 18 during Convocation 2018. About 500 people viewed convocation, including 157 online. The chancellor focused on topics such as research, economic development, diversity initiatives and new strategic planning efforts.
A new $20 million National Science Foundation grant will support interdisciplinary climate research in Alaska. The five-year project by the Alaska Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, also known as EPSCoR, will include more than 30 faculty members at UAF, UAA and UAS. The project will also hire five new faculty members and six postdoctoral researchers, and provide 44 graduate and 45 undergraduate assistantships. They will study climate-driven changes in the boreal forest and Gulf of Alaska using remote sensing, fieldwork, lab experiments and modeling.
Evon Peter, UAF’s vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education, has been elected to the University of the Arctic’s governing board. UArctic is a collaborative network of 200 universities, research institutes and other organizations focused on education and research about the Arctic and circumpolar North. Peter, who was elected to the UArctic Board of Governors during its September meeting in Oulu, Finland, will serve from 2018-2021.
A number of employees are in new administrative roles at UAF. Theresa Bakker (UAF alumni relations director and executive director of the UAF Alumni Association), Amy Vinlove (director of the School of Education), Karsten Hueffer (associate dean for the Department of Veterinary Medicine), Leah Berman (interim dean at the College of Natural Science and Mathematics), Jodie Anderson (director of the Matanuska Experiment Farm) and Jackie Morton (director of the Department of Military and Veteran Services) are in new positions this fall.
UAF eLearning academic advisor Brighton Brooks has been selected to present "What Are You Saying?!? Professionalism, Tech, and Slang," at the National Academic Advising Association annual conference on Oct. 1. This the second consecutive year Brooks’ presentation has been selected.
The third annual open house at the UAF-run High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program facility in Gakona attracted about 300 people on Aug. 25. The event included science talks, tours of the facility, displays of unmanned aircraft and the sale of HAARP souvenirs. The Geophysical Institute offered tickets for a round-trip from Fairbanks to HAARP. A crew from Japan gathered footage for a show to be broadcast in December, along with other media that covered the event.
The Anchorage office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service is moving to the Loussac Library. The office at the Chugachmiut Tribal Consortium Building closed on Sept. 19 and will reopen on Oct. 3 on the fourth floor of the library, located off East 36th Avenue. The office will have Extension publications and meeting space for classes taught by Extension agents and local experts.
UAF held a ceremonial opening on Aug. 29 for its new Combined Heat and Power Plant, which begins operating this fall to replace parts of the 54-year-old plant in the Atkinson Building. A $300,000 donation from Usibelli Coal Mine also was announced at the open house. It will fund a training classroom in the new plant and remodel the staff locker rooms in the Atkinson Building.
The International Arctic Research Center has signed a new memorandum of understanding with the National Institute of Polar Research to enhance collaboration with Japanese researchers. The MOU will establish opportunities for networking, stakeholder engagement, development of communities of practice, and establishment of collaborative ties with the private sector, tribal organizations, local government and other entities in the Arctic.
Two faculty members at the Institute of Arctic Biology have been awarded significant grants from the National Science Foundation. Assistant Professor Todd Brinkman received $699,000 to assess environmental and anthropogenic controls on wildlife behavior in Arctic-boreal Alaska and northwestern Canada. Professor Kristin O’Brien received $670,000 for her research on metabolic remodeling in threespine stickleback.
The Geophysical Institute hosted the 2018 annual Northwest Glaciologists meeting Sept. 7-8. The meeting, an annual gathering of glaciologists from the greater Pacific Northwest, provided an opportunity to highlight current research activities. Approximately 50 people attended the meeting, some from as far away as Norway and China.
UAF will recognize Indigenous Peoples Day in on Oct. 8 with events that include an Alaska Native dance workshop, storytelling, a regalia parade and a blessing at Troth Yeddha’ Park. Celebrations also are planned at UAF’s Bristol Bay, Chukchi, Interior Alaska, Kuskokwim and Northwest campuses.