Friday Focus: Alaska - Where science happens
Vice Chancellor for Research Nettie La Belle-Hamer visited UAF’s Kasitsna Bay Laboratory led by professors Brenda Konar and Katrin Iken, two scientists from the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. While there, VCR La Belle-Hamer learned about various projects by undergraduate and Master's students at CFOS.
Aug. 2, 2024
— By Nettie La Belle-Hamer, vice chancellor for research
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in physics from UC Berkeley, I was looking for two things: a meaningful graduate school experience in the field of space physics as the next step in my career, and the perfect place to raise our growing family. Combining those two things gave only one clear answer: UAF. My husband, a UAF alumni, wholeheartedly agreed. We finally located a 1977 Chevy pickup truck we christened Sheba, bought an old trailer, and packed up only what would fit. Leaving behind the rest, we drove from California to Alaska with our 8-month-old baby, feeling happier with every mile. Best decision we ever made.
World renowned for geophysical processes research with the global thought leaders in space physics working as faculty, UAF was, and remains still, an aspirational graduate school destination. I am proud to be an alumna with both a Master’s and Ph.D. from UAF. We love Fairbanks, UAF, and that old truck. Sheba was with us until both our kids learned to drive her. We still talk about Sheba like a favorite, old dog.
It wasn't until years afterward that I realized that coming to UAF to study the aurora in a place where the aurora happens is similar in concept to most graduate students here, regardless of their field of interest. The snow scientists, seismologists, fisheries biologists, indigenous biomedical researchers, volcanologists, and wildlife biologists to name just a few, had all done the same thing – come to UAF to do research in a place where science happens.
Fast forward to my vantage point as vice chancellor for research and I have an even greater appreciation for what UAF graduate programs bring to our students, our faculty, and our community. Alaska is a natural laboratory for so many science disciplines that being in graduate school doing UAF research in any field is not just aspirational, but inspirational. There are so many opportunities for research in the lab and in the field directly related to place-based exploration. Alaska is where science happens!
As VCR I have the privilege of getting to know faculty, students, and staff working in every part of UAF’s expansive research portfolio. Earlier this month I visited UAF’s Kasitsna Bay Laboratory led by professors Brenda Konar and Katrin Iken, two superstar scientists from the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. The Kasitsna Bay Laboratory is a unique marine research and teaching laboratory located near Seldovia, across Kachemak Bay from Homer. The laboratory is owned by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and operated in partnership by NCCOS and CFOS.
While there, I joined them to head out to Mckenna Shoot’s sea urchin project. Mckenna is an undergraduate in the Fisheries and Marine Science program at CFOS doing research under Konar on sea urchin gonads, aka ‘uni’ in Japan. With uni being such a delicacy in high demand, it is both an experiment and dinner! Well, not quite, but I did have a taste and it was delicious. We will definitely be hearing more about that project and the young scientist doing the work.
I toured the impressive facility and learned more about what Riley O’Neill and Emily Nicholson are studying; both are Master’s students in the Marine Biology program at CFOS under Konar. Their enthusiasm was contagious when they showed me around the labs, research sites, and the Bay. The facilities available to researchers through this collaboration between UAF and NOAA are impressive and just what is needed for scientific discovery in that area. I encourage you to check it out if you have any interest in scientific scuba diving, mariculture, or marine science.
Alaska is a natural laboratory. UAF faculty, like Konar and Iken, make this natural lab accessible to faculty and students in a way unique to Alaska. There is so much to learn, so much to explore. When you come to study with us at UAF, you do research where science happens. So, thank you for choosing UAF – the best decision you will ever make!
Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of UAF’s leadership team every week.