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  • A southern Alaska resident killer whale catches a salmon at the surface.

    Southern Alaska killer whales eat a remarkably diverse diet

    February 23, 2026

    Fish-eating killer whales in southern Alaska have a diverse, seasonally changing diet featuring salmon and groundfish, according to a recently published study in the journal Ecosphere. The types of fish consumed also differ greatly across foraging hotspots in the region.

  • The full circling of a northern career

    February 20, 2026

    Hajo Eicken had "everything I could ever ask for" in his former career at a German institute. Well, almost everything.

  • A woman wearing an Alaska Grown shirt and a sunhat holds a big bunch of freshly harvested beets. Farm equipment is seen in the background.

    Presentation to discuss ongoing vegetable variety research

    February 20, 2026

    A presentation in Delta Junction will provide an overview of the vegetable-testing program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Katie DiCristina, the lead research technician for the Alaska Variety Trials program, will facilitate the in-depth discussion.

  • A woman wearing a sweater and scarf stands in front of a birch tree with a line of green tubing attached. Snow covers the ground.

    Talk to explore sub-Arctic education, forest products

    February 19, 2026

    A University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher will explore how OneTree Alaska can serve as a model for sub-Arctic education and development of forest products. The presentation is part of the series “Circumpolar Connections: A Dialogue on Arctic Food Systems.”

  • Two people walk along a paved path through trees and flowering plants in Georgeson Botanical Garden at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on June 19, 2025.

    Alaska climate report: 2025 ran warm

    February 13, 2026

    Alaska had one of its warmest years of the previous 100 in 2025, the Alaska Climate Research Center reports in its year-end summary. The Alaska Climate Research Center, part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, released its 2025 summary in late January.

  • A brown bird with a long curved bill sits in short brown shrubbery.

    Alaska lovebirds go their own way

    February 13, 2026

    During a month of endless summer light, a mated pair of shorebirds teaches their four chicks how to catch insects. The babies grow fat and strong on the tundra high in northeastern Alaska. They are soon ready for their first migration.

  • Two side-by-side images show NASA sounding rockets launching 30 seconds apart from Poker Flat Research Range, their bright trails rising past a faint aurora.

    Third 2026 mission launches from Poker Flat Research Range

    February 10, 2026

    A tandem of NASA sounding rockets blasted off from Poker Flat Research Range at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday on a mission to better understand how changes in the ionosphere influence the aurora's appearance.

  • Composite image consisting of portraits of Hajo Eicken and Scott Rupp

    IARC director tapped to lead Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute

    February 10, 2026

    Hajo Eicken, director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks International Arctic Research Center, has been selected as scientific director at Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. Longtime UAF researcher and IARC leader Scott Rupp will step in as IARC's interim director.

  • On a partly cloudy day, two women in ball caps and blue coats lean over a tranquilized light brown bear with a red bag over its head. The bear is lying on tundra of low shrubs and grasses.

    The scent of barren ground grizzly

    February 09, 2026

    Unlike most of us, Jordan Pruszenski has held in her arms the following wild animals: wolves, caribou, beavers, muskrats, musk oxen, emperor geese and moose.

  • Kotzebue wind and solar farm

    New interactive map showcases Alaska's microgrid energy systems

    February 04, 2026

    A free digital tool from the University of Alaska Fairbanks gives users a comprehensive look at energy systems in Alaska's microgrid communities.

  • Solar power arrays flank a field of ripe kale under a blue sky

    Seminar gives overview of agrivoltaics project in Alaska

    February 04, 2026

    A University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher will highlight the first year of activities at Alaska's inaugural commercial-scale agrivoltaics research site.

  • A woman wearing a lab coat and latex gloves adds samples to an array of test tubes in a laboratory.

    Enjoying that soda? New research can reveal how much you drink

    February 03, 2026

    A University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist has shown that a chemical marker in the body can reliably reveal how much added sugar and how many sugar-sweetened drinks a person consumes. The marker works in people of different ages, sexes, races and diets.

  • Rocket launches from Poker Flat Research Range

    First rocket of 2026 takes flight at Poker Flat

    January 30, 2026

    A two-stage NASA sounding rocket shot skyward from Poker Flat Research Range at 4:20 a.m. today as part of a long-running project to learn more about aurora-produced nitric oxide in the upper atmosphere.

  • Viewed from an aircraft, a closely-packed group of buildings sit on a small spit of snow-covered land surrounded by sea ice. In the distance, beyond the ice, is an area of open water.

    Twenty years of Arctic report cards

    January 30, 2026

    I sat in on the first Arctic Report Card press conference 20 years ago, and most of the years since. Here are some of the reported changes in the top of the world that have affected the rest of the globe.

  • A woman holds a large pink peony up to her face with the sun shining from behind

    Seminar highlights botanical garden's role in food system

    January 30, 2026

    A presentation by the Georgeson Botanical Garden's directing manager will highlight the garden's role in strengthening food security in the state. Lacey Higham's presentation is part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension series "Circumpolar Connections: A Dialogue on Arctic Food Systems."

  • Scott Bailey of Virginia Tech stands with a portion of the rocket for his Polar Night Nitric Oxide, or PolarNOx, mission at Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks. Photo by Bryan Whitten

    Three missions, four rockets: Poker Flat ready for launches

    January 27, 2026

    The 2026 Poker Flat Research Range launch season opens this week with the first of three missions studying the aurora and the upper atmosphere.

  • A man with a blond beard stands against a blue sky background while wearing a heavy red-and-black checkered wool coat and a knit cap.

    Carl Benson embodied the far North

    January 23, 2026

    Carl Benson's last winter on Earth featured 32 consecutive days during which temperatures in his chosen town did not rise above zero Fahrenheit.

  • Presenter at a 2025 lecture

    Science for Alaska talks and events announced

    January 17, 2026

    The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute will host free public science talks over the next few weeks, highlighting new climate research technology, an Alaska earthquake mystery solution, tidewater glaciers in Alaska and Greenland and a recent Bering Sea journey aboard the research vessel Sikuliaq.

  • A close-up photo captures shavings spraying from skate blades as a hockey player's legs, dressed in blue and gold, turn on an ice rink surface. The blade of a hockey stick slides on the rink in front of the ice skates.

    The physics of skating and slap shots

    January 16, 2026

    When two NHL hockey players collide, their pads and muscles can absorb enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for a minute and a half.

  • Ice fog in Fairbanks

    Alaska climate report: December's deep cold, deep snow

    January 14, 2026

    December was a busy weather month across the state.

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