UAF in the news: week of April 9, 2007

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: (907) 474-7902
04/13/07

Intergovernmental climate change report
APRN and several other publications
UAF climate expert professor John Walsh was the lead author for the polar regions chapter of the newly released report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Walsh says the scientists working on this latest study were tasked with covering impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation. Read more ...

Dire warming report too soft, scientists say
Los Angeles Times and multiple national and international publications
A new global warming report issued Friday by the United Nations paints a near-apocalyptic vision of Earth’s future: hundreds of millions of people short of water, extreme food shortages in Africa, a landscape ravaged by floods and millions of species sentenced to extinction. Despite its harsh vision, the report was quickly criticized by some scientists who said its findings were watered down at the last minute by governments seeking to deflect calls for action. Read more ...

UAF researchers get $6.5 million in grants
KTVA
Four researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have received more than 6.5 million dollars in grants to study the Arctic circumpolar region. The grants are from the National Science Foundation. Read more ...

Kodiak principal appointed to juvenile justice committee
Kodiak Daily Mirror
North Star Elementary School principal Larry LeDoux was appointed by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to a statewide committee on juvenile justice this week. The governor’s office announced several appointments in a press release Tuesday. Read more ...

Salsa sextet spices up Jazz Fest tonight
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
The UAF Jazz Festival will get an infusion of Latin flavor this year, thanks to the appearance tonight of an acclaimed New York City salsa jazz sextet. Chris Washburne and SYOTOS are the guest artists kicking off this year’s festival, which begins tonight and continues through Saturday. Read more ...

Scientific journeys move smoothly across the North
SITNews
"¬Traverses across the bumps of the frozen northern landscape are not easy, but two scientific teams I recently wrote about are cruising right along."¬"¬ University of Alaska Fairbanks permafrost scientist Kenji Yoshikawa and his partner Tohru Saito of the International Arctic Research Center zipped through a trip down the Yukon River with two snowmachines and three sleds. They traveled from Manley Hot Springs to St. Marys in less than two weeks, installing permafrost-monitoring stations at Manley, Galena, Kaltag, Shageluk, Russian Mission, Marshall, and St. Marys. Read more ...

UAF researchers receive $11.3 million
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
A handful of researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks were recently awarded more than $11.3 million in funding from federal agencies for projects studying a wide range of Arctic issues. Read more ...

Rockett to play in CBI
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Jushay Rockett of the Alaska Nanooks plans to play basketball at the professional level, and already he’s improving his chances of doing so. Read more ...

Digital deadline
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
The usual control room for KUAC’s television operations is empty, except for the construction workers and their tools. The television equipment now fills a small room next door. Along one wall of this room are the stacks of analog technology used since KUAC first went on air in 1971. On the other wall are the stacks of newer digital technology representing the future. Read more ...

Study: Most Alaska felons re-offend
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Daily News
A study of almost 1,800 criminal offenders in Alaska showed that two-thirds were back in jail within three years of their release. Read more ...

Petty sniffs out fraud with one eye on ethics
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Sherlock Holmes never registered with the Better Business Bureau, Sam Spade did not ask femme fatales for performance evaluations and Mike Hammer would sooner be caught wearing a mini-skirt and high heels than help draft consumer protection legislation. Read more ...

University Of Alaska Fairbanks awarded $3.8 million for bird flu research
Medical News Today
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has announced a $3.8 million award for its role in one of six National Institutes of Health Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance to study influenza viruses with pandemic potential, such as avian influenza H5N1. Read more ...

Healy teacher gets $10,000 science grant
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and KTVA
An elementary school teacher in Healy has been awarded a $10,000 grant to help fund a science project her students have taken part in for the past four years. Read more ...

New concrete paves way for longer building term
Anchorage Daily News
FAIRBANKS -- A new technique for mixing concrete could extend Interior Alaska’s building season by as much as two months. Read more ...

UAF scientist leads Beaufort expedition
Petroleum News
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has announced that UAF researcher Jennifer Hutchings is leading a team of scientists that is studying the relationship between sea ice movement, stresses in the ice and the overall mass of the ice. Read more ...