UAF in the news: week of Feb. 19, 2007

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: (907) 474-7902
02/23/07

Arctic warming the hot topic of the day
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Alaska engineers have tricks for building on the permafrost that covers so much of the state--thermal pipes, raised wooden foundations and insulated gravel pads. Read more ...

Gordon Wright, founder of Arctic Chamber Orchestra, dies at 72
New York Times, Los Angeles Times and The State (South Carolina)
Gordon Wright, a conductor who championed obscure composers and made music across the chilly climes of Alaska as founder of the Arctic Chamber Orchestra, was found dead on Wednesday on the porch of his cabin in Indian, Alaska. He was 72. Read more ...

One firm, many experts
Alaska Journal of Commerce
JUNEAU--They are considered to be the preeminent fish researchers in the state, with consistent updates, data and expertise in virtually all critters that breathe Alaska’s waters. Read more ...

Learning on the job
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
WASHINGTON--Mark Myers spent most of a half-hour interview earlier this month describing all the new science he’s been learning. And he never even made it to geology, which might seem an odd thing for a geologist and the new director of the U.S. Geological Survey. Read more ...

Mining potential could justify Alaska-Canada rail link
Alaska Journal of Commerce
Early estimates indicate that a rail link between Alaska and Canada would be economical and self-supporting, largely due to the vast mineral resources believed to be in the regions. Read more ...

Linguistics expert to speak on language extinction
HuliQ and Science daily
Fairbanks, Alaska--Humans speak more than 6,000 languages. Nearly all of them could be extinct in the next two centuries. Read more ...

Scientist advocates increased fisheries data gathering
HuliQ and QAS
Fisheries management decisions are often based on population models. However, those models need quality data to be effective. It’s that caliber and volume of data that is lacking in fisheries science, according to Milo Adkison, an associate professor in the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Read more ...

More aurora rockets launched In Alaska
Playfuls.com and Earthtimes
Four additional NASA suborbital sounding rockets were launched into an auroral display over northern Alaska.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration experiment at the Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks, Alaska, was designed to learn more about winds associated with auroras. Read more ...

Pollen scientist was one of a kind
SITNews
"¬Jim Anderson has died, and the world is a more boring place.
Anderson was 66. He suffered from ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, for several years before his death. A few weeks ago, the disease killed him. I felt a pang of loss even though I spoke only a few times with the former librarian of the Biosciences Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Read more ...

Volcanoes produce ’dirty’ thunderstorms
In the News
Some of the first direct observations of lightning produced by volcanic eruptions have been made by scientists. Researchers have been aware of volcanic lightning for the past few decades but it is poorly understood because of few scientific observations of the phenomena. Read more ...