Research, workforce development and economic growth news stories and other feature
articles from the University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks,
University of Alaska Southeast, University of Alaska System Office and the UA Foundation.Compiled by the University of Alaska System Office of Public Affairs.
Kenai Peninsula College celebrated its 60th anniversary during its annual open house
on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
As the college marked its six decades of operation, it also welcomed back “more than
2,200 students to campus” for the fall 2024 semester, Director Cheryl Siemers said.
Class was back in session on Monday, Aug. 26.
University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Sean Parnell speaks at a celebration of
the 60th anniversary of Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Aug.
20, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska is breaking ground for Tribal economies statewide by launching the largest
State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Tribal Program consortium in the nation
with 125 of Alaska’s federally recognized tribes.
Dedicated to Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individuals (SEDI), the program
will deploy over $83 million in SSBCI funds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury
to drive private sector investments into rural and Alaska Native-owned businesses
across the state.
In a recent visit to Alaska, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) deputy administrator Katie Thomson met with local stakeholders in the aviation industry
earlier this month to help gain a deeper understanding of its critical role across
the state.
The mid-August visit had Thomson touring the Anchorage Airport Control Tower, the
Aviation Technology Division of the University of Alaska Anchorage, Palmer’s FAA Flight
Service Station, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, and multiple facilities in Fairbanks,
including the Alaska Center for UAS Integration (ACUASI), which is home to one of the top drone research programs in America.
A January 2024 report by the Alaska Center for Power and Energy highlighted different
scenarios Alaska could pursue as the state projects a growing energy demand across
the Railbelt. Three of the four scenarios involve some mix of renewable sources, including
wind, solar and battery storage along with a main staple like hydroelectric or nuclear.
University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Engineering and Mines (CEM) spent two years
developing its new energy resource program that incorporates coursework in energy
drilling, geothermal and petroleum production, renewable/sustainable energy systems,
energy resource economics and carbon capture.
“The purpose of that program is to develop engineers that can have a broad-based undergraduate
education and lead Alaska into the energy transition,” Bill Schnabel, CEM’s dean said.
Bill Schnabel, CEM dean, highlights a new energy resources program focused on renewable
energy at the 18th Renewable Energy Festival at Chena Hot Springs Resort on Sunday,
Aug. 18, 2024 (Photo by Jack Barnwell/News-Miner)
In August, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it would provide $1 million each
to establish 10 different climate resilience research centers around the country.
The centers will be located in Missouri, New York City, Texas, Ohio, Florida, Michigan,
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The UAF center, which will be led by climate researcher Rick Lader, is partnering
with the Los Alamos National Laboratory on the project.
The public could have days or months of warning about a major earthquake through identification
of prior low-level tectonic unrest over large areas, according to research by a University
of Alaska Fairbanks scientist who analyzed two major quakes in Alaska and California.
The work was led by research assistant professor Társilo Girona of the UAF Geophysical
Institute.
Her previous work experience includes working for the Alaska Court System as a magistrate
and court administrator, and for the state as an attorney and labor relations official,
according to a CBJ press release.
She has a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Alaska Southeast, a
juris doctor from the University of Colorado Law School, served as a law clerk for
the Denver District Court after law school, and has lived in Juneau most recently
since 2011.
Emily Wright, an assistant attorney for the City and Borough of Juneau, is scheduled
to become the new municipal attorney later this month. (Photo by Mark Sabbatini /
Juneau Empire)
At the end of spring semester 2024, UAS honored faculty at a reception held at the
Egan Wing. Faculty Excellence Awards were presented, and Professor Priscilla Schulte
was bestowed the designation of Faculty Emerita. Promotions and sabbaticals granted
for the 2024-25 academic year were also announced.
The University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) School of Education recently celebrated a
significant milestone, conferring 14 students with their master’s degree in Educational
Leadership (EDLD). With a 15-year history of developing educational leaders across
the state, the EDLD program has a robust mission of building careers centered around Alaska’s needs.
2024 EDLD gradautes: Elizabeth Tina Yatlin Blackbird, Yvonne Brooke, Genevieve Kathleen
Chacho, LoAna Lynn Cooper Benton, Nathan Dutton, Kelly Marie Eastham, Melissa J Fritsch,
Lillian Sisualik Gordon Stone, Rayna Lin Halverson, Michael John Aak'wtaatseen Hoyt,
Attasiaq Amber Otton, Rachel Panamarioff, Tenna Dawn Qaġġuna Pili, Katharine Race
Koski. (UAS photo)
he University of Alaska (UA) Board of Regents will meet in Juneau this week as the
UA System begins the academic year. Regents will meet on the University of Alaska
Southeast (UAS) campus for their full board meeting on September 5-6, and the board’s
Ad Hoc Committee on Recruitment, Retention, and Graduation will meet the day prior.
The meeting occurs as the university continues positive momentum on enrollment and
retention from the summer, which saw increases and expansion of the flagship UA Scholars
Program and Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS). UA is on track for a fourth consecutive
semester of student credit hour (SCH) growth this fall, with preliminary numbers showing
at least a 2% increase.
University of Alaska Fairbanks Research Professional Stephanie Crawford is the 2024
recipient of the University of Alaska Foundation Angus Gavin Memorial Migratory Bird
Research Grant (Gavin Grant).
The Gavin Grant was established in 1983 with gifts from Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO) and its employees to honor the memory of Angus Gavin, an environmental scientist
and advisor to ARCO. Gavin was hand-picked by ARCO Chairman Robert O. Anderson to
observe, categorize and quantify the little-known flora and fauna of Prudhoe Bay in
1969.
The University of Alaska (www.alaska.edu) is an equal opportunity/equal access employer and educational institution. The university is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination (www.alaska.edu/nondiscrimination) against individuals on the basis of any legally protected status.Unsubscribe
The University of Alaska is an equal opportunity/equal access employer and educational institution. The university is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination against individuals on the basis of any legally protected status.
University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Sean Parnell speaks at a celebration of
the 60th anniversary of Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Aug.
20, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Bill Schnabel, CEM dean, highlights a new energy resources program focused on renewable
energy at the 18th Renewable Energy Festival at Chena Hot Springs Resort on Sunday,
Aug. 18, 2024 
Emily Wright, an assistant attorney for the City and Borough of Juneau, is scheduled
to become the new municipal attorney later this month. (Photo by Mark Sabbatini /
Juneau Empire)
2024 EDLD gradautes: Elizabeth Tina Yatlin Blackbird, Yvonne Brooke, Genevieve Kathleen
Chacho, LoAna Lynn Cooper Benton, Nathan Dutton, Kelly Marie Eastham, Melissa J Fritsch,
Lillian Sisualik Gordon Stone, Rayna Lin Halverson, Michael John Aak'wtaatseen Hoyt,
Attasiaq Amber Otton, Rachel Panamarioff, Tenna Dawn Qaġġuna Pili, Katharine Race
Koski. (UAS photo)
