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 third 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 and one-page summaries of each component of the program: Boreal Fires; Coastal Margins; and Diversity, Education and Workforce Development. You can also view posters, presentations and publications from Fire and ice researchers.
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
New monthly newsletter
We've begun sending out a monthly email called "Fire & Ice Essentials" to individuals involved in the Fire & Ice project. Its main focus is on funding opportunities, and it also includes notes about upcoming conferences and other events, as well as project news and products.
We're still planning to continue with quarterly newsletters, which will be aimed more at an external audience. The latest issue of the Alaska NSF EPSCoR newsletter came out in December and includes a feature story on a pair of exciting remote sensing collaborations between EPSCoR Boreal Fires researchers and the Tanana Chiefs Conference. The newsletter is also viewable on Issuu.
DEW Boreal Fires Curriculum
We've posted a 5-lesson fire science curriculum aimed at 3rd-5th grades. The lessons were developed by the Fire & Ice DEW team in collaboration with the BLM Campbell Creek Science Centerand the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District 21st Century Learning Program.
STEM success stories
EPSCoR is showcasing the unique characteristics that Alaskans bring to STEM by sharing
a series of interviews with former University of Alaska students in successful STEM careers. The first interviews
are with Liz Dennett, who works for Amazon Web Services; Thomas Hughes, an engineer for the Alaska DOT; and Fairbanks pediatrician Carla Cartagena De Jesus (pictured).
New videos and highlights
Our video production team has been busy! We have four new videos up on our YouTube page:
"Fire & Ice Project Overview" is a brief animated introduction to the Fire & Ice project.
"The McKinley Fire: Rebuilding and Lessons Learned" is an overview of the 2019 McKinley Fire, which burned a 10-mile long swath alongside the Parks Highway. The video has been nominated for a Learnie Award.
"Fire & Ice Coastal Margins Research" is a thorough overview of our research on the Gulf of Alaska.
"Dev Space Development Tools" puts a hammer through the wringer to demonstrate some of the capabilities of the Dev Space facility.
There's a also a Tanana Chiefs Conference video showing footage of some of the TCC/Boreal Fires fieldwork in the Chena River watershed this summer.
In addition, we've put together two new PDF highlights; one is about our research collaborations with the Tanana Chiefs Conference and the other is a list of our 2021 Seed Grant awardees.
Contract Negotiation Workshop
Alaska NSF EPSCoR and the UAF Faculty Accelerator are sponsoring a workshop on "Strategies for Maximizing Salary and Working Conditions," with presenters Amanda White and Abel Bult-Ito. The workshop will be held Feb. 9 at 4 pm and repeated at 4 pm Feb. 10. More details in the flyer; Registration required.
New Boreal Fires faculty hire
We're pleased to announce the hire of Simon Zwieback as an Assistant Professor of Remote Sensing with the UAF Geophysical Institute. Zwieback
holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Zurich (ETH Zurich), and an M.S. in Geodesy and Geophysics and a B.S. in Geodesy and
Geoinformatics from the Vienna Institute of Technology in Austria. He’s held postdoctoral
and professional positions at ETH Zurich and a postdoc at the University of Guelph
in Canada, and most recently worked as a Research Associate at the Geophysical Institute.
His research interests include remote sensing and permafrost land surface processes,
and he’ll work with the Boreal Fires component.
Inspiring Girls
The Inspiring Girls program is accepting applications from high-school aged Alaskan girls for its summer 2021 science expeditions, including the EPSCoR-sponsored Girls on Water and Girls in the Forest programs. You can learn more from their new video as well as our video about Girls on Water.
TCC video
TCC Natural Cultural Resources Specialist Debra Lynne has put together a neat video showing footage of some of the TCC/Boreal Fires fieldwork in the Chena River watershed this summer. There's more info on the research in the December newsletter.
Program brochure
We've printed out a brochure for the Fire & Ice project. Hard copies are available on campus; email Tom Moran to arrange a pickup or dropoff.
Research Workspace videos
We've posted 17 videos on our YouTube channel that explain how to use various facets of the Research Workspace, the depository for Fire and Ice data.