Konar named Alaska NSF EPSCoR lead

Dr. Brenda Konar named as the new Principal Investigator and Project Director of its “Fire & Ice” research project.

Fairbanks, Alaska

Date of Press Release: May 25, 2021

Alaska NSF EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) has named Dr. Brenda Konar as the new Principal Investigator and Project Director of its “Fire & Ice” research project.

Konar is a Professor of Marine Biology with the UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. She has served since 2018 as a co-PI of “Fire & Ice,” an interdisciplinary effort to study climate-driven changes to Alaska’s boreal fire regimes and its coastal ecosystems.

“I’m very excited to take the reins of this important research project,” Konar said. “Fire & Ice has already started to publish some significant findings, and I look forward to helping us continue to make important discoveries and to build Alaska’s research capacity.”

Konar succeeds Dr. Alice “Pips” Veazey, who resigned from the university to take a job closer to family. Veazey had been PI of the project since 2019, and had served Alaska NSF EPSCoR in various capacities since 2007. Konar’s position as PI is still subject to confirmation by the National Science Foundation, which is expected to be a formality.

The Fire & Ice project (NSF grant #OIA-1757348) uses remote sensing, fieldwork, laboratory experiments and modeling to examine climate-driven changes, and works with communities to generate knowledge about their potential impacts. The five-year (2018-23) effort is administered by Alaska NSF EPSCoR, which improves Alaska's scientific capacity by engaging in research projects supported through National Science Foundation and state funds.

Konar holds a B.S. in Biology from San Jose State University, an M.S. in Marine Biology from Moss Landing Marine Labs in California, and a Ph.D in Biology from UC-Santa Cruz. She has worked at CFOS since 1999 and been a full professor since 2009. She serves as co-lead of the Fire & Ice Coastal Margins component and will continue to do so in addition to her PI role.

For more information contact Tom Moran, tmoran3@alaska.edu, 907-474-5581, or Brenda Konar, bhkonar@alaska.edu, 907-474-5028.