UAS in the News
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Koliganek School draws local teachers
7-17-2017 | KDLG - One of Koliganek’s own will be taking on a lead teaching role this fall. Karen Kapatak has been working toward becoming a certified teacher since 2008. This school year she will teach kindergarten and first grade. ...More
Farming Alaska’s seas
7-10-2017 | ADN - Developing an Alaska kelp industry has complications as well as promise. For one, farmers need seeds. The state of Alaska requires that seeds be propagated from wild samples within a 50-kilometer radius of the farm. A lab at the University of Alaska Southeast is growing seeds with the support of Blue Evolution, a San Francisco-based company investing in Alaska kelp farming as an opportunity to grow their kelp pasta and seasoning business. ...More
“Fresh or Frozen”? Here’s how to choose sustainable seafood
7-7-2017 | Juneau Empire - At the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), signs of our changing environment surround us as glaciers melt, yellow cedars die off and tropical sea creatures find their way to our waters. (Borgs? Really?!) One goal of UAS’s Sustainability Committee is to promote practices that reduce carbon emissions, ocean acidification and climate change. This month, we discuss environmentally-friendly choices consumers can make when considering seafood options. ...More
Flags at half-staff for former Alaska attorney general
6-12-2017 | KTOO - Flags are at half-staff in honor of former Alaska attorney general and lifelong University of Alaska advocate, Grace Schaible of Fairbanks. Schaible died Saturday at the age of 91. Schaible grew up in Juneau, graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, George Washington University and Yale Law School. Returning to Alaska, she practiced law in Fairbanks, and in 1987 became Alaska’s first woman attorney general under former Governor Steve Cowper. ...More
A brand new 'hidden species' of flying squirrel discovered in part by University of Alaska researchers
6-1-2017 | KTUU - A brand new species of flying squirrel has been discovered in the Pacific Northwest, researchers said in a research study published on Wednesday. Prior to this discovery, scientists had only believed that two species of flying squirrel inhabited North America. Now, scientists say, that number is three. In a statement made by an ecologist with the University of Alaska Southeast, they say six scientists contributed to the research, and that the discovery of the new squirrel was aided by the help of Alaska data. According to Allison Bidlack with UAS, the new squirrel is native to the Pacific Coast, from southern British Columbia all the way down to California. While not native to Alaska, the Humbolt flying squirrel’s territory does overlap with another flying squirrel breed that does inhabit Alaska – the northern flying squirrel. ...More
Sm’algyax conference works to save Tsimshian language
5-22-2017 | Juneau Empire - There are only six fluent speakers of the Tsimshian language, Sm’algyax, left in Alaska. Interest in the language is on the rise, however. “I try not to dwell on those numbers because I feel like, just within this class we have 20 people, most of whom are from our state who are dedicating their lives to Sm’algyax,” said Mique’l Dangeli, who carries the Tsimshian name Sm Łoodm ‘Nüüsm. “It’s not just about how many fluent speakers we have left but it’s about how many newer people are dedicating their lives to our language.” Dangeli, an assistant professor in Alaska Native studies at University of Alaska Southeast, worked in conjunction with the campus to organize a five-day Sm’algyax grammar and language workshop in Juneau with fluent speaker Velna Nelson and linguist Margaret Anderson, from British Columbia, to help educate learners of the Tsimshian language. ...More
Century-Long Glacier Study May Help Us Crack Climate Change
5-19-2017 | National Geographic - It's not often an ecologist gets to play sleuth in so adventurous a fashion—picking through musty papers in the Midwest for 100-year-old hand-drawn maps that lead through dense Alaskan underbrush populated by wolves and brown bears. But that's how scientist [and UAS Assistant Professor] Brian Buma tracked down the work of a legend—a godfather of modern ecology so prominent in his field that the Ecological Society of America has an award named after him. ...More
From gangs to a grad: A former inmate celebrates finishing college
5-17-2017 | KTOO - This month, 30-year-old Marcos Galindo graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social science [from UAS] with a concentration in political science. Now, he’s working on a master’s of public administration and wants a Ph.D. in Chicano studies – a choice weighted by his early life on the streets and in the prisons of California. ...More
UAS announces Faculty of Excellence
5-14-2017 | Juneau Empire - The University of Alaska Southeast has announced its Faculty of Excellence for 2017. Five professors and instructors were awarded, four from the Sitka campus and one from Juneau. Dr. Brian Buma, Assistant Professor of Forest Ecosystem Ecology with the School of Arts and Sciences, was the lone Juneau campus honoree this year. Buma was awarded the Research Award. ...More
UAS Ketchikan celebrates 2017 spring graduates
5-8-2017 | KRBD - University of Alaska Southeast Ketchikan Campus celebrated its spring graduates this past weekend. Faculty, staff and the graduates’ friends and families packed the audience at the Ted Ferry Civic Center on Saturday. ...More
Delores Churchill honored with Lifetime Achievement Award
5-5-2017 | KRBD - The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska held its 82nd annual meeting last month in Juneau. At the welcoming banquet, Haida master weaver Delores Churchill of Ketchikan received the Lifetime Achievement Award from council president Richard Peterson. Churchill [also] received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alaska Southeast, is a Rasmuson Foundation Distinguished Artist, and received many other honors. Peterson also declared April 19, 2017, as Delores Churchill Day. ...More
Meet five UAS graduates: ‘A step to Parnassus’
5-3-2017 | Capital City Weekly - Graduating from college is a momentous occasion filled with silly hats and cards of congratulations, but as a graduating student, I can say that there is much more to this life event than that. Dictionary.com says that the word “graduation” comes from the Latin word “gradus” meaning grade or simply, a step. The first recorded use of this word is found in reference to “Gradus ad Parnassum” or “a step to Parnassus.” Parnassus is an 8,061 foot mountain in Greece. ...More
University of Alaska Southeast adds value to state’s workforce
5-1-2017 | Juneau Empire - Cuts to the University of Alaska budget are in the headlines just as we are about to celebrate the graduation of 650 new UAS graduates — students entering the workforce who know full well the value of a college education. Celebrating student success reminds us that support for UA is not simply a line on a budget spreadsheet; it is a critical investment in Alaska’s future. ...More
Plan would boost Alaska’s Northwest Coast art
5-1-2017 | Juneau Empire - A major Southeast cultural organization plans to create a Native arts market and park in Juneau. That, and an advanced education initiative, are part of an effort to boost the region’s traditional arts economy. Sealaska Heritage Institute Senior Research Fellow Rick Harris said [the education initiative] starts with a two-year program at the University of Alaska Southeast, which already offers formline design courses. ...More
Git Hayetsk uses dance to revise indigenous history
4-4-2017 | KTOO - If you’re a longtime resident of Southeast Alaska, you may have heard the story of the founding of Metlakatla, a community in the Annette Islands Reserve, Alaska’s only reservation. It’s usually told like this: in the wake of a growing rift with the Anglican Church, missionary William Duncan led more than 800 Tsimshian people on a canoe voyage from British Columbia to establish their own devout community in Alaska. University of Alaska assistant professor Mique’l Dangeli tells a very different version of that history. ...More
Mongolian delegation shares the wisdom of the steppes
3-30-2017 | Juneau Empire - For five newly-elected parliamentarians from the country’s State Great Khural, that journey started with a U.S. Congress-sponsored trip to Juneau early this week. During their trip, the five parliamentarians visited the University of Alaska Southeast, the Alaska State Capitol and the Mendenhall Glacier, accompanied by translator Chimgee Erdenechimeg and a representative from the U.S. embassy in Ulaanbaatar. ...More
Coeur Alaska Inc. donates $40,000 to UAS Scholarship Fund
3-26-2017 | Juneau Empire - Coeur Alaska Inc. has donated $40,000 to the UAS Coeur Alaska-Kensington Gold Mine Environmental Science Award this academic year. This brings Coeur’s total donation of $126,500 to the University of Alaska Southeast since 2010 with $100,000 going to awards for students studying environmental science. ...More
Education comes aboard with iPad classes
3-23-2017 | Kodiak Daily Mirror - The University of Alaska Southeast is offering new pathways for nontraditional students to earn college credits through technology and high school programming. A pilot program at Kodiak High School allows high school students to earn both high school and college credits in fisheries courses. Another program offers fisheries courses already uploaded onto iPads, giving fishermen and other students without access to reliable broadband the opportunity to complete college coursework. ...More
Art of Place: Tlingit elders discuss metal carving and weaving
2-23-2017 | Juneau Empire - Tlingit elders came together to share their cultural knowledge with the public in the first event of the Art of Place series on Feb. 17 at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau. “Our theme this year is teaching and learning,” said event organizer and assistant professor of English Ernestine Hayes. ...More
Cutting-edge cameras reveal the secret life of dolphins
2-21-2017 | University of Sydney - A world-first study testing new underwater cameras on wild dolphins has given researchers the best view yet into their hidden marine world. A research team including experts from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and the University of Alaska Southeast trialled the custom-made non-invasive cameras to capture and analyse more than 535 minutes of such rarely-seen activities as mother-calf interaction, playing with kelp, and intimate social behaviours such as flipper-rubbing. The results are published in the latest Marine Biology. ...More
University of Alaska to update protocol for sexual assault, harassment cases
2-20-2017 | APRN - The University of Alaska has entered into an agreement with the federal Office of Civil Rights to address problems with its handling of sexual assault and harassment cases. UA was one of dozens of universities around the country singled out by the OCR for a compliance review in 2014. ...More
Mique’l Dangeli Puts Indigenous Art on Center Stage
2-15-2017 | Diverse - When she isn’t on campus at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) in Juneau, Dr. Mique’l Dangeli may sometimes be seen at various venues around the country performing with Git Hayetsk (People of the Copper Shield), an internationally renowned Northwest Coast First Nations mask-dancing group. ...More
UAS presents “Art of Place – Learning from our Elders”
2-15-2017 | Capital City Weekly - Juneau – A special event featuring renowned Alaska Native artists has been organized by University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) faculty Ernestine Hayes. “Art of Place – Learning from our Elders” will be held Friday, Feb. 17 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Glacier View Room on the second floor of the Egan Classroom Wing on the UAS Auke Lake campus. A potluck follows. The event features elders Della Cheney and Ed Kunz. Cheney will share her knowledge of basketry. Kunz will be teaching carving. Future Art of Place events are planned for spring. The Art of Place series is funded by the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation. ...More
Juneau Docks and Harbors, UAS to restart talks over Auke Bay lab
2-7-2017 | KTOO - The Juneau Assembly has given clear direction to city staff to try and mend fences with the University of Alaska Southeast over a prime piece of federal property up-for-grabs on Auke Bay. Both the city’s Docks and Harbors division and the university have competing applications with the federal government to take possession of the former NOAA Fisheries Auke Bay Marine Station next to the city’s Statter Harbor. ...More
Scrambling to save a dying language in Metlakatla
2-5-2017 | ADN - Standing in a crowd outside David A. Boxley's childhood home, young Audrey Hudson didn't know what to expect on this 1982 summer day. All the 9-year-old girl knew was a totem pole carved by Boxley would soon stand upright in the southernmost town of Alaska's Panhandle. ...More
UAS makes pitch for NOAA lab on Auke Bay
2-2-2017 | KTOO - The federal government is offloading some prime real estate on Auke Bay and both the city of Juneau and University of Alaska Southeast are making strong cases to receive it. The former NOAA Fisheries Auke Bay Marine Station is currently occupied by the Coast Guard, though that arrangement expires this spring. Now both UAS and the Juneau Docks and Harbors have put in competing proposals to take it over. ...More
UAS fish tech faculty receives lifetime achievement award
1-29-2017 | Juneau Empire - Jim Seeland, Assistant Professor of Fisheries Technology at the University of Alaska Southeast, received a Lifetime Achievement Award on Jan. 24 at the 2017 Alaska Fish Culture Conference at the Sitka Sound Science Center. ...More
Ernestine Saankalaxt’ Hayes to be named 17th Alaska State Writer Laureate
1-27-2017 | KTOO - The 17th Alaska State Writer Laureate will be officially announced tonight at the Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities in Juneau. In addition to the evening’s awards presentation and live arts performances, Juneau-based Ernestine Saankalaxt’ Hayes will be officially honored as the Alaska State Writer Laureate. Hayes is a University of Alaska Southeast, where she teaches writing. ...More
After Trump inauguration, UAS climate researchers discuss national uncertainty
1-22-2017 | Juneau Empire - President Donald Trump took down the whitehouse.gov webpage on climate change after taking office Friday, but scientists and academics at the University of Alaska Southeast will continue to confront the issue despite federal policy uncertainty and fears for research funding. ...More
As Glaciers Melt, Endangered Salmon Could Vanish
1-13-2017 | Yale Climate Connections - Glaciers are disappearing as the climate warms. And as they melt away, endangered salmon might follow. Salmon thrive in cool water. When the water gets too warm, it stresses fish, reduces their growth, affects reproduction, and increases disease. Professor Eran Hood of the University of Alaska Southeast: “For salmon, glaciers can be important because during periods of the summer where you have warm air temperatures and it’s dry, if you have a glacier, the stream temperature is going to stay cool because the glacier can release melt water into the stream.” ...More
New UAS welcome sign gives nod to cultural significance of campus location
1-11-2017 | Juneau Empire - Returning University of Alaska Southeast students for the spring semester may note that the entrance sign has been replaced with a larger one with a key difference to the sign before: the inclusion of the Tlingit language. ...More
Study documents yellow cedar decline
1-7-2017 | Juneau Empire - A type of tree that thrives in soggy soil from Alaska to Northern California and is valued for its commercial and cultural uses could become a noticeable casualty of climate warming over the next 50 years, an independent study has concluded. It cited snow-cover loss that led to colder soil. “Lack of snow is only going to become more and more prevalent,” said lead author Brian Buma, a University of Alaska Southeast assistant professor of forest ecosystem ecology. ...More
Annual picks and pans from the year that was in Alaska fisheries
1-3-2017 | Alaska Journal of Commerce - The start of 2017 marks the 26th year for this weekly column that targets news for and about Alaska’s seafood industry. The goal is to make all readers more aware of the economic and cultural importance of our state’s first and oldest industry. ...More
University of Alaska regents approve move to a single College of Education at UAS
12-23-2016 | Juneau Empire - As Chancellor at the University of Alaska Southeast, I’d like to thank the citizens of Juneau and individuals all across our state for supporting UAS recognition as the state’s leader for teacher education. ...More
Ernestine Hayes named 2017 State Writer Laureate
12-23-2016 | ADN - Ernestine Hayes, assistant professor of English at the University of Alaska Southeast, has been selected as the next Alaska State Writer Laureate. She will be introduced at the Governor's Awards for the Arts and Humanities presentations on Jan. 26 and will serve through 2018. ...More
University of Alaska regents approve move to a single College of Education at UAS
12-15-2016 | ADN - The University of Alaska Board of Regents voted Wednesday to consolidate the university system's three schools of education into a single College of Education headquartered in Juneau, in an effort to increase the number of teacher graduates and streamline the administration. ...More
Local government engagement, decentralized policies can help reduce deforestation
12-12-2016 | University of Colorado Boulder - Empowering local governments with forestry decisions can help combat deforestation, but is most effective when local users are actively engaging with their representatives, according to a new University of Colorado Boulder-led study. Co-authors of the new study include Tom Evans of Indiana University; Clark Gibson of the University of California at San Diego; and Glenn Wright of the University of Alaska, Southeast. ...More
UAS Scientists ask: Where does the soot come from that peppers Juneau Icefield?
12-09-2016 | KTOO - Scientists this year started sampling the snow and ice above Southeast Alaska’s glaciers for the particles left from over from forest fires, diesel engines, and industrial activity. The particles of black carbon can accelerate warming of glaciers and the atmosphere. The big question is: where does this carbon come from? “That’s a core sample right here,” Jason Fellman said as he opened an upright freezer in a University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) research facility located off campus in Juneau. ...More
UAS Chancellor disusses issues and opportunities in Ketchikan
12-12-2016 | KTOO - University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Richard Caulfield was in Ketchikan this week, visiting with staff, faculty and students. Caulfield and UAS Ketchikan Campus Director Priscilla Schulte spoke about financial issues facing the university system, and opportunities for the Ketchikan campus. ...More
Dr. Teri Rofkar, innovative Tlingit weaver, dies at 60
12-02-2016 | KCAW - Tlingit weaver Dr. Teri Rofkar died today (12-02-16). The Sitka resident was internationally renowned for her baskets and textiles, made from cedar, spruce tree roots, and mountain goat wool collected along Sitka’s shores. She was 60 years old. UAS presented Rofkar with an honorary doctorate during the Spring 2015 commencement ceremony. ...More
SHI, IAIA, UAS to advance Northwest Coast art
11-23-2016 | Capital City Weekly - Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has entered into a three-way partnership with the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), and the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) to provide enhanced and expanded Northwest Coast (NWC) art programs and opportunities for Alaska students. ...More
New mapping shows extent of yellow-cedar die-off in Alaska
11-27-2016 | Alaska Dispatch News - Yellow cedars, iconic temperate rainforest trees that can live 1,000 years, are dying over vast swaths of warming Alaska and British Columbia. "It had never been mapped before, so we really didn't know how big the decline was," said Brian Buma of the University of Alaska Southeast, the lead author. ...More
More and more jobs beckon for Alaskans with fisheries science degrees
11-19-2016 | Alaska Dispatch News - Alaska's university system is ramping up programs to train the next generations of fishery and ocean specialists for jobs that await. Since 1987, the College of Fisheries and Ocean Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has offered undergraduate and graduate degrees in fisheries science, complete with paid internships for most students in one of the state's largest industries. Starting next fall, the College of Fisheries and Ocean Science plans to offer degree programs in partnership with the University of Alaska Southeast, and eventually the Anchorage campus and other regions. ...More
Kake Oyster Farmer Creates $375,000 Scholarship Endowment for UAS Students
11-21-2016 | SitNews - The family of Robert E Henderson has donated $220,000 and just over 30,500 shares of stock from his estate to create the University of Alaska Southeast Robert Henderson Memorial Award for Mariculture & Fisheries. The endowment will provide scholarships and research experiences for UAS students studying in the fields of mariculture and/or fisheries. ...More
UAS expands partnerships to increase campus safety
11-13-2016 | Juneau Empire - The University of Alaska Southeast is expanding partnerships to increase resources and support for students and employees under Title IX and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), federal laws designed to protect against discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating and domestic violence and stalking. ...More
Investors bet on farmed kelp being Alaska's next seafood export
11-14-2016 | Alaska Dispatch News - In the remote waters of Larsen Bay, off the coast of Kodiak Island, an experiment is underway. Two types of kelp are strung on lines in the ocean waters, and researchers, investors and commercial fishermen are all watching to see if they grow. Alaska's first two seaweed hatcheries just received their permits last year, according to Michelle Morris, commercial fisheries permit coordinator with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Michael Stekoll, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Alaska Southeast, is a researcher at one of those hatcheries. ...More
Climate change research underway in Héen Latinee
11-06-2016 | Juneau Empire - On a Saturday morning, University of Alaska Southeast biology student Alannah Johnson loaded up her pickup with science equipment, drove out to Echo Cove and located a few randomly-selected points on her GPS. On weekends, Johnson counts mushrooms. “The forest would be pretty stinky without them,” she said while setting up a 1-by-2 meter plot around her GPS waypoint. “They break everything down.” ...More
Symposium ties manic disorders to money
11-09-2016 | Juneau Empire - The seats were packed at the first keynote speaker’s lecture on manic depression in America at the University of Alaska Southeast’s Power & Privilege Symposium on Wednesday morning. Andrew James Archer, a licensed clinical social worker and trained psychotherapist, talked to the audience about bipolar disorder, otherwise known as manic depression, and its relationship with biology, industry and culture. ...More
Climate change research underway in Héen Latinee
11-06-2016 | Juneau Empire - On a Saturday morning, University of Alaska Southeast biology student Alannah Johnson loaded up her pickup with science equipment, drove out to Echo Cove and located a few randomly-selected points on her GPS. On weekends, Johnson counts mushrooms. “The forest would be pretty stinky without them,” she said while setting up a 1-by-2 meter plot around her GPS waypoint. “They break everything down.” ...More
"The Tao of Raven:" Hayes' new book explores the wisdom of traditional stories
11-02-2016 | Juneau Empire - Ernestine Hayes used to tell people she didn’t understand the story of Raven and the box of daylight until she had grandchildren. But when one of her grandchildren stole from her, she began thinking about the story in a new way — that of the grandfather and mother “left behind in the dark.” Hayes, a Juneau writer and University of Alaska Southeast assistant professor of English, began to see even more lessons on how to live, how to share and how to persevere. ...More
A foot in each culture: UAF professor recalls balancing Western and Native values
10-21-2016 | Juneau Empire - The University of Alaska Southeast kicked off Native American Heritage Month a couple days early with its most recent Evening at Egan lecture Friday night. Theresa Arevgaq John, a professor of cross-cultural studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, spoke, sung and danced during her lecture in Egan Library. Dressed in traditional Yup’ik garb, she painted the picture of a life spent straddling two cultures, one Native and the other Western. ...More
SHI to hold lecture on Yup’ik ways of dancing
10-26-2016 | Capital City Weekly - The Sealaska Heritage Institute will hold a lecture by a professor from University of Alaska Fairbanks on Yup’ik ways of dancing at noon on Thursday, Oct. 27, in the Living History Center at the Walter Soboleff Building. The talk by Dr. Theresa Arevgaq John, an associate professor of Indigenous studies at UAF, is titled “Yuraryaraput Kangiit-llu: Our Ways of Dance and Their Meanings.” ...More
SSSC to host Salmon Culture Lab
10-21-2016 | KCAW - Angie Bowers will be teaching a Salmon Culture Lab October 26th – 28th at the Sitka Sound Science Center. The class is offered through the University of Alaska Southeast’s Fisheries Technology Program. Bowers is SSSC’s Aquaculture Director. ...More
UAS to hold Power & Privelege Symposium on Nov. 9
10-19-2016 | Juneau Empire - The University of Alaska Southeast will hold its first annual Power & Privilege Symposium from 8:15 a.m.-9 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at its Juneau campus.The symposium will include three keynote speakers, six breakout sessions, and a spoken word poetry performance. ...More
Study finds local fidelity key to ocean-wide recovery of humpback whales
10-17-2016 | EurekAlert! - Humpback whales can migrate thousands of miles to reach feeding grounds each year, but a new study concludes that their fidelity to certain local habitats - as passed on through the generations - and the protection of these habitats are key to understanding the ultimate recovery of this endangered species. Using a large database maintained by Glacier Bay National Park and the University of Alaska Southeast, the records of the founding population were then compared to records of the "contemporary population" returning to Glacier Bay, more than 30 years after Jurasz's initial studies. The results were striking. ...More
Seaweed farming begins in Southeast
10-12-2016 | Juneau Empire - A year ago, Trevor Sande wasn’t thinking much about seaweed. Early this November, however, he and the employees at Hump Island Oyster Company in Ketchikan, which Sande founded and owns, will plant five acres of bull kelp and ribbon kelp, all originating from local seaweed. Seaweed isn’t yet a big part of commercial mariculture in Alaska — but researchers at the University of Alaska Southeast and seaweed product company Blue Evolution are working to change that. ...More
Evenings at Egan kick off
10-5-2016 | Capital City Weekly - The annual fall lecture series Evening at Egan kicked off on Sept. 16 at the University of Alaska Southeast Auke Lake campus. Oct. 7 is “Aquaculture in Alaska? The opportunity of the century!” with Kake oyster farm owner Tom Henderson, followed Oct. 14 by Dr. Nina Chordas sharing information from her research in Russia, “Reading What Couldn’t Be Written: Literary Scholarship in the Soviet Union, or How Socialist Realism Hijacked the Renaissance.” ...More
SHI program trains educators to see Thru the Cultural Lens
9-27-2016 | KTOO - Juneau teachers and administrators were the students on Saturday at a Sealaska Heritage Institute seminar intended to help them see the world from their pupils’ perspectives. Angie Lunda is an assistant professor of education for the University of Alaska Southeast. She is Tlingit from the Kaagwaantaan clan and she is teaching today’s session. ...More
Scientists look at dynamics of melting at Southeast Alaska glacier
9-14-2016 | KFSK - Scientists have discovered huge underwater ice caves in glaciers that flow into the ocean, depositing plumes of fresh rain and melt water into glacial fjords. A multi-year study of one glacier near Petersburg is focusing on that interaction between the ice, fresh water and ocean water and what that may reveal about melting glaciers around the globe. Roman Motyka is a research professor emeritus with the University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute. He is based in Juneau and is also affiliated with University of Alaska Southeast. ...More
Language program receives funding
9-15-2016 | Alaska Dispatch News - The Sealaska Heritage Institute has received a grant of $927,000 from the federal Administration for Native Americans to help pay for mentor-apprentice teams to study Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian languages over the next three years. The program will connect two students with one mentor to immerse themselves in the languages, transcribe tapes of speakers in the possession of the Institute and participate in orthography and linguistics programs at the University of Alaska Southeast. ...More
Tlingit linguist Lance Twitchell receives Judson L. Brown award
9-9-2016 | Alaska Dispatch News - The Sealaska Heritage Institute has selected Lance Twitchell as the recipient of the annual Judson L. Brown Leadership Award. Twitchell, whose Tlingit name is X'unei, is an associate professor of Alaska Native languages at the University of Alaska Southeast. ...More
UAS Juneau campus to get shuttle service
9-7-2016 | Juneau Empire - A new Juneau campus shuttle program has launched this semester, providing services between the Auke Lake campus, Anderson Building, Student Housing and Recreation Center. The shuttle service is designed to improve safety for students, while also improving the ability to move between classes and gain access to campus services. ...More
UAS program encourages adults to get their college degrees
9-7-2016 | Juneau Empire - This summer the University of Alaska Southeast’s Finish College Alaska program launched, and with it, the plan to increase the number of degree-toting adults. ...More
Cooperative Extension Service to keep doors open in Sitka
9-1-2016 | KTOO - Leadership for Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Alaska Fairbanks announced Aug. 31 a plan to keep two offices open that it planned to close this fall due to state budget cuts –- one in Anchorage and the other in Sitka. The Sitka office now will be funded largely through grants, some with 4-H and the National Park Service. The program assistant Jasmine Shaw, based at the University of Alaska Southeast, will continue her work offering programs to the community. ...More
UAS has three new arts and sciences faculty
8-21-2016 | Juneau Empire - The University of Alaska Southeast welcomes three new arts and science faculty members: Dr. Keith Cox, Dr. Mique’l Dangeli and Dr. Michael Navarro. ...More
UAS students donate Polar Plunge proceeds to AWARE
8-21-2016 | Juneau Empire - This spring, the University of Alaska Southeast Student Activities Board voted unanimously to donate their annual Polar Plunge funds to AWARE (Aiding Women in Abuse and Rape Emergencies). The students raised over $2,000 for us, which funded AWARE’s Clothesline Project that you may have seen on display during April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. ...More
UAS hosts Dauenhauer memorial
8-18-2016 | Juneau Empire - The University of Alaska Southeast is hosting a memorial service in remembrance of Richard Dauenhauer, the poet and translator who died in August 2014 of cancer. Dauenhauer and his wife, Nora Marks Dauenhauer collaborated on works that helped the survival of the Tlingit language. ...More
LeConte glacier field work is underway
8-18-2016 | Petersburg Pilot - Researchers involved in a four-year collaborative project to study the impact of subglacial discharge at LeConte Glacier were in town this week to conduct fieldwork in LeConte Bay. The study is focused on improving our understanding of how tidewater glaciers interact with the ocean and how the ocean interacts with the glacier. "Basically, the short story is we are looking at how runoff from the glacier affects circulation in the fjord, and then how that circulation then affects melting of the glacier face,'' says Jason Amundson, a glaciologist with the Department of Natural Sciences at the University of Alaska-Southeast (UAS). "Part of the project is just trying to quantify how much water comes out of the glacier at different times of the year, and the part is being in the fjord measuring water properties." ...More
Promotions of UAS Faculty
8-14-2016 | Juneau Empire - Three professors at the University of Alaska Southeast Juneau campus received promotions. ...More
Since 2008, number of UAS students using disability services quintuple
8-15-2016 | KTOO - The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, requires institutions receiving public money or providing a public service, including colleges, offer a level playing field to people who have disabilities. In 2008, the act was amended to expand the definition of disability. That fall, 23 University of Alaska Southeast students were using disability services. By the spring semester of this year, there were 119. The upward trend is also true at the Universities of Alaska Anchorage and Fairbanks, but it’s not as dramatic. ...More
Scientists discover black carbon on Mendenhall Glacier
8-11-2016 | Juneau Empire - Researchers from the University of Alaska Southeast discovered a chemical on the Mendenhall Glacier which is thought to accelerate glacial melt: black carbon. ...More
UAS welcomes prospects to "Enrollment Day" event Friday
8-9-2016 | Juneau Empire - The University of Alaska Southeast is hosting its inaugural “Enrollment Day” from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Auke Lake Campus. Students are invited to a “one-stop-shop” to complete enrollment for the fall semester, the university stated in an emailed message. ...More
In summer program, teachers get schooled in the arts
8-6-2016 | Juneau Empire - To the beat of a deerskin drum and the tune of a Tlingit song, 16 teachers from several Alaskan communities danced into the University of Alaska Southeast classroom where they had spent the last two weeks. ...More
Unfrozen - Scientists Examine Southeast Alaska’s Melting Heart
8-2-2016 | The Nature Conservancy - Hank Lentfer grew up watching Southeast Alaska’s glaciers grow thin and retreat from the shore. “The ecology is shifting literally overnight from having glaciers in the water to not,” says the manager of The Nature Conservancy’s Gustavus Forelands Preserve on Glacier Bay. “The pace of change is apparent for anybody who has lived here.” Although daunting to salmon, glacial streams provide a bonanza to the marine environment. As glaciers grind across the landscape, they crush rocks that are rich in minerals, particularly iron and phosphorus, says Eran Hood, a biogeochemist at University of Alaska Southeast. Glaciers also contain microbes that are rich in carbon, another nutrient. ...More
Alaska students help scientists prove mysterious whale species exists
7-27-2016 | KTUU - There was something strange about the whale that washed ashore St. George Island a couple summers ago, strange enough for the group that spotted the decomposing 24-foot cetacean to tip off scientists and later to help track its location for months as Bering Sea storms pushed and pulled it along the coast. A cohort of scientists that includes University of Alaska Southeast researchers published the discovery Tuesday in the journal Marine Mammal Science. ...More
A 'creative conversation' about race, violence
7-27-2016 | Capital City Weekly - Michael Brown. Trayvon Martin. Tamir Rice. Emmett Till. When Skylar Wright, a recent graduate of Pacific High School in Sitka, was thinking of black people who died violent deaths in America, “I couldn’t use one name… there are so many people. It’s always happening, and it’s continuing to happen. It’s a giant cluster of systematic abuse,” she said. Those thoughts inspired “How Black Women Taught Me to Love,” a poem Wright wrote a year ago for her father and performed July 24 at “Racial Justice and Anti-Violence: A Creative Conversation.” The event was organized and facilitated by friends Christy NaMee Eriksen and Melissa Garcia Johnson The event was hosted by the University of Alaska Southeast. ...More
Chancellor Caulfield appointed as vice chair to a committee on teacher education
7-25-2016 | Juneau Empire - University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Dr. Rick Caulfield was appointed to serve as Vice Chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Presidential Committee on Teacher Education. ...More
Artists, police promote community dialogue on diversity, peace
7-19-2016 | Juneau Empire - Juneau business owner Christy NaMee Eriksen said she was troubled for days after watching the most recent online videos of white officers killing black men that have reignited a national conversation on racism. From 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the University of Alaska Southeast Recreation Center, different Juneau artists will use their respective crafts to create a dialogue focused on justice and anti-violence. The event, titled “Racial Justice and Anti-Violence: A Creative Conversation,” will feature visual works, performances and a community discussion portion. The event is free and open to the public. ...More
Alaska inmates find creative outlet - and national recognition - through art
7-15-2016 | Alaska Dispatch News - Sitting in a room lit with natural light and surrounded by empty chairs, Jennifer Prince began reciting her poem on a June afternoon. "… I've gone to war and back to unpaint the image that a real world exists between the moon and me …" Prince read in a calm, steady voice off a sheet of paper. Prince was at Lemon Creek last year when Hayes, an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, taught creative writing classes to female inmates. Hayes' colleague Sol Neely works with male inmates at the Juneau prison, and Hayes said she wanted to reach out to the women, who are in the minority there and don't have as many programs offered to them. ...More
Scholarships for Alaska Native teachers
7-13-2016 | Capital City Weekly - The University of Alaska Southeast’s PITAAS program, a scholarship program for Alaska Natives who want to be teachers, is accepting applications. In Alaska schools, Alaska Natives make up 25 percent of the student body and less than 5 percent of the teaching force. PITAAS, which stands for Preparing Indigenous Teachers and Administrators for Alaska Schools, is a scholarship program with associated services aimed at getting more Alaska Native teachers and administrators in Alaskan schools. ...More
Building houses for class credit
6-19-2016 | Juneau Empire - Sydne Williamson wants to build houses — “tiny houses.” “I’m proficient at demolition,” she said while taking measurements for some exterior finish work on a 900-square foot home under construction. “But I need to learn how to build. I see tiny houses as a low-cost housing need for Juneau. I think people are ready to get rid of their material things.” Williamson was among University of Alaska Southeast and Juneau-Douglas High School students working on a low-cost housing project through the University’s School of Career Education, in partnership with Juneau Housing Trust, over the past school year out the road near Lena Point. ...More
Introducing the new UAS provost
7-10-2016 | Juneau Empire - Meet Dr. Karen Carey, the new University of Alaska Southeast provost, who was announced last week after a year long, national search. She replaces former provost Rick Caulfield, who now serves as the UAS Chancellor. ...More
After bear mauling, UAS prof expected to make full recovery
7-6-2016 | Juneau Empire - It’s been less than three months since University of Alaska Southeast assistant professor Forest Wagner was mauled by a bear, and he’s already back to hiking mountains. “After ten surgeries and ongoing physical rehabilitation, Wagner is now walking around and has even climbed peaks on the weekends in Anchorage where he is residing as an outpatient,” according to a Wednesday afternoon news release by UAS. ...More
Glacier-Dammed Lake Drains, Triggers Outburst Flooding In Juneau, Alaska
7-01-2016 | Weather Underground - A lake atop one of Alaska's most well-known glaciers is draining quickly and triggering flooding in parts of Juneau. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flood warning for Mendenhall Lake and areas immediately downstream, including homes in Juneau's Mendenhall Valley. "Water has been building up in the basin for several months," said Dr. Eran Hood, Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Alaska Southeast. ...More
Juneau Rotary Club donates funds for UAS scholarships
6-26-2016 | Juneau Empire - For 15 years the Rotary Club of Juneau has hosted a wine auction to raise funds for the University of Alaska Southeast scholarships to be awarded annually. In collaboration with UAS, an endowment fund was established and has continued to grow over the years. The $35,000 contribution made will bring the endowment up to a sustainable level that should generate enough earnings to issue $6,000 in annual scholarships to UAS students. ...More
UAS Sitka offers NW Coast basketry, design this summer
6-17-2016 | KCAW - UAS Sitka assistant Art professor Liz Zacher and adjunct instructor Mark Sixbey discuss two NW Coast Art classes this summer: the first, with Ketchikan weaver Dolores Churchill runs M-F 6-9 PM June 20 – Jul 2; the second, with Sixbey runs July 11 – 27. ...More
UAS Ketchikan students make honors lists
6-15-2016 | KRBD - University of Alaska Southeast Ketchikan Campus has announced which students earned spots on the UAS Chancellor’s and Dean’s lists for the spring 2016 semester. To make the Chancellor’s List, a student must earn a 4.0 grade point average, and complete at least 12 credit hours. On the Chancellor’s list are Amy Bauer, Alexis McColley-Edwardson and Melyssa Nagamine. Jones, a former Sealaska Heritage Institute curator, current state archivist and University of Alaska Southeast lecturer, is working on uncovering the lives of jewelers past and present. ...More
Behind the bracelets: Documenting the lives of Native jewelers
6-15-2016 | Juneau Empire - There’s a great deal of doubt involved in matching historic Native jewelers with their creations, even in cases that seem straightforward like that of a silver snuffbox owned by Rudolph Walton and emblazoned with his initials. “He made it,” called out a woman from the audience, adding that she had heard so from his granddaughter. “We should chat,” Jones responded. Jones, a former Sealaska Heritage Institute curator, current state archivist and University of Alaska Southeast lecturer, is working on uncovering the lives of jewelers past and present. ...More
UA gets more money from the state than it expected
6-6-2016 | Alaska Dispatch News - University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen said he received relatively good news this week after the state Legislature struck a budget deal: the university would face a smaller cut to its state funding than it had braced for amid crashing oil prices. But it wasn't enough to avoid the elimination of hundreds of staff and faculty positions in the university's statewide spending plan approved Friday by the UA Board of Regents. ...More
Free conference aims to prevent disease by preventing, addressing trauma
6-1-2016 | Juneau Empire - The Juneau Suicide Prevention Coalition (JSPC) will hold a two-day conference called “Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicide: Learn, Change, Prevent” all day on Thursday and Friday, June 2-3 at the University of Alaska Southeast. An evening session will also take place on Thursday, June 2 at 6:30 p.m. There is no cost for the conference and meals will be provided. ...More
How the suburbs killed a salmon creek and science informs its restoration
5-24-2016 | KTOO - Federally funded environmental science on a geologically doomed creek in Juneau could inform fish-saving restoration on other impaired water bodies. Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation has announced nearly $300,000 in grants to improve water quality in some of the state’s most damaged watersheds, including the orange-tinted Duck Creek. Amy Sumner, a biologist and project manager with the Juneau Watershed Partnership said the [restoration] effort will be coordinated with the University of Alaska Southeast and train budding student biologists in water quality assessment. ...More
Community dialogue on life after incarceration planned for Wednesday
5-24-2016 | Juneau Empire - Five formerly incarcerated individuals will tell their stories of what it’s like reentering the community at the Juneau Reentry Coalition’s May meeting Wednesday night. The community is invited to attend, listen and take part in an inclusive social dialogue, said Don Habeger, the coalition’s community coordinator. Dr. Sol Neely, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Alaska Southeast, will moderate the community dialogue. Neely also teaches a UAS literature and philosophy program at Lemon Creek Correctional Center called The Flying University. ...More
Bullwinkle's makes headlines for providing UAS scholarships
5-23-2016 | KTOO - Bullwinkle’s Pizza Parlor is one of four semifinalists in a national campaign recognizing its program that covers employees’ college tuition. [Bullwinkle's owner Mitch Falk] said he screens his applicants and approves their curriculum before he gives them the scholarship. To continue receiving it, employees must work at least 20 hours per week and maintain a B average. He usually pays for University of Alaska Southeast classes for two or three workers a semester. ...More
Dozens of musicians to participate in performance of “Inuksuit” this weekend
5-20-2016 | KTOO - An outdoor percussion performance with up to 99 musicians will have its Alaska premiere Saturday. The composition is called “Inuksuit” and will take place at the University of Alaska Southeast campus. “Inuksuit” is by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams who is a former resident of Fairbanks. The performance is organized and conducted by Third Coast Percussion who is here thanks to Juneau Jazz and Classics. ...More
UAS 2016 Faculty Excellence Awards given out
5-8-2016 | Juneau Empire - Four University of Alaska Southeast faculty members were the recipients of annual Excellence Awards during a ceremony at the Auke Lake campus on May 2. Juneau faculty Karen Mitchell (English), Jason Amundson (Environmental Science), Johanna Fagen (Biology) and Ketchikan faculty William Urquhart (Sociology) were selected by their peers and students for excellence in teaching, research, adjunct instruction and faculty advising. ...More
UAS ceremony honors 670 grads
5-3-2016 | Juneau Empire - The number of University of Alaska Southeast degrees, certificates and licenses handed out during a ceremony on Sunday were among the most ever, according to the university. UAS graduates received their diplomas during a commencement ceremony held Sunday at the Charles Gamble Jr.-Donald Sperl Joint Use Facility. UAS awarded 755 associate, bachelor, and master’s degrees along with occupational endorsements, certificates, and professional licensures. Awards were granted to 670 graduates from the Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka campuses. ...More
Interview - Tlingit linguist says language carries wisdom of elders
5-2-2016 | KNBA - Most of Alaska’s twenty Native languages are going extinct. However, a Native languages assistant professor at the University of Alaska Southeast is bucking that tide. Lance X’uneit Twitchell worked hard to learn Tlingit, a language used by his family for thousands of years. Tlingit people have a rich and complex high civilization along the Pacific coast in Southeast Alaska famous for its totem poles, clan system, regalia, rich poetry and formal rhetoric. ...More