Bryant Chow in front of a seismic station deployed in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. This station was part of the Broadband East Coast Network, which was deployed to improve data coverage for his imaging research. Photo courtesy Bryant Chow.

UAF scientist receives top honor from New Zealand geoscience society

January 11, 2024
Assistant Professor Bryant Chow of the University of Alaska Fairbanks has received the Geoscience Society of New Zealand's top honor for his...
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Graduate student researcher Emily Fedders sits on top of an ice island with the portable interferometric radar. The ice island is in landfast sea ice on Alaska’s Arctic coast near Utqiaġvik. Photo courtesy of Andy Mahoney.

2023: A year of continued research leadership by the UAF Geophysical Institute

December 21, 2023
2023, like the years and decades before it, showed the strength and significance of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute as a...
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CeCe Borries-Strigle at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in San Francisco. Photo by Rod Boyce.

AGU research spotlight: New research benefits Arctic sea ice forecasting

December 14, 2023
Ocean temperatures in the Bering Strait and heat transport through the region have increased over the past 20 years. New modeling using a range...
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Darren Tan at a seismology station. Photo courtesy Darren Tan.

AGU research spotlight: New research helps detect elusive volcanic tremors

December 13, 2023
Earthquakes have a well-known and easily recognizable connection to volcanoes. The sudden onset of ground shaking can indicate near-term or...
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Opening day of the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco. Photo by Rod Boyce.

More than 100 UAF researchers presenting work at national science conference

December 11, 2023
About 130 University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers will be presenting their work at the annual meeting of the nation's leading geosciences...
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Visitors gather at the University of Alaska Fairbanks exhibitor booth at the AGU Fall Meeting 2022 in Chicago, IL. UAF GI Photo by Kelly Eagan.

Geophysical Institute research at the American Geophysical Union 2023 Fall Meeting

December 11, 2023
Geophysical Institute researchers and students are attending the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2023 from Dec. 11–15 in San Francisco...
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A four-stage NASA sounding rocket launches from Poker Flat Research Range on Nov. 9, 2023. The rocket was carrying instruments for the Beam-Plasma Interactions Experiment. NASA photo by Lee Wingfield.

Second NASA sounding rocket launches from Poker Flat Research Range

November 9, 2023
The second NASA sounding rocket of the season headed into Earth’s upper atmosphere from Poker Flat Research Range shortly after midnight Thursday...
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A sounding rocket launches from Poker Flat Research Range on Nov. 8, 2023, carrying NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s Dissipation mission. NASA photo by Rachel Lense.

First NASA rocket of season flies high out of Poker Flat Research Range

November 8, 2023
A two-stage NASA sounding rocket flew skyward shortly after midnight Wednesday carrying science instruments to gather data about the solar wind’s...
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Serina Wesen of the Geophysical Institute teaches a small group of students about glaciers and how they formed the surrounding valley and Portage Lake. Photo courtesy KMTA.

GI helps young hands and eyes get a taste of science in the outdoors

November 7, 2023
Fifth graders, sleeping bags, campfires, s’mores. And science. It all rolled in together, along with much more, in a NASA-supported education...
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Principal investigator Mehdi Benna stands by the rocket assembled for his experiment. Photo by Danielle Johnson/NASA Wallops Flight Facility

Two launches to mark start of Poker Flat rocket range season

November 3, 2023
Testing a theory about cleaning up after a nuclear detonation in space and learning more about winds at the edge of Earth’s atmosphere are the...
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HAARP’s Ionospheric Research Instrument is a phased array of 180 high-frequency antennas spread across 33 acres. UAF/GI photo by JR Ancheta.

HAARP artificial airglow may be widely visible in Alaska

November 2, 2023
Alaskans and visitors may be able to see an artificial airglow in the sky created by the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program during a...
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The Greenland Ice Sheet, shown here in June 2017, contains approximately 700,000 cubic miles of ice that would raise the global sea level by about 24 feet if it were to melt completely. Photo courtesy of NASA.

UAF scientists receive grant to improve study of rising sea levels

October 31, 2023
A $638,000 National Science Foundation grant to two University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers aims to accelerate innovative ways of studying...
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The Elvey Building, center, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is home to the Geophysical Institute. Photo by JR Ancheta.

Schaible Geophysical Institute Fellowships application period now open

October 30, 2023
The application period for two new Schaible Geophysical Institute Fellowships at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute is now...
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This illustration shows the interaction between the sun and Earth. NASA illustration.

UAF scientist to aid NASA’s space weather forecasting

October 27, 2023
A University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist will have a role in a new NASA center that aims to greatly improve space weather forecasting and...
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The map shows the worst-case flooding scenario for upper Cook Inlet, based on numerical modeling. Image courtesy of Elena Suleimani, Alaska Earthquake Center; Barrett Salisbury, Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys; Dmitry Nicolsky, UAF Geophysical Institute

Upper Cook Inlet community meetings will address tsunami hazard

October 16, 2023
In a series of community meetings to be held Oct. 17–20, scientists and local emergency managers will answer questions about a new report of...
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Floodwaters flow over and erode the Dalton Highway on May 21, 2015. The flooding contributed to a slow subsiding of ground in the permafrost-rich region. Photo courtesy of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

Flooding that closed Dalton Highway also caused widespread ground sinking

October 11, 2023
The massive 2015 flooding of the Sagavanirktok River in northern Alaska had immediate impacts, including closure of the Dalton Highway for...
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The combined effects of climate change and infrastructure development on ice-rich permafrost in Point Lay have resulted in severe thaw subsidence and surface water ponding that is destabilizing homes. Photo by Jana Peirce.

Alaska coastal tribe leaders see hope in NSF-funded climate project

October 11, 2023
The National Science Foundation’s decision to fund a $13.9 million program to help several Alaska coastal communities respond to the effects of...
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The community of Chignik Bay, one of the project partners, is located on the Alaska Peninsula. Photo by Chris Maio.

UAF-led group gets $13.9 million to aid coastal climate resilience

October 11, 2023
The National Science Foundation is funding a $13.9 million program led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks to help multiple communities respond...
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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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