The red dots show locations of 45 USArray stations which greatly increase the ability to track earthquakes, permafrost changes, sea ice extent, aurora events and the weather across western and northern Alaska. Map courtesy of AEC.

Sensors will sustain Alaska earthquake and weather data

November 12, 2020
A new project will make it possible for scientists to better track a suite of phenomena in Alaska ranging from earthquakes to wildfires to sea...
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An artist’s rendering of the new virtual ‘ShAKe’ exhibit at the UA Museum of the North. Illustration by Roger Topp.

UA museum launches ‘shAKe,’ its first virtual exhibit

October 14, 2020
The headline across the top of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner front page, bold and in all caps, said “FAIRBANKS HIT BY ITS WORST EARTHQUAKE.”...
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UAF researchers and partner institutions will use computer modeling to study the impact of climate change on Alaska’s rapidly melting Malaspina Glacier, pictured here. Researchers say the loss of the ice may create a new bay in southeastern Alaska. UAF photo by Martin Truffer.

Study to investigate melting Malaspina Glacier, potential new bay

September 18, 2020
The rapidly melting Malaspina Glacier in southeastern Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park could create a new ocean bay, one feature in what...
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Jeff Rothman trains Mindy Lagonegro, nursing supervisor for the Fairbanks Correctional Center, on how to use the UV disinfection unit built by the Geophysical Institute’s Electronics and Machine shops. UAF Photo by JR Ancheta.

New GI-designed device sanitizes masks for first responders

August 20, 2020
Ultraviolet light stops many pathogens in their tracks, a fact known for decades. Jeff Rothman has an old light box with a bank of long-wave UV...
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Jessica Larsen, UAF professor of volcanology, was appointed as the associate director of the GI in July.

Jessica Larsen named GI associate director

August 17, 2020
The Geophysical Institute appointed Jessica Larsen as the new associate director this July. Larsen, a professor of volcanology, joined the GI...
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UAF Professor Uma Bhatt has recently been elected as an American Meteorological Society Fellow

Uma Bhatt elected American Meteorological Society Fellow

August 10, 2020
The American Meteorological Society announced UAF Professor Uma Bhatt has been elected as an AMS Fellow. Presentation of Bhatt’s award will take...
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The aurora crosses the sky near Poker Flat Research Range. Recent discoveries made by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the U.S. Geological Survey allowed researchers to record aurora using seismometers, the primary tool to monitor earth movement. Photo by Aaron Lojewski.

Scientists record aurora using earth-monitoring tools in Alaska

July 28, 2020
Earthquakes, with origins deep underground, and the aurora, at the limits of our atmosphere, seem like phenomena worlds apart. The reality is...
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The Elvey building on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, home to the Geophysical Institute. GI photo by LJ Evans.

GI hosts free outdoor walking tour

July 15, 2020
Looking for something to do outside while you socially distance? Since inside tours of the Geophysical Institute are temporarily suspended due to...
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Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski featured GI scientists Mike West and David Fee on her podcast. Photo from the office of Lisa Murkowski.

GI's Mike West, David Fee discuss tsunami on Sen. Murkowski’s podcast

June 18, 2020
Senator Lisa Murkowski, chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, last week recorded the sixth episode of her new...
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An eruption launches magma in area with surface fracturing in Iceland’s Bárdarbunga volcanic system on Sept. 14, 2014. A paper published in May may help anticipate similar volcanic eruptions. Photo by Jeffrey Alan Karson, Syracuse University.

New method may help anticipate large volcanic eruptions

May 18, 2020
Volcanic eruptions are not easy to anticipate. Now, a new paper proposes a way to provide early clues by evaluating magma movement far beneath...
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GI Director Robert McCoy was elected to the governing board of USRA, the Universities Space Research Association, in early May. UAF photo by Sean Tevebaugh.

Geophysical Institute director joins space research board

May 11, 2020
Robert McCoy, director of the Geophysical Institute at UAF, was elected to the governing board of USRA, the Universities Space Research...
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Imagery from the SARVIEWS 2.0 interface shows the M 7.1 Ridgecrest, CA Earthquake from July 2019. SARVIEWS 2.0, is a free automated tool that allows scientists, the public and emergency management professionals to monitor and analyze natural hazards in near real-time.

Online tool allows fast, free natural-hazard visualization

April 29, 2020
Volcanoes can pulse and inflate before they erupt. Earthquakes can tear the ground along fault lines like a losing raffle ticket. Satellites can...
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The settlement of Abu Hureyra, in Syria, may have been destroyed 12,800 years ago because of a comet. Image credit: Jennifer Rice, CometResearchGroup.org

Fire and ice: exploding comet may have destroyed paleolithic settlement

April 6, 2020
New analysis of materials from an archeological site in Syria suggests it may be the only human settlement we know about that was destroyed by...
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A submarine surfaces through the Arctic Ocean sea ice during a previous naval Ice Exercise. Photo courtesy of Arctic Submarine Lab

UAF scientists lend expertise to Navy’s arctic ice camp

March 6, 2020
University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists are providing strategic ice and weather expertise to the U.S. Navy during its Ice Exercise 2020 in the...
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Cryospheric Science MVP

February 26, 2020
Andy Aschwanden received 2020’s Most Valuable Player award from the NASA Cryospheric Science Program last week. The award was in recognition of...
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Artist concept of the solar system. Image by NASA

Venus study is finalist in NASA’s Discovery Program

February 18, 2020
Venus was once Earth-like and maybe even habitable. Why is it so different from Earth now? This week NASA announced its selection of four...
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Shishaldin volcano erupts, as seen from Cold Bay, Alaska, U.S, January 6, 2020. Photo by Aaron Merculief.

"AVO Radio" to bring volcano updates to the airwaves

February 5, 2020
Some Alaskans have the dubious distinction of a volcano practically in their backyard, across the water or upwind. Now, a new radio program will...
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A NASA sounding rocket launches from Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks on Jan. 27, 2020. UAF photo by JR Ancheta.

NASA sounding rocket launches from Poker Flat

January 29, 2020
A NASA sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks at 4:40 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2020. The rocket arced to a high point...
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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.

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