Glaciers such as the Yakutat in Southeast Alaska, shown here, have been melting since the end of the Little Ice Age, influencing earthquakes in the region. Photo by Sam Herreid.

Melting glaciers contribute to Alaska earthquakes

March 18, 2021
In 1958, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake triggered a rockslide into Southeast Alaska’s Lituya Bay, creating a tsunami that ran 1,700 feet up a...
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Thick wildfire smoke fills the sky along Chena Hot Springs Road in Fairbanks on Aug. 6, 2009. Photo by Rod Boyce.

Research aims to help Alaskans, visitors avoid wildfire smoke

March 17, 2021
Alaskans have become all too familiar with the choking wildfire smoke that has filled many summer days in recent years. Each time, they are left...
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Mount Redoubt, 108 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, erupts on March 31, 2009. Photo credit by R. G. McGimsey, Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey

Study of Redoubt and other volcanoes improves unrest detection

March 11, 2021
Volcanologists do what they can to provide the public enough warning about impending eruptions, but volcanoes are notoriously unpredictable...
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Laura Conner. Photo courtesy of the Geophysical Institute.

Laura Conner selected as science education Fulbright Specialist

March 3, 2021
Laura Conner, a research associate professor of science education in the Geophysical Institute and the College of Natural Sciences and...
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The Alaska Earthquake Center and the University of Alaska Anchorage recently finished installing several new monitors in Southcentral Alaska. Photo by Yue Zhao, University of Alaska Anchorage

New ground-motion sensors will help Southcentral Alaska prepare for major earthquakes

March 1, 2021
New strong-motion sensors installed recently in the Eagle River and Matanuska Valley regions will provide insight into the magnitude 5.3 quake on...
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The Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest near Fairbanks, Alaska, covers an area north of the Tanana River and south of the Parks Highway. Researchers took field measurements in the forest to test their new method of inferring permafrost thaw depth from such images. Image by Veronika Döpper

Scientists use forest color to gauge permafrost depth

March 1, 2021
Scientists regularly use remote sensing drones and satellites to record how climate change affects permafrost thaw rates — methods that work well...
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A time-lapse photograph captures the Super Soaker launches on Jan. 25-26, 2018. Photo by Zayn Roohi courtesy of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Poker Flat Research Range.

Rocket launches reveal water vapor effect in upper atmosphere

February 26, 2021
Results of a 2018 multirocket launch at Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks will help scientists better understand the impact of more...
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UAF announces 2021 Science for Alaska Lecture Series lineup

January 29, 2021
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute will host a series of free virtual public talks on topics that include measuring the...
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Catherine Cahill

UAF’s Cahill appointed to FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee

January 8, 2021
The Federal Aviation Administration has named University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist Catherine Cahill as one of 12 new members of its Drone...
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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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