Memorial service for UAF researcher set

Submitted by Carla Browning
Phone: (907) 474-7778
05/04/04

Memorial Services for Quinton Costello, 32, will take place on Thursday, May 6 at 2:30 p.m. at the Bethel Church, Mile 5.6 Farmer’s Loop Road. Costello was one of three University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers on board an Air Logistics helicopter that crashed Friday evening, April 30, about 45 miles southeast of Nuiqsut in a remote region of Alaska’s North Slope.

UAF researchers Svetlana Berezovskaya, 27, and Baozhong Liu, 32, along with the pilot, who remains unidentified, survived the crash and were transported by snow machine by members of the North Slope Search and Rescue to Nuiqsut. They were later picked up by Air Logistics and transported to facilities at Prudhoe Bay.

Larry Hinzman, a research professor of water resources with UAF’s Institute of Northern Engineering and the Water Environmental Research Center, said, "Our staff is like a very close family and to lose anyone is a blow to the whole lab. Quinton was the consummate professional and frequently conducted classes for our faculty and staff in laboratory and field safety procedures. Quinton was also a Fire Fighter/Emergency Medical Technician with the North Pole Fire Department. Quinton was very well-respected for his professionalism and very well-liked for his good humor and sincere concern about the safety of others."

Costello was a research associate and the laboratory manager of UAF’s Water and Environmental Research Center. He had been with WERC since 2000. Costello received his bachelor’s in chemistry from UAF in 1994 and his master’s in physical chemistry from University of Utah in 1996.

Costello was part of a team conducting snow surveys throughout the Kuparuk River watershed on the North Slope of Alaska. The long-term research program is funded by the National Science Foundation to quantify the hydrological processes in the arctic basin. The study has been ongoing continuously for 20 years. This is the first serious accident suffered by WERC.

The university community would like to establish a memorial scholarship fund. Donations may be made to the Quinton Costello Memorial Fund at the UAF Development Office.