Eroding islands, disappearing glaciers, lots of greenhouse gases
Kasatochi Island, pictured here one year after its 2008 eruption, is experiencing some of the fastest erosion on the planet, with about 3 feet of its muddy shoreline eaten away each day.
Photo by Ned Rozell.
The latest meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco in December 2011 featured hundreds of talks about Earth science, some of those relating to Alaska (and some of those comprehensible to a non-scientist). Here are a few items from the notebook I carried around the Moscone Center:
Pearl Creek Elementary to host Science Night and Fair on February 15 & 16
Pearl Creek Elementary has put a call out to Geophysical Institute personnel to help out with their Science Night on Thursday, Feb. 16, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Volunteers are needed to oversee or operate small science displays and toys. The exhibits are simple, and include: a marble rollway, an air cannon, kitchen utensils to demonstrate different bird beaks, and more. Other demonstration suggestions are welcome! Simple, easy to set up, basic concepts that show students something about science are the main focus of Science Night.
Enroll today in ED F593: Current Topics in the Natural Sciences for Educators.
This course is sponsored by the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is offered in conjunction with the 2012 Science for Alaska Lecture Series. The course goal is to encourage discourse among educators and practicing scientists to improve science teaching and promote student interest in the sciences.
This year's lecture series marks 20 years of connecting our science to the community!
The Science For Alaska Lecture Series is celebrating its 20th anniversary! For two decades, Science For Alaska has continued to bring the latest in scientific research to the Fairbanks community. Come out to the 2012 lectures and learn about unmanned aircraft, reindeer, earthquakes, and more! The lectures will be held Tuesday evenings Jan. 31 through Mar. 6 in the Westmark Gold Room located in downtown Fairbanks. A full line-up of this year’s presentations and other information can be found at www.ScienceForAlaska.com.
Jon Dehn
Dr. Dehn studies volcanology through remote sensing techniques at the Alaska Volcano Observatory. He organized the first Internal Workshop on Kamchatkan-Aleutian Subduction Processes in Petropavlosk, Russia, and has started new collaborations with colleagues throughout the North Pacific Region. Before coming to the Geopyhsical Institute, Dehn held positions at Kiel University's GEOMAR marine research center in Germany, and at the Geological Survey of Japan's Hokkaido Branch in Sapporo.
The Alaska porcupine's winter in slow-motion
Jessy Coltrane and the subject of her doctoral research, the porcupine.
Photo courtesy of Jessy Coltrane.
While running through Bicentennial Park in Anchorage, biologist Jessy Coltrane spotted a porcupine in a birch tree. On her runs on days following, she saw it again and again, in good weather and bad. Over time, she knew which Alaska creature she
wanted to study.
Applied Seismology course available to graduate students for spring 2012 semester
Sign up for Applied Seismology - GEOS 694 - for spring semester and earn three credits! Assistant Professor of Geophysics Carl Tape of the Geophysical Institute will instruct the course that will explore the study of earthquakes and Earth's interior structure using seismological theories and algorithms. The course runs from 9:45 to 11:15 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Elvey 301N.
Discovering a new dinosaur in northern Alaska
The newly discovered Alaska dinosaur, Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum, on what was Alaska’s North Slope about 70 million years ago.
Illustration by Karen Carr (http://www.karencarr.com/).
There’s a new kind of dinosaur out there, and it lived in Alaska.
Its bones, long turned to stone, are part of a cliff in northern Alaska. That’s where dinosaur-hunter Tony Fiorillo brushed dirt away from a portion of its massive skull – something that most of us would mistake for a rock.
Snow COVER: An online course for educators accepts applications for spring semester
The Geophysical Institute Outreach Office is accepting applications for a spring 2012 Snow COVER course for educators. The science professional development course features a collaborative online network for teaching and learning about the role of snow in global climate. Course participants interact with a suite of online lessons and receive access to a wealth of snow-related data and resources appropriate for classroom use.
