Welcome to Alaska NSF EPSCoR

Alaska NSF EPSCoR improves Alaska's scientific capacity by engaging in research projects supported through National Science Foundation and state funds. EPSCoR is in the fourth year of "Fire and Ice," a five-year project to study climate-driven changes to Alaskan wildfire regimes and coastal ecosystems. For more information check out our brochure. You can also view publications and products by Fire and ice researchers and learn about impacts of the project.

The national NSF EPSCoR organization also supports Alaska through other funding streams. Check out this poster for more information on the timeline and structure of NSF EPSCoR in Alaska.

EPSCoR news

Science Olympiad

EPSCoR And UAF are partnering to stage a Science Olympiad for Alaskan middle-school students February 24-25 on the UAF campus. Students will compete in 23 events including earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. EPSCoR and UAF sponsors will organize the event, pay for registration and travel for teams, and also fund the winning team to travel to the national Science Olympiad. See the website for information about registering a team.

Event videos

We have videos available online of several recent events:

Our May 31 workshop on Building NFTs for Academic Environments
Our May 4 webinar on “Visualizing Science: Communicating concepts through graphic design" (password: G8hK+xAn) as well as our May 13 follow-up webinar(password: U2f?bxX).
Our May 4 Natural History webinar, including talks by Rick Thoman on climate change; Eric Klein on glaciers; Omega Smith on the aurora; Molly McCarthy-Cunfer on salmon, and Alison York on wildfires.
Our April 26 Student Ambassador presentation, "Working with nonprofits" (passcode: e0?B&&X*)
Our April 7 Student Ambassador presentation: "Research careers outside academia and resume writing" (passcode: +Aq5!yHm)
Our April 4 Science Pub entitled “Follow the Flow: Glaciers to Wine," featuring EPSCoR graduate student Jordan Jenckes and sommelier Cara Patricia
Our March 28 Student Ambassador presentation, "The NOAA Corps" (passcode: 674L#=YG)

EPSCoR 2022 Update

We're pleased to bring you the "EPSCoR 2022 update," a multifaceted report that encapsulates the progress and findings of the Fire & Ice project through 2022.

The update is based around an interactive PDF, which in turn links to three "Storymap" narratives, one each for the Boreal Fires, Coastal Margins and DEW components. The PDF also links through to various sections of this website that have been freshly updated to reflect accomplishments throughout the project.

SCUBA Awards

EPSCoR awarded 8 “SCUBA Inclusion Awards” of up to $1,000 designed to increase diversity and inclusion in science fields that incorporate SCUBA diving to UA undergrads and graduate students to use for open water training or other dive courses. The following EPSCoR students received SCUBA awards:

Nastasia Caole
Anushree Badola
Aihs Palmer
Kiley Stevens
Kaia Victorino
Brian Ulaski
Chelsea Brigham
Maggie House

EPSCoR "Track-2" awards

The National Science Foundation has released a solicitation for NSF EPSCoR “Track-2” collaborative research projects. Proposals must include Co-PIs from at least two of the 28 EPSCoR states and territories, and must be on the (extremely Alaska-relevant!) topic of “Advancing climate change research and resilience capacity to expand opportunities for disproportionately affected communities."

Proposals are for up to four years and up to a total of $1 million a year for awards shared between two EPSCoR jurisdictions, and up to $1.5 million a year for awards shared between three or more jurisdictions. Letters of intent are due December 20, 2022 and full proposals due January 24, 2023.

UAA, UAF and UAS can serve as lead for only one proposal each, and an investigator may serve as Principal Investigator or Co-PI on only one Track-2 award at any given time. UAA researchers interested in applying should contact Aaron Dotson, UAS researchers should contact Maren Haavig and UAF researchers should consult Nettie LaBelle-Hamer. UA researchers are also encouraged to serve as Co-PI’s on projects at other jurisdictions.

Faces of STEM

Nikki Grant-Hoffman EPSCoR is showcasing the unique characteristics that Alaskans bring to STEM by sharing a series of interviews with former University of Alaska students succeeding in STEM careers. Interviews are with Sigrun Hreinsdottir, who studies volcanoes and earthquakes in New Zealand; ANTHC engineer Shawn Takak (picture); BLM Ecologist and Science Coordinator Nikki Grant-Hoffman; Navy meteorologist James Campbell; Muckleshoot Tribe marine biologist Lee Foulkes; Alaska Harmful Algae Bloom (AHAB) Program Coordinator Thomas Farrugia; cancer researcher Mindy Kim Graham; Fairbanks pediatrician Carla Cartagena De Jesus; Thomas Hughes, an engineer for the Alaska DOT; and Liz Dennett, who works for Amazon Web Services.