News briefs: people and programs at UAF

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: 907-474-7902
12/21/07

Grad student to present at Arctic Frontiers conference

Praveen Singh, a graduate student in UAF’s petroleum engineering department, was selected to present his research "Characterization and Quantification of Methane Hydrate Resource Potential Associated with Barrow Gas Fields (Alaska)" during the International Conference Arctic Frontiers in Tromso, Norway from Jan. 20-30, 2008. The Norwegian Polar Institute awarded Praveen a travel grant to cover his expenses. The research is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory and is conducted in collaboration with Petrotechnical Resources Alaska and the North Slope Borough.

Alumnus’ film to appear at Sundance Film Festival

"Chronic Town," a film written by UAF alumnus Michael Kamsky, is an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival. Maya Salganek, an assistant professor at UAF, coproduced the film, which was shot in Fairbanks last spring. Nine UAF students worked on the film as production assistants and dozens more were included as extras. The Sundance Film Festival takes place Jan. 17-27 in Park City, Utah. More information about the 2008 Sundance Film Festival is online at www.sundance.org. See a trailer at www.chronictownthemovie.com.

UAF researchers contribute to Nobel Prize-winning effort

UAF researcher John Walsh is one of several UAF scientists who share in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Walsh is a UA president’s professor of climate change and director of the Center for Global Change and Arctic System Research. Walsh was a lead author of the polar regions chapter in the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report. Other UAF contributors included: Terry Chapin, Larry Hinzman, Dave McGuire, Vladimir Romanovsky and Kenji Yoshikawa, as well as professor emeritus Gunter Weller.

Theatre UAF to host auditions for two productions

Theatre UAF will hold auditions for its spring productions, "Winter Shorts" and "Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead" Saturday, Jan. 26 at 10 a.m. at UAF’s Lee Salisbury Theatre. Auditions are open to all actors; you do not need to be a UAF student. Actors should prepare a two-minute monologue. For more information, visit www.uaf.edu/theatre/audition.

UAF undergrad, high school outreach program recognized at conference

A biology and wildlife undergraduate student and the Alaska State High School Science Symposium were recognized last month during the 2007 Sigma Xi National Meeting and Student Research Conference in Orlando, Fla. Student Brandi Fleshman presented her research on spiders and received one of three awards in the ecology and evolutionary biology category. The ASHSSS, led by UAF biology professor Gary Laursen, was recognized as one of Sigma Xi’s outstanding outreach programs.

CONTACT: Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or via e-mail at marmian.grimes@uaf.edu.