Press Releases
At times, auroral activity occurring in the northern hemisphere is mirrored in the southern hemisphere. The swirls and ripples of auroral rays will occur in unison in each hemisphere. This phenomenon is known as the conjugacy of the aurora. For years, scientists at the Geophyscial Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have studied this effect of the aurora. Although studies are shedding more light on the issue, there isn't a clear-cut formula for when, this mirroring occurs. 
Students participating in a geology field camp with University of Alaska Fairbanks faculty found the fossilized footprint from a small meat-eating dinosaur in Denali National Park in June 2005. That fossilized footprint is the first concrete evidence that dinosaurs once roamed Alaska's Interior. What did the Interior and the rest of Alaska look like eons ago when dinosaurs covered the landscape? The answer lies within fossilized plants and the characteristics of rocks that contain fossil footprints.
In Alaska, finding your way into bear country is easy. All three North American species of bears are present and there is about one bear to every five human residents in our state. This close proximity spurs many bear stories, myths, and misconceptions.
As the Arctic climate warms, permafrost begins to thermally degrade. Transformation of this frozen layer of earth triggers changes in every aspect of surface water and energy in the Arctic. While the region experiences warming, permafrost becomes thinner, and its extent in the boreal forest shrinks.
Alterations to permafrost also influence the look of the northern landscape and the region's climatology. In short, warming climate and thawing permafrost create changes to the entire hydrological cycle in Alaska.
For more than a decade, the Science for Alaska Lecture Series has provided Anchorage residents the opportunity to learn about scientific research conducted at the University of Alaska. This annual series, sponsored and coordinated by the Geophysical Institute, features a handful of scientists from the University of Alaska, along with experts from state and federal agencies. These experts share their research with the general public in lectures that are full of animations and visuals that appeal to all ages.
In Alaska, finding your way into bear country is easy. All three North American species of bears are present and there is about one bear to every five human residents in our state. This close proximity spurs many bear stories, myths, and misconceptions.
The Geophysical Institute, the Alaska Geological Society and ConocoPhillips welcome Kathryn Moran, an associate professor of ocean engineering and oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, to discuss findings from the 2004 Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) in a free public lecture
on October 14. Cores collected from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program's ACEX mission are surprising many who believed the Arctic Ocean lacked sufficient remains to record evidence of ancient climate. Now scientists are able to analyze Earth's previous conditions through ribbons of ocean floor sediment taken from depths as deep as 1,300-feet below the sea floor.
The Geophysical Institute welcomes Kathryn Moran, an associate professor of ocean engineering and oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, to discuss findings from the 2004 Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) in a free public lecture on October 13. Cores collected from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program's ACEX mission are surprising many who believed the Arctic Ocean lacked sufficient remains to record evidence of ancient climate. Now scientists are able to analyze Earth's previous conditions through ribbons of ocean floor sediment taken from depths as deep as 1,300-feet below the sea floor.
South-central Alaska's Mount Wrangell rumbled for 11 minutes following the Sumatra earthquake in December 2004. A swarm of 14 earthquakes were triggered at Mount Wrangell about one hour after the initial rupture in Indonesia, more than 6,800 miles away.
From the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh, to the biblical story of Noah and the flood, history is steeped in stories about an ancient, catastrophic flood that changed the world. Dr. Walter C. Pitman III, a geophysicist from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, has found
evidence of a gigantic flood that took place 7,600 years ago in the area where the Black Sea is located today. Pitman will describe his findings in a free public lecture. "Noah's Flood: Myth or Reality?" will take place Tuesday, April 26 at 7 p.m. in Schaible Auditorium on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.
