Research

Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station

The Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) conducts research to enhance the quality of life in Alaska through the beneficial use and development of natural, economic and human resources, with emphasis on factors typical of high latitudes. The research is designed to provide a base of resource information for the management of renewable resources and to provide technology for enhancing the economic and social well-being of Alaskans. Specifically, this work includes studies on the dynamics of natural and manipulated ecosystems, sustainable soil productivity, food safety, genetics for improved economic plants, enhanced livestock production, economic and legal aspects of resource use, silviculture and forest management, resource use for tourism and recreation and education and communications in resources management.

Research centers of the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station are located on the UAF main campus and at Palmer in the Matanuska Valley. A plant materials center, established cooperatively by AFES and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, is located near Palmer. Agronomy research is conducted near Delta Junction and Point MacKenzie, and research to support Alaska's reindeer industry is underway near Nome. Forestry research is carried out in the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest near Fairbanks in cooperation with scientists from the Boreal Ecology Cooperative Research Unit, U.S. Forest Service.

UAF soil scientists, as part of an international team, are studying the carbon flux in arctic tundra soils as it affects global change.

AFES faculty have a leadership role in the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program funded by the National Science Foundation. This research is determining the structure and function of northern boreal forest ecosystems and forms the basis for sustainable forest management practices.

The Fairbanks research center of AFES faculty represent the disciplines of agronomy, animal science, economics, food science, forestry, horticulture, land use planning, outdoor recreation, plant pathology, resource policy and law and soil science. The Palmer research center has faculty in agronomy, animal science, horticulture, plant breeding, range science and soil science.