FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Stevie Seibert, GI Public Relations, 907-474-5229, stevie [dot] seibert [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu

Fairbanks, Alaska—In early August 2008, Kasatochi Volcano in the Aleutians violently erupted. The green and lush island, formerly the home of hundreds of thousands of seabirds, became a sterile mountain of mud and ash. Scientists thought all life was wiped out on Kasatochi, but researchers found a few unlikely survivors on the island during a visit one year after the eruption.

On Feb. 15 at 7 p.m., Derek Sikes will reveal the identities of the Kasatochi survivors and discuss his research of the pre- and post-eruption ecosystems of the island. Sikes, assistant professor of entomology and curator of insects at the University of Alaska Museum of the North, will present “Survivor Kasatochi: Insects After the Volcanic Eruption” in the Westmark Gold Room. The lecture will be the fifth installment in the 2011 Science for Alaska Lecture Series.

Science for Alaska is sponsored by the Geophysical Institute, UAF, and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. The series runs on Tuesdays through Feb. 22, 2011 and is free to the public.

Hands-on activities for all ages begin at 6 p.m. inside the Gold Room. Families are welcome.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS:
Derek Sikes, assistant professor of entomology and curator of insects at the University of Alaska Museum of the North, 907-474-6278, or dssikes [at] alaska [dot] edu Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or marmian [dot] grimes [at] alaska [dot] edu

ON THE WEB: http://www.scienceforalaska.com