Workshop description: 

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. 

By nrozell [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu (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:

A paper in the journal Natural Science titled "Scrutinizing the atmospheric greenhouse effect and its climatic impact" by the Geophysical Institute's Gerhard Kramm and Ralph Dlugi has been downloaded almost 1,000 times since its recent appearance on the Scientific Research website. 

Abstract:

By nrozell [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu (Ned Rozell)

One of the prettiest places in Southeast Alaska has felt some of nature’s most violent behavior.

Organizers announce that the Girls on Ice 2012 Expeditions are now accepting applications. The 2012 program includes two expeditions. The original North Cascades expedition on Mount Baker in Washington State will be held 29 July - 9 August 2012, and a new Alaska-based expedition will take place 15-25 July 2012.

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.

The 2012 Alaska Weather Symposium will be held at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on March 13 and 14.  The deadline for presentation and/or poster abstracts is Tuesday, January 24.  

All abstracts relating to weather and climate in Alaska are welcome. Some anticipated areas of focus are:

• Air quality
• Data assimilation
• High resolution modeling in complex terrain
• Observations/monitoring challenges
• Weather-scale sea ice

The symposium is being sponsored by:

The first Physics Journal Club talk of this semester will be held this Friday, Jan. 20, at 3:45 PM in the Globe Room of the Elvey Building.

Title: Cyberinfrastructure: Data Sharing - Now and in the Future

Speaker: Karen Remick (IARC Data Center)

Abstract:

By nrozell [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu (Ned Rozell)

Home of the trans-Alaska pipeline, Alaska has been the setting for a few epic engineering battles rendered against nature. The Million Dollar Bridge, spanning the lower Copper River, is a reminder of another improbable Alaska construction project.