IARC’s giant climate stripes boldly proclaim Arctic change
The International Arctic Research Center is showing its stripes with a bold 40-foot-long hallway installation. The myriad of red and blue vertical bands makes a rainbow-like bar code representing Arctic temperatures from 1900 to 2021. Bluer bands mean the temperature was cooler than the 1900-2021 average in a given year, while red means warmer than…
Scientists to set sail in search of Bering Sea’s stormy past
A team of scientists will soon head to the Aleutian Islands aboard the research vessel Sikuliaq on a voyage to reconstruct the region’s ancient history of powerful storms. Little is known about the Bering Sea’s long-ago record of extreme weather and the factors that drove it. “Learning about the past is the only way to…
Birdwatching brings millions of dollars to Alaska
A committed and lucky birdwatcher in Alaska may see an elusive bluethroat north of the Brooks Range, catch a glimpse of the bold markings on a harlequin duck as it zips along an Interior river, encounter all four species of eider in Utqiaġvik, or take in the sounds of thousands of feeding shorebirds in the…
Alaska on fire: Thousands of lightning strikes and a warming climate put Alaska on pace for another historic fire season
Alaska is on pace for another historic wildfire year, with its fastest start to the fire season on record. By mid-June 2022, over 1 million acres had burned. By early July, that number was well over 2 million acres, more than twice the acreage of a typical Alaska fire season. Rick Thoman, a climate specialist…
2022 Bering Science released
Along with our partners at the Alaska Ocean Observing System, IARC released the 2022 Bering Science. The report shares observations and research happening in and around the Bering Sea. This year’s report focuses on six themes: salmon, walrus, crab, halibut, seabirds and climate. The topics of this year’s report were identified by a Community Advisory…
University, partners deploy carbon dioxide-sensing underwater glider
Alaska has a new tool for tracking ocean acidification — a 7-foot-long, bright pink Seaglider. The University of Alaska Fairbanks and its commercial partners are the first U.S. team to measure carbon dioxide, the driving factor in ocean acidification, with an unoccupied underwater vehicle. Globally, the pH of the ocean is decreasing as humans burn…
Annual UAF Arctic Research Open House set for May 19
The International Arctic Research Center is participating in the 2022 Arctic Research Open House from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, May 19. The event includes booths from more than a dozen research units and facilities at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the National Weather Service, including the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration, College of Fisheries…
Alaskan youth present research at Earth Day symposium
On a sunny spring Earth Day in Fairbanks, over 60 K-12 students gathered from across Alaska to participate in a research symposium. The event was part of Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment, a worldwide science and education program. Over the past year, students used GLOBE and accessed Indigenous knowledge to learn about…
Married to science: couple works toward a healthier ocean
Science is a family affair for Claudine Hauri and Andrew McDonnell. They’re married oceanographers tackling issues like ocean acidification, lagging technology and Alaska’s massive lack of ocean data. Throughout history couples like Marie and Pierre Curie, the physicists credited with discovering radium, have mixed romance and science to make new discoveries and create fruitful collaborations.…
Student shatters stereotypes, studies plants’ urban evolution
When you imagine a scientist conducting cutting edge research, do you imagine a Latina makeup artist who started out in community college? Maybe not, but Cristina Ornelas is proving these stereotypes wrong. Last month she was published in one of the world’s premier scientific journals, an accomplishment that few scientists have achieved and has helped…