UA Newswire August 9, 2022

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Connecting Alaska's press to UA News

August 9, 2022

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.

University of Alaska Anchorage

Political science alumna earns degree before setting foot on campus

Gabriella Hill completed her political science degree with a minor in Alaska Native studies entirely online from the small community of Naknek, Alaska and was unable to travel to Anchorage — or set foot on the UAA campus for the first time — until mid-July. She graduated summa cum laude with additional cords for departmental honors and as a member of the national political science honor society, Pi Sigma Alpha.

Contact Matt Jardin for more information.

Gabriella Hill completed her political science degree with a minor in Alaska Native studies entirely online from the small community of Naknek, Alaska. (Photo by James Evans / University of Alaska Anchorage)

Voliva named conference co-winner for NCAA Woman of the Year

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference has chosen former University of Alaska Anchorage basketball star Tennae Voliva as one of two nominees to advance to the next stage for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award, the league office announced. Established in 1991, the award recognizes female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.

Contact UAA Athletics for more information.

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Stories, maps and storymaps — UAF student supports community decision-making

A University of Alaska Fairbanks master's degree candidate's work collects reports of warming temperatures, changing wind patterns, eroding coastlines and shifting sea ice across Arctic Alaska. In the storymap, Roberta Tuurraq Glenn combined observations from community members across Arctic Alaska with data collected in the same communities as part of the Alaska Arctic Observatory & Knowledge Hub.

Contact Mike DeLue for more information.

Roberta Glenn is the author of a new storymap of AAOKH observations. (Photo courtesy Roberta Glenn)

Toolik Field Station receives another five years’ funding

Toolik Field Station, the largest scientific research station in the Arctic, has received $19.7 million in funding from the National Science Foundation for five more years of operation. Toolik, located 370 miles north of Fairbanks in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range, is operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Arctic Biology. It provides logistical, technical and research support to hundreds of national and international scientists and students each year.

Contact Haley Dunleavy for more information.

University of Alaska Southeast

Congratulations, Sarah, UAS MAT alumna and IRONMAN finisher

Sarah Bagron graduated from UAS with a MAT in Special Education this May. She traveled from Anchorage, where she teaches at the Whaley School, to race in her first IRONMAN.

Post-race Sarah shared, "I finished! That was the only goal I set for this race. It was very hard both mentally and physically. I had to keep telling myself 'pain is temporary but accomplishments are forever.'"

Heather Batchelder, Associate Professor of Education and the Program Coordinator for Special Education degrees, said, "Sarah is is an enthusiastic and innovative teacher. Sarah inspires her students with her creativity and compassion!"

Contact Keni Campbell for more information.

IRONMAN welcome sign in Juneau airport (Photo courtesy UAS)

UA Foundation

Fund created to support Ukrainian students in Alaska, attending UAA

Through private donations, the Ukrainian Student Support fund will provide financial assistance for tuition and related expenses to college students from Ukraine who demonstrate financial need and plan to attend the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), including any of its community campuses or colleges.

Contact Casandra Stalzer for more information.

Jim and Cheryl Bowers outdoor winter portrait Jim Bowers with his spouse Cheryl are long-time UAA supporters who started a fund to help Ukrainian students resettled in Alaska attend UAA. (Courtesy Jim Bowers)

UA System Office - Did You Know

Did You Know Alaska's Biomedical Research is Headquartered at UA?

For the past two decades, a collaboration within the UA system has been improving health, reducing illness and disability, and building a pipeline of future biomedical and behavioral health researchers in Alaska. Alaska INBRE (IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence) joins UAF, UAA, and UAS with two Alaska Native health providers, Southcentral Foundation and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, to grow the state’s biomedical research infrastructure, attract world-class researchers, support research unique to Alaska’s people, and increase and diversify the students seeking careers in biomedical research in Alaska.

Contact Casandra Stalzer for more information.

Biomedical research Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Eric Bortz teaches natural sciences student Emmanuel Tobey how to run sequencing tests on COVID-19 samples from around the state in UAA's ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building. Bortz' students are performing INBRE-funded undergraduate research working to identify COVID-19 variants in Alaska. (UAA Photo)

For more information on the UA Newswire, contact UA Manager of Communications & Marketing Monique Musick at mmusick@alaska.edu

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