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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Two rockets rise from Poker Flat Research Range in this composite photograph taken the night of Jan. 25-26, 2015. The aurora is visible across the sky. The 2020 rocket launch window opens Jan. 26. Photo by J. Adkins, NASA.

Space Week features rocket launch window and NASA experts

January 22, 2020
An unofficial Space Week, filled with space science events, rocket launch preparations and presentations by NASA guests, will blast off in...
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At Nome Creek, Alaska ground temperatures rose immediately after a 2003 wildfire. New research from Sergey Marchenko shows wildfires, which affect terrestrial carbon storage, result in significant changes in permafrost zones. Photo by Sergey Marchenko.

Wildfires may send permafrost protections up in smoke

January 8, 2020
Across much of Alaska, permafrost is thawing. In most locations of interior and south Alaska, what permafrost exists is protected by the...
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Louise Farquharson works on the tundra at Kougarok, Alaska. The site is one of 28 field locations that show evidence of extensive permafrost thawing zones previously unrecognized. This could have dramatic implications for subsequent carbon release. Photo by Vladimir Romanovsky

The Arctic’s grand reveal

December 12, 2019
“This green line looks like the death of permafrost — it’s flatlining,” Louise Farquharson said to an audience of a few dozen scientists. Her...
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An unmanned aerial vehicle at Oliktok Point, Alaska used to map Arctic sea ice in 2018. Oliktok Point is the proposed site for a permanent High Arctic research center, discussed at a NSF-funded workshop on the UAF campus in October. Photo by ACUASI.

Permanent Arctic research facility under discussion

November 15, 2019
The logistics of doing research in the Arctic are challenging and complex. Travelling hundreds of miles through tundra, sometimes in temperatures...
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An ocean view of McBride Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Photo by Joanna Young.

International climate report holds special value for Alaska

October 28, 2019
Authors of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, delivered a stunning alarm bell for our planet's oceans...
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The Ayars family of Dillingham, Alaska. Photo courtesy Chelsea Ayars.

“Infrasound angels” recognized by Wilson Alaska Technical Center

October 14, 2019
Much of scientific work depends on quiet supporters; people working reliably in the background to make sure the operation runs smoothly. This...
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The city of Valdez shown in the Alaska Tsunami Hazard Map Tool. The tool is a web-based map portal that displays potential tsunami hazard zones for settlements across Alaska. From the Alaska Earthquake Center.

New tsunami map tool empowers Alaskans to plan for the worst

September 17, 2019
September is national preparedness month and, for many Alaskans, that means thinking about tsunamis. With the most earthquakes and the longest...
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Asteroid impact: An artist’s interpretation of the asteroid impact that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. The asteroid in the artwork appears much larger than the six-mile rock that scientists hypothesize actually struck the Earth 66 million years ago. Image by NASA/Don Davis.

The first day of the dinosaur extinction

September 9, 2019
When the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs slammed into the planet 66 million years ago, the impact set wildfires, triggered tsunamis and...
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The Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, visible as a pink band rising from the lower left to upper right of this photograph, appears with the Milky Way over Childs Lake, Manitoba, Canada. Image courtesy of Krista Trinder and NASA

It’s not aurora, it’s STEVE

September 4, 2019
Aurora-watchers gazing at spectacular displays over the Labor Day weekend may have been seeing more than the northern lights. They may have been...
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Michael West, GI research professor and director of the Alaska Earthquake Center, will receive the 2019 Emil Usibell Distinguished Service Award.

UAF announces 2019 Usibelli Award recipients

August 29, 2019
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has announced the winners of the 2019 Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching, Service and Research Awards. The...
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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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