Toolik project available for URSA-funded student

February 12, 2020

University Relations

Students can get hands-on experience working with drones and remotely sensed data at Toolik Field Station during a portion of summer 2020.



Toolik Field Station staff want to collaborate with a junior or senior using drones to detect and monitor changes in the Arctic. Students interested in applying for an Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity summer grant are encouraged to work with Toolik staff before submitting their grant application.


TFS staff can help the student identify an appropriate research project to work on, and help the student write a research project description to submit as part of the grant proposal to URSA.

The student will work throughout summer 2020, of which up to 20 days will be spent onsite at the Toolik Field Station between mid-June and mid-August. The rest of the summer will be spent working out of TFS offices on the Fairbanks campus working on data related to the student's research project. We will assist the student to process the data, and work with the student and their committee chair person on data results and findings.

Potential project ideas range from mapping snow depth, detecting vegetation health, identifying phenological change, creating digital surface models, hydrologic flow analysis and much more.

Interested students are invited to discuss project ideas by contacting Toolik GIS and remote sensing manager Jason Stuckey at jjstuckey@alaska.edu). The deadline for URSA applications is Sunday, Feb. 23.

Download an announcement flyer (PDF) here.