Scientists on the MOSAiC expedition work among Arctic melt ponds in 2020. Photo by Melinda Webster

Study: Glass microspheres won't save Arctic sea ice

October 5, 2022
A proposal to cover Arctic sea ice with layers of tiny hollow glass spheres about the thickness of one human hair would actually accelerate sea...
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Seismologist Ezgi Karasozen of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute at a seismic station. Photo courtesy of Ezgi Karasozen

Seismologist helps start science journal that eliminates fees

September 30, 2022
An international team of researchers has launched a new open-access journal to support free global access to cutting-edge seismological research...
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Kotzebue Electric Association's 576-kilowatt solar farm is the largest remote solar farm in Alaska. Photo by Amanda Byrd

New research can help electric utilities account for climate change

September 23, 2022
Researchers have devised a method to determine the impact of climate change on the supply and variability of local renewable energy. An increase...
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Filmmaker Fritz Mueller walks at the edge of St. Paul Island as waves crash ashore, driven by the remnants of Typhoon Merbok as it passes over St. Paul Island. Photo by Chris Maio

Caught in a major storm, UAF researchers make the best of it

September 20, 2022
On St. Paul Island, in the Bering Sea about 300 miles from Alaska’s coast, the still-powerful remains of Typhoon Merbok passed overhead, churning...
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Melissa Ward Jones, Lillian Jones, Kaya, and Benjamin Jones (left to right) doing family science at the Teshekpuk Lake Observatory during the summer of 2021. Photo by Ben Jones

A grateful scientist celebrates an Arctic lab’s pioneers

September 7, 2022
For Ben Jones, putting together an event to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory was personal...
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Nick Adkins explains the parts of a drone and its flight capabilities to Delta Junction students. School librarian Norm Cosgrove, who teaches the weeklong summer school drones class, listens. Photo by Rod Boyce

Students find sky-high excitement with UAF drone center

September 2, 2022
The room at Delta Junction Junior High School would look busy even without the nine students zipping around. The buzz from the kids just added to...
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This medium-sized thaw slump in Canada’s Mackenzie River Delta is about 260 feet wide and with a headwall of about 10 to 15 feet. It formed closer to the lake, expanding upslope by many feet each summer. Photo by Simon Zwieback

Thawing Arctic hillsides are major climate change contributors

August 12, 2022
Thawing Arctic hillsides release a significant amount of organic carbon that has been locked in frozen ground for thousands of years but which...
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The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program facility in early June near Gakona, Alaska, in June 2022. The 33-acre ionospheric research instrument helps researchers study the ionosphere. UAF/GI photo by JR Ancheta

HAARP to hold public open house Saturday, Aug. 27

August 11, 2022
The public will have the opportunity to learn about how scientists study the Earth’s ionosphere, the region between Earth's lower atmosphere and...
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Amy Jenson

Geophysical Institute announces 2022 Schaible fellowship recipients

August 4, 2022
One student from Alaska and one from Switzerland have been selected as this year’s recipients of a Geophysical Institute Schaible Fellowship...
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The research vessel Sikuliaq sails in Alaska’s Resurrection Bay in July 2020. The ship is homeported in Seward. The University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences operates the Sikuliaq. The National Science Foundation owns the ship. Photo by Sarah Spanos

Scientists to set sail in search of Bering Sea’s stormy past

July 26, 2022
A team of scientists will soon head to the Aleutian Islands aboard the research vessel Sikuliaq on a voyage to reconstruct the region’s ancient...
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Alex Witsil.

New method can improve explosion detection

July 22, 2022
Computers can be trained to better detect distant nuclear detonations, chemical blasts and volcano eruptions by learning from artificial...
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ACUASI sends its two SeaHunter aircraft to Canada, though only one flies during the whale mission. The two aircraft are shown at the Gaspé, Quebec, airport in 2020. Photo by Andrew Wentworth

UAF crew, unmanned aircraft help protect endangered right whales

July 21, 2022
The Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration is back in Canada to help prevent endangered North Atlantic right whales from...
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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. Image courtesy NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI.

GI scientist proud of his work on Webb telescope

July 12, 2022
NASA has rolled out several images gathered by the new James Webb Space Telescope , the largest and most powerful space observatory ever built...
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Melinda Webster carries a magnaprobe to measure the depth of melt ponds. Photo by Lianna Nixon

Research shows need to improve prediction of Arctic melt ponds

June 30, 2022
New research shows two widely used computer models that predict summer melt pond formation on sea ice greatly overestimate their extent, a key...
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A group photo on Root Glacier of participants in the International Summer School in Glaciology. Photo by Dave Sarbell

Ph.D. glaciology students get lessons at a great Alaska venue

June 28, 2022
The mountains of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve made this no ordinary summer school. Nearly 30 early Ph.D. students gathered for...
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Ice fog settles over Fairbanks in this 2006 photograph made from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. UAF photo by Debbie Dean

Study shows chemical’s extent in Fairbanks winter air

June 27, 2022
A chemical compound discovered in 2019 in Fairbanks’ wintertime air accounts for a significant portion of the community’s fine particulate...
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From left, Marine Vanlandeghem Gillespie, Kalee Meurlott and Mariah McNamara, all of the UAF Geophysical Institute, hold recycled equipment along with Cherissa Dukelow, Art Gelvin and Kenzley Defler, of Green Star of Interior Alaska, at the Green Star facility in Fairbanks. Photo by Daniel Walker

UAF, Green Star join to boost school drone program

June 22, 2022
Three small Alaska schools will receive refurbished smart devices for use in a new drones program under a partnership between the University of...
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This artist’s impression shows the European Space Agency’s EnVision spacecraft, which includes a radar provided by NASA. Courtesy of European Space Agency

UAF researchers on team for European Space Agency’s Venus satellite mission

June 21, 2022
A University of Alaska Fairbanks professor has been named to a NASA science team for the European Space Agency’s EnVision satellite mission to...
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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

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