The West Ridge research area at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is nestled against the frosted woodlands in November. Photo by Eric Marshall

Alaska climate report: November anything but normal

December 9, 2025
November brought two wildly differing snow stories to Alaska, according to the monthly summary from the Alaska Climate Research Center at the...
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In this photo taken from an aircraft, the atmosphere glows after the United States detonated a nuclear device 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean on July 9, 1962. Photo courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory

Research offers defense against energized space electrons

December 9, 2025
Research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute is advancing the ability to quickly clean up Earth’s radiation belts from a...
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The November 2025 cover of the Geological Society of America’s magazine features research by UAF professor Sean Regan and colleagues.

Research straightens out what caused the arc under Alaska’s mountains

December 5, 2025
Two related major tectonic processes that occurred simultaneously 75 million to 50 million years ago created the grand arc on which three Alaska...
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Explore

Changing channels

November 26, 2025
Far up in Alaska, between 64.593 degrees north latitude and 66.870 degrees, sit 11 research sites emblematic of the wide-scale change being...
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UAF graduate student Cole Richards installs a high-sampling seismic sensor in February 2019. It is one 400 placed along the Parks Highway following the 2018 magnitude 7.1 Anchorage earthquake. Graduate student Bella Seppi would later use the sensor data in her aircraft research. Photo by Carl Tape

Seismic data can identify aircraft by type

November 18, 2025
Instruments typically used to detect the ground motion of earthquakes can also be used to identify the type of aircraft flying far overhead...
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A light beam produced by the new lidar emerges from the dome at the Subauroral Geophysical Observatory at Gakona. Photo by Mike Roddewig

New lidar advances atmospheric science at UAF research site

November 14, 2025
A new science tool at the University of Alaska Fairbanks research center in Gakona will advance understanding of Earth’s middle and upper...
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Tom Glass and Rodrigo Rangel navigate a beaver pond on the northern Seward Peninsula in August 2024. Photo by Benjamin Jones

Beavers’ Arctic expansion quickens impact of region's warming

November 13, 2025
The climate-driven spread of beaver ponds in Alaska’s Arctic accelerates the effects of a warming environment by causing pond-adjacent permafrost...
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The aurora shines over Fairbanks on Oct. 5, 2024. Photo by Bryan Whitten

Triple blast of solar activity sets stage for active aurora show

November 11, 2025
An unusual triple-whammy of solar outbursts, including one scientists call a cannibal, began hitting Earth this afternoon and is likely to bring...
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Marita and Walt Babula walk hand in hand Oct. 11, 2025, at the site of a 65-seat planetarium. The Babulas made a previously anonymous donation of $7.4 million to the project. Photo by Bryan Whitten

UAF planetarium set for spring opening

October 30, 2025
A decades-long dream of a planetarium at the University of Alaska Museum of the North will come to fruition this spring when the University of...
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About

Since it was established by an Act of Congress in 1946, scientists at the Geophysical Institute have studied geophysical processes from the center of the Earth to the surface of the sun and beyond, turning data and observations into information useful for state, Arctic and national priorities.

Contact info

The GI is located on the West Ridge of the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

2156 Koyukuk Drive
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK 99775

We acknowledge the Alaska Native nations upon whose ancestral lands our campuses reside. In Fairbanks, our Troth Yeddha' Campus is located on the ancestral lands of the Dena people of the lower Tanana River.

The University of Alaska is an equal opportunity/equal access employer and educational institution. The university is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination against individuals on the basis of any legally protected status.

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©2025 Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks.