UA Newswire March 7, 2023

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April 2, 2024

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

WWAMI School of Medicine offers collaborative learning, community health care in Alaska

The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) has been working to bridge the gap for students interested in pursuing careers as physicians with the WWAMI School of Medical Education.

WWAMI School of Medical Education will be hosting their 15th Alaska Pre-Med Summit on Saturday, March 30th on the UAA Campus at Rasmuson Hall. The summit starts at 9:00 a.m. and will allow prospective students to interact with professors and students, ask questions during breakouts, and get tips on the application process.

Contact: Austin Osborne

UAA is the Alaska regional site for WWAMI School of Medicine, a collaborative, high-quality medical school with a focus on community health care that has trained more than 500 physicians and surgeons since 1971. (UAA photo)

Celebrity Chef Invitational raises over $30K for student scholarships and assistance

The 2024 Celebrity Chef Invitational, held Thursday, March 7, in Lucy Cuddy Hall on the Anchorage campus, showcased the culinary talents of accomplished Alaska chefs and UAA culinary arts students while raising over $30K in funds for student scholarships and assistance.

While dining on an extravagant five-course meal, guests had the opportunity to donate to two scholarships — the Sue Linford Culinary Arts Scholarship or Giorgio Chrimat Culinary Arts Scholarship — or the Excellence in Culinary Arts Fund, which covers the cost of student knives, bakery toolkits and uniforms.

Contact: Austin Osborne

Dr. Paddy Sullivan from the University of Alaska Anchorage contributes to Arctic research published in Science

Dr. Paddy Sullivan, director of the Environment and Natural Resource Institute at the University of Alaska Anchorage, recently teamed up with researchers from Alaska Pacific University and Amherst College on a study funded by the National Science Foundation and published in the journal Science.

The study investigated the effect of Arctic sea ice retreat on northward boreal forest advance. Using old aerial photos, satellite images and previously published data from throughout the Arctic, the research team was able to show boreal forest advance has been more common in regions of the Arctic where autumn sea ice has either long been limited or has recently retreated the most.

Contact: Austin Osborne

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Ice experts aid U.S. military in Arctic Ocean exercise

Research professor Andy Mahoney and research professional Joshua Jones assisted with ice floe selection for the five-week exercise, which began Feb. 20. After a week spent searching for a camp location, Mahoney stayed for the first two weeks. Jones was back on site for the second half of the on-ice activities.

U.S. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force personnel participated in the exercise, along with personnel from the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy, the French Navy, the United Kingdom Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.

Contact: Rod Boyce

Research professor Andy Mahoney of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, left, stands near the USS Hampton’s sail during Operation Ice Camp in March 2024. A civilian employee with the Navy’s Arctic Submarine Lab stands in front of the sail. (Photo by Andy Mahoney)

UAF Expands Suicide Prevention Research with Military Partners

UAF’s Military Health and Readiness Consortium (MiHRC) researches ways to improve protection against suicide while supporting an installation’s ability to execute its missions. The consortium is part of UAF’s Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) within the Institute of Arctic Biology.

Consortium researchers have already noted an increase in suicide prevention skills and knowledge in the US Army’s 11th Airborne Division, with brigades based at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

Contact: Marmian Grimes

UAF space engineering program director wins NASA prize

The advisor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks space engineering program is one of 20 winners of a NASA prize to expand the agency’s engagement with people from populations underrepresented in space technology.

Denise Thorsen was recognized for her work in creating and expanding access to the Space Systems Engineering Program. The program is a collaboration between the UAF College of Engineering and Mines and the Alaska Space Grant Program, which is housed in the UAF Geophysical Institute.

Contact: Rod Boyce

University of Alaska Southeast

What are the original Lingít names for Juneauʼs mountains?

A listener asked KTOO what the local mountains’ original Lingít names are. For this installment of Curious Juneau, Yvonne Krumrey spoke with Lingít educators to find out.

University of Alaska Southeast Lingít Language Professor X̱’unei Lance Twitchell says, from a Lingít perspective, the newer names don’t make much sense.

Contact: Angie Steeves

The UAS campus with the whale statue in the foreground The University of Alaska Southeast campus with several of Juneau's landmark mountains in the background.

Holi festival in Juneau revives colorful childhood memories for some, creates them for others

Holi — also known as the Festival of Colors, Love, and Spring — is traditionally celebrated for a night and day on the last full moon day of the Hindu luni-solar calendar month, and commemorates the victory of the supreme being Vishnu over the evil king Hiranyakashipu. It often features some additional activities such as a bonfire the first night, while omitting the flash mob added to the Juneau event to give it a bit of extra local color, so to speak.

While the local festival was simplified from its origins, it revived long-ago memories for Aparna Dileep-Nageswaran Palmer, who became the chancellor at the University of Alaska Southeast last July.

Contact: Mark Sabbatini

In Coastal Alaska, 2 Visions for the Future of Higher Education

The University of Alaska Southeast has three campuses planted on “the tongue of land that is in between the Pacific Ocean and Canada, separated by hundreds of miles of glaciers,” as Paul Kraft describes it. He’s the director of the Sitka location, which used to be a community college before it was consolidated into the state university system.

For the past three decades, the University of Alaska Southeast at Sitka has prioritized distance education, especially in the sciences. The move to remote instruction — long before that model caught on in higher ed more broadly — came about as the institution searched for a way to stay relevant and accessible to more students given its geographic isolation, Kraft explains.

Contact: Rebecca Koenig

UA System Office

Capitol Views 2024 – Pat Pitney, President, University of Alaska

Alaska Legislative Digest’s Tim Bradner interviews UA President Pat Pitney on enrollment, workforce programs, private donations and other topics.

Contact: Jonathon Taylor

screenshot of the virtual interview President Pitney spoke on Capitol Views on April 1, 2024.

OPINION: How Alaska’s university helps develop the state’s workforce pipeline

National statistics show that 80% of graduates settle within 100 miles of where they go to college. In Alaska, our Department of Labor statistics show that 75% of students who go out of state don’t return or stay in Alaska long-term, feeding our outmigration problem.

But UA is a unique contributor to building Alaska’s workforce: our programs are helping build the pipeline of future Alaska workers. Nearly 9 in 10 graduates from our universities are working here in Alaska within a year after graduation.

Contact: Jonathon Taylor

UA System "Did You Know?"

Did You Know UAA Student Tayler Tanginiq Higgins is Earning National Recognition as a Champion for Change?

Tayler Tanginiq Higgins, a 20-year-old Indigenous youth advocate at the University of Alaska Anchorage, has been honored as a Champion for Change by the Center for Native American Youth.

This prestigious recognition is part of a national initiative aimed at amplifying the impactful work of young Indigenous leaders across the United States.

Contact: Jonathon Taylor

Taylor Higgins Tayler Higgins as the 2022 Rondy Royalty Heritage Ambassador. (Photo courtesy Fur Rondy Royalty)

For more information on the UA Newswire, contact Integrated Media Manager Rebecca Lawhorne at ralawhorne@alaska.edu.

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