Theresa Bakker
907-474-6941
5/7/12

An exhibit opening May 12 at the University of Alaska Museum of the North follows five Fairbanks artists as they take their work from concept to completion. Art in the Making offers visitors an opportunity to become part of the art-making process.

“It is easy to feel isolated from a work of art if you don’t know anything about the artist or how the piece was made,” said fine arts curator Mareca Guthrie. “I’d like this exhibit to personalize the experience of seeing the art, as if the audience has been transported to the artist’s home and given a chance to watch them work, ask questions and flip through their sketchbooks.”

By juxtaposing a finished work of art, video of its creation, the tools used and the voice of the artist, the exhibit aims to transform a single moment of enjoyment into a deeper appreciation. The artists profiled include Teresa Shannon, ceramicist; Glen Simpson, mask maker; Alfred Skondovitch, painter; Adam Ottavi, photographer; and Sara Tabbert, printmaker.

Guthrie said the artists represent a wide variety of media from different ranges of experience and perspective. “The focus is on the importance and value of the process as a whole rather than on the individual works of art. I hope people walk away wanting to try making something themselves.”

Art in the Making will be on display in the Special Exhibits Gallery until Dec. 1.

Guthrie hopes it will be a unique experience for museum-goers. “Artwork in a museum tends to focus on historical importance or mastery. I’d like this exhibit to be a celebration of the tools, traditions and the thousands of small decisions that are at the core of making art.”

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Mareca Guthrie, fine arts curator, at 907-474-5102 or via email at [email protected].

ON THE WEB: museum.uaf.edu

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Alida VanAlmelo
907-474-7588
5/8/12

The University of Alaska Fairbanks will host the Really Free Market Saturday, May 19 in the Patty Center parking lot.

People can drop off items for the market from 8 to 10 a.m. The market is open from 10 a.m. to noon. There is no bartering or selling. All items are free.

Those coming to the market should watch for signs, as the event is near an active campus construction project.

For information, visit www.uaf.edu/summer or call 907-474-7021.

ON THE WEB: http://www.uaf.edu/summer/summer-events/community/

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Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042
5/8/2012

When UAF Community and Technical College chef Michael Roddey went courting Alaska farmers and producers about food for the culinary program’s scholarship dinner no one dreamed the response would be so great that a dinner composed of 95 percent Alaska grown food would be served…in springtime, no less, when harvests are a long way off.

But that is exactly what happened April 28 at Hutchison High School. CTC culinary students had been working hard all week to prepare the eight-course meal, and they served the dinner with style and grace to the fundraiser’s 120 attendees.

“We wanted to move to a sustainable menu,” Roddey said. “We were looking to lower our carbon footprint and procure products from as close to home as possible and give back to the local effort.

“Once we jumped into this head first we found a lot of folks have great things going on here.”

Growers donated everything from sea salt to rhubarb to reindeer, which the student chefs converted into top-notch culinary delights. Local donations came from Basically Basil, Burleyville Farms, Calypso Farm, Chena Fresh, Dart AM Farm, Hollembaek Farm, Homegrown Market, Interior Alaska Fish Processors, Johnson Family Farms, Papa’s Greenhouse, Rosie Creek Farm and Wrigley Farm. From farther away there were donations from Alaska Pure Sea Salt, Alaska Weathervane Seafood, Alaska Seafood Marketing Board and Mid-State Meats.

“I was excited and the farmers were excited,” Roddey said. “It just grew. Everyone recommended others to call. It was an exciting process. It shows how we can work together to collaborate and support one another.”

The menu featured deviled pickled egg with Bairdi crab, seared weathervane scallops a la nage, charcuterie plate featuring lamb and pork crepinette, Asian style Alaska black cod, green frappe’, manicotti reindeer bolognaise, deconstructed Alaska Caesar salad and a dessert trio.

“We are celebrating Alaska’s bounty,” Roddey told the audience.

The local eggs were pickled in spearmint tea and accented with microgreens and tomato salt. The scallops, prepared in a seafood broth accented with saffron, were plated with barley pearls, spinach and sunflower sprouts. The charcuterie was made from lamb and pork donated by Jerry Marlow. The Alaska cod was bedded on basil mashed potatoes and topped with fried organic onions.

Perhaps the most controversial item served was the green frappe’. Containing apples, ginger, cucumbers, banana, lime, cilantro, wheat grass and spinach, the healthy drink served as the interlude between main courses. “Try it before you turn your nose up at it,” Roddey encouraged the diners.

The reindeer, raised at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm at UAF and made available through Homegrown Market, was accompanied by barley flour pasta, herbs, chopped spinach, basil and arugula microgreens.

Roddey and his team have been leaning toward more sustainable menus for the past three years. Students watched the documentary, “Fresh” and composting has become a standard practice in the school kitchen. Everyone is encouraged to bring their own cups for beverages and the kitchen uses biodegradable towels. The student club has been helping Calypso Farm and Ecology Center with the school garden program. “We lead by example,” Roddey said.

Gearing more toward sustainability has expanded horizons for the students, Roddey said. And though he admits locally grown food could certainly be dismissed as a current fad, he was quick to add, “I don’t see it to be an ending fad. We are getting back to the grass roots where we started. There is value in supporting local. The seed to table concept is a good thing.

“Of course there is also a lower carbon footprint but you are also doing it for your health.”

This column is provided as a service by the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
5/8/12

Click to download a map

Starting on May 15, drivers and pedestrians on campus should watch for signs and allow extra time to reach their destinations.

See below for a link to maps showing construction projects, closed parking lots and recommended alternatives or call 474-7000 for additional information.

FOR MAPS AND UPDATES: http://www.uaf.edu/fs/departments/design-construction/

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Darcy Harrod
907-455-2878
5/7/12

Seventeen students will graduate from the 22nd session of the UAF Community and Technical College Law Enforcement Academy, Wednesday, May 9, at 1 p.m. at the Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts in Pioneer Park.

The graduation marks the culmination of the 13-week academy, which is offered twice a year. The academy is designed to provide students with basic police training, which enables them to receive the Alaska Police Standards Certification. The certification makes them eligible for employment with the 21 state law enforcement agencies or 43 municipal police departments within Alaska.

This session’s students come from all over Alaska and the Lower 48 including Ohio, Oklahoma and Washington. The class speaker is Erich Reed with the North Slope Borough Police Department.

The ceremony brings the total number of academy graduates to 375 since August 2001. Graduates from the program have gone on to become Park Rangers, Alaska State Troopers, Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement, pipeline security, private security and police officers.

The next session of the academy begins Aug. 13, 2012; applications are currently being accepted.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Dusty Johnson, CTC law enforcement academy program coordinator, at 907-455-2811 or via email at [email protected].

ON THE WEB: http://www.ctc.uaf.edu/le/

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Rebecca Leivdal
907-378-1808
5/4/12

Local youths will run their own small businesses Sunday, May 6 with the help of Lemonade Day Alaska and University of Alaska Fairbanks students.

Lemonade stands will be open throughout the Fairbanks North Star Borough from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Lemonade Day program allows children and teens to learn about running a small business. From permits to cost analysis, youths build the concept from the ground up and keep their profits in the end.

Visit http://alaska.lemonadeday.org for more information and to find a lemonade stand in your area.

ON THE WEB: alaska.lemondayday.org

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Julie Estey
907-474-1144
5/4/12

Pure Energy, a team of middle-schoolers from the Aurora Borealis Charter School in Kenai, topped the charts at the 2012 KidWind Design Challenge, a statewide competition that tests students’ ability to design a wind turbine that creates the most electricity.

The team produced 14,303 milliwatts of electricity, besting the 22 high-school and middle-school teams that participated in the challenge and taking first place in the middle school division. Team Turbie, from the southwestern Alaska town of St. Mary’s, won first place in the high school division.

“It is exciting to see youth from around Alaska excel at this competition,” said Julie Estey, business director of the at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Alaska Center for Energy and Power, which runs the competition. “Doing well in the KidWind Challenge takes a special mix of innovation, teamwork, creativity and tenacity, and the students should be proud of their efforts.”

Competing against youth throughout the state, students work in teams of four to create a turbine from the ground up. Teams design a base, then determine the size, shape, material and number of blades to maximize the efficiency of their turbine.

The secret however, says ACEP research technician and judge Kirk Hardcastle, was the gearing. “Top-placing students went the extra mile and added their own unique gear box to their design, which can really improve power production.”

Students must also create a multimedia presentation explaining their process and what they learned, which is scored as a part of the competition as well. Team Vertigo from Mt. Edgecumbe High School and The Smarties from Hoonah Middle School received awards for their presentations. Following is a list of teams that placed in the competition:

High school division

First place: Team Turbie from St. Mary’s School in St. Mary’s -  3, 512 mWs

Second place: Team Kwethluk from Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka – 2,736 mWs

Third place: LeBoom from Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka – 1,774 mWs

Middle school division

First place: Pure Energy from Aurora Borealis Charter School in Kenai -  14,303 mWs

Second place: Endless Energy from Aurora Borealis Charter School in Kenai -  13,953 mWs

Third place, tie:  Wind Devils from Tustumena Middle School in Kasilof, 9,158 mWs; and   Smarties from Hoonah Middle School in Hoonah – 5,932 mWs (due to high presentation score)

Each winning team will receive a trophy a KidWind gift certificate for their classroom, and KidWind T-shirts for each winning student in recognition of their achievement. The following schools participated in this year’s competition: Aurora Borealis Charter School, Kenai; Hoonah High School, Hoonah; Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Sitka; Napaaqtugmiut School, Noatak; St. Mary’s School, St. Mary’s; Tustumena Elementary, Kasilof; William Miller Memorial School, Napakiak.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or via email at [email protected].

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Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042
5/1/12

The joint final report from the Alaska Cliomes Project and the Canada Cliomes Project is now available for public download.

The report offers the public, including land managers, government agencies, communities, businesses, academics and nonprofits, new perspectives on how climate change affects northern ecosystems.

The projects used historical weather data to divide the landscape into areas of similar climate. Each of these areas — or cliomes — is described based on the characteristic pattern of vegetation and wildlife species that thrive under those particular climate conditions. The project then used climate models to project how ongoing climate change may cause the landscape to shift in coming decades.

Project results suggest some major shifts in these cliomes and the ecosystems associated with them. Climate patterns currently found in Interior and arctic Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories are expected to shift northward. By 2069, models suggest that some Canadian cliomes are likely to move into Alaska from the east. Climate patterns and associated species that are now normal in the southern prairie provinces of Canada may become common across the Far North.

Ecosystem change depends on not only climate change, but also the movement of seeds, the formation of new soil types and other major landscape changes. While project results represent possible rather than actual changes, large-scale landscape change is likely by the end of the century said Nancy Fresco, UAF Scenarios for Alaska and Arctic Planning coordinator, “This effort is intended to provide a range of descriptions of possible futures, in order to help people plan for change and adapt to it. Our hope is that this report will trigger new research, discussion and collaboration, and will help define new areas for ecosystem monitoring and adaptation efforts.”

The projects were funded by the Arctic Landscape Conservation Cooperative, The Nature Conservancy’s Canada Project, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Government Canada and Government Northwest Territories. Research and modeling were done by scientists from the UAF Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning program, the Institute of Arctic Biology’s EWHALE lab, the Arctic LCC, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and TNC.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Nancy Fresco, Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning, [email protected]  907-474-2405. Karen Murphy, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, [email protected]  907-786-3501. Evie Whitten, The Nature Conservancy’s Canada Project [email protected] 907-276-3133 ext. 107.

ON THE WEB: from http://www.snap.uaf.edu/project_page.php?projectid=8

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Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
5/2/12

USAID Award for Heroism recipient Harry Bader has returned home to put his international experience to work in the polar regions.

Bader received the 2011 heroism award for his work in Afghanistan as the co-leader of a joint military/civilian counterinsurgency cell. He returned to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in January to help establish an academic and research program focused on security in the polar regions. Bader will work to develop a program that integrates academic, civilian, and military entities in efforts to promote the use of science in security planning and operations. The program will address strategic interests in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as the natural resources that deliver essential ecological, social and economic services.

UAF’s location and research and academic programs make it the ideal place to tackle the complicated security issues that spring up with changes in the polar regions, said UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers. “Bader’s expertise provides the catalyst to develop a center that will serve Alaska and the nation.”

Mark Myers, UAF vice chancellor for research, added, “Bader’s work on arctic environmental security will be transformational and is destined to have a lasting impact on the circumpolar North.”

Bader first joined UAF’s faculty in 1990. From 2009-2011, he served with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Civilian Response in eastern Afghanistan, where he was the co-leader of the Natural Resources Counterinsurgency Cell. The cell worked to deny the enemy access to human and financial capital derived from the exploitation of natural resources.

The U.S. State Department’s USAID Award for Heroism is given to one USAID employee each year for individual acts of valor and courage under dangerous circumstances at great risk to personal safety. It is one of the highest civilian awards granted by the U.S. government. This year’s citation reads that Bader, as a member of the Civilian Response Corps, “…distinguished himself while embedded with U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, serving a unique and critical role to counterinsurgency operations while under enemy fire.”

Bader received his J.D. at Harvard University Law School and is now finishing a doctorate degree in forestry from the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Harry Bader, associate research professor, at 907-474-6663 or [email protected].

NOTE TO EDITORS: A photo of Bader is available online at www.uafnews.com.

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Ned Rozell
907-474-7468
5/2/2012

After researching the mealtime mechanisms of mosquitoes, I’ve come up with a foolproof plan to keep the bloodsuckers off me this summer.

First, all wear light colored clothing. Second, I’ll bathe more often in an attempt to be as odorless as possible. Third, I won’t exhale while I’m in the woods.

“Snow mosquitoes,” the big, sluggish mosquitoes that are the first to irritate us, survive the winter by bundling up in leaf litter or wedging themselves under loose tree bark.

Like many hibernating insects, overwintering mosquitoes depend on supercooling, a process by which an animal has the ability to rid its body fluids of impurities that would trigger the formation of ice, thereby allowing it to cool down below 32 degrees Fahrenheit without bursting its cell walls.

Mosquitoes in hibernation can survive temperatures down to about 25 below zero. But years with a meager snowpack may cause quite a few mosquitoes to freeze and die when the mercury plummets. Yellowjackets, also supercoolers, may take quite a hit in low snow years. But a lack of snow doesn’t affect the eggs of mosquitoes. Those eggs are the source of the smaller, faster mosquito species that hatch later in the summer.

Mosquito eggs laid last fall will soon be floating atop standing bodies of water ranging in size from Wonder Lake to a water-filled moose track in the tundra. The dozens of Alaska mosquito species that will hatch from these eggs won’t be sluggish to strike, they’ll act like a human male in a grocery store: quick in, quick out.

Only female mosquitoes bother us. Females need blood’s protein to develop their ovaries and make more mosquitoes. Males survive by sipping nectar from flowers and sucking juices from fruit; females also supplement their diet with nectar. While both males and females have antennae, the males’ are much more garish, protruding like large feathers. The males’ antennae act as tuning forks, resonating to the whine produced by the wings of females. During mating season, a few to a few thousand males gather together in swarms. Males in the cloud seize any female that wanders inside. Like dragonflies, mosquitoes mate in mid-air.

Once fertilized by the male, the female mosquito searches for a blood donor. Using sensors on its antennae, a mosquito picks up animals’ body odor and carbon dioxide (a gas we exhale, along with water vapor). The female mosquito follows the trail upwind to its source. Once mosquitoes get closer, they’re attracted to other cues such as dark colors, moisture in the air, and silhouettes of potential victims. Researchers found that mosquitoes responded to the cues of a calf when the calf was standing 45 feet away, as was reported in the British text, The Biology of Mosquitoes. Insect repellents are designed to block mosquitoes’ sensory organs with heavy, bulky molecules. When its sensors are clogged with repellent a mosquito is fooled into looking elsewhere for its blood meal. Mosquitoes may not prefer human blood, though. In the 1949 book, The Natural History of Mosquitoes, researcher Marston Bates reported that one species of mosquito laid half as many eggs after feeding on man than it did after digesting the blood of rabbits, guinea pigs and rats. Bates reported on another experiment where mosquitoes were released in a room containing humans, pets and livestock. Factoring in the size difference of each animal, cows were the mosquitoes’ favorite target, swelling with 47.6 percent of the bites. Goats followed at 25 percent, then pigs at 13.8, humans at 4.8, dogs at 3.6, cats at 3.4, and barnyard fowl at 1.8 percent.

This column is provided as a public service by the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, in cooperation with the UAF research community. This column first appeared in 1996.