GI Press Releases
Alaska played an important role in the first International Polar Year (IPY) in 1882-83, and scientists in state and around the globe are now gearing up for the fourth IPY, which begins this March and extends through March 2009. In a lecture on Feb. 5, Hajo Eicken, Associate Professor of Geophysics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, will address the prospects that IPY-4 offers Alaska researchers, educators and the public to jointly address the challenges and opportunities of unprecedented change under way in the North. 
Alaska played an important role in the first International Polar Year (IPY) in 1882-83, and scientists in state and around the globe are now gearing up for the fourth IPY, which begins this March and extends through March 2009. In a lecture on Jan. 16, Hajo Eicken, Associate Professor of Geophysics at University of Alaska Fairbanks, will address the prospects that IPY-4 offers Alaska researchers, educators and the public to jointly address the challenges and opportunities of unprecedented change under way in the North. Eicken is co-chair of the Research Subcommittee for UAF’s IPY Steering Committee and has been working for the past year to prepare for this historic event.
Global climate change is amplified in the Earth’s polar regions. As a result, Alaska’s land and waterscapes are rapidly transforming, affecting people and industry of the Far North. Much of our state’s transformation is related to alterations in the hydrological cycle. Freshwater in the Arctic is in flux, and this will affect the way people live, both physically and socially.
Volcanoes give us important information about their behavior from their temperature. However, getting close enough to take a volcano’s temperature is often a dangerous undertaking. In the past, measurements required the volcanologist to get uncomfortably close to the activity. Recent advances in digital infrared imaging allow volcanologists to measure temperatures from a safe distance and over large areas with infrared cameras.
From Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks, four NASA rockets launched into an aurora display over northern Alaska, starting at 3:29 a.m. Alaska Standard Time. Scientists hope to learn more about electrical heating of the thin atmosphere from about 60 to 120 miles above Earth’s surface with the launch of these rockets. The project is called JOULE II.
About 65 million years ago, a massive disruption led to worldwide extinction of dinosaurs. The impact of a giant asteroid created massive tsunamis and spewed forth a global cloud of carbon gases that altered Earth’s atmosphere and blocked the light for weeks, possibly years. In recent years, that impact event has been linked to a 112-mile-wide crater, dubbed Chicxulub, on the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
No doubt about it, Fairbanks is a community of mushers, dog racing enthusiasts and all-around dog lovers. With the start of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race on Feb. 10, the timing is right for a lecture about the science behind sled dog racing. Veterinarians Margaret Eastman and
Denali Lovely will present on the physiology of sled dogs and their experiences working on one of the most challenging sled dog races in the world.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is one of the most widely recognized mushing events in the world; employing hundreds of canine athletes. For veterinarians, the unique nature of the race presents opportunities for studies that have led to improvements to sled dog care. Stuart Nelson, Jr.,
chief veterinarian of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, will present his work with Iditarod-related research in a free one-hour lecture on Jan. 22.
For more than a decade, the Science for Alaska Lecture Series has provided Anchorage residents the latest findings in scientific research relevant to all Alaskans. Traditionally, the lectures are offered during January and February, and serve as an educational and entertaining option for all ages on cold winter nights.
Alaska played an important role in the first International Polar Year (IPY) in 1882-83, and scientists in state and around the globe are now gearing up for the fourth IPY, which begins this March and extends through March 2009. In a lecture on Jan. 16, Hajo Eicken, Associate Professor of Geophysics at University of Alaska Fairbanks, will address the prospects that IPY-4 offers Alaska researchers, educators and the public to jointly address the challenges and opportunities of unprecedented change under way in the North. Eicken is co-chair of the Research Subcommittee for UAF’s IPY Steering Committee and has been working for the past year to prepare for this historic event.
