What’s your academic background? I have an undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky in political science and sustainable agriculture, a master’s degree from Washington State University in teaching and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in educational theory and practice. My research interests center social studies, climate change education, the teaching of controversial…
Meet Elaine Alvey, Director of Education
Photobook: Expedition Alaska 2021
After a one-year hiatus during the pandemic, APU’s signature course returned to the Yukon River. Expedition Alaska is a 10-day rafting trip that introduces first-year students to Alaska and APU’s one-of-a-kind academics. Natural History of Alaska students floated the river in rafts, while Introduction to Wilderness Skills piloted the river in two-person canoes. Take a…
Block Spotlight: Adventure Therapy
Adventure therapy is a subset of counseling psychology built upon a foundation of experiential education for personal growth and development. By stretching to achieve personal goals, participants experience beneficial social and emotional skills like gaining confidence, building trust, boosting self-concept, and learning to rely on others. Adventure Therapy is also an APU course offered during…
Meet Diane Droutman, Associate Professor of Nursing
Who inspires you? I feel inspired by students who against all the barriers and struggles persevere and achieve their goal. What was the best concert you ever attended? Peter, Paul, and Mary Where’s your favorite place in the world? Sitting in nature and watching what is going on. It can be on the water, in…
Meet Will Elliott, Assistant Professor of Writing
What’s your academic background? I finished college as a creative writing major with an interest in outdoor education, where I worked briefly after graduation. However, I still felt like I had questions about this world that needed exploring. I went back to school, this time with a focus in American literature and the environment. After…
Inside Indian Country Today’s APU Bureau
“We call ourselves a 40-year-old startup,” joked Mark Trahant, editor of Indian Country Today. The publication has gone through several iterations since launching in 1981 as Lakota Times, but has continuously maintained a focus on Native news. The publication’s current era is rooted in university partnerships. That includes a bureau office at APU. In 2018,…
Meet Annette Rearden, Associate Professor of Nursing
What’s your academic background? I graduated from Marquette University with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. My master’s is in nursing education from UAA. I am particularly interested in simulation, culturally safe nursing, rural nursing, and the recruitment and retention of nursing students. Who inspires you? Anyone who has overcome adversity, big or small. The resiliency…
Diversity on the trail
Like many APU students, Lilly Gritsavage will be in the mountains this summer. If it’s a windy day, look for the person wrapped in blankets at the trailhead. Enrolled in APU’s Master of Science in Outdoor and Experiential Education, Lilly is conducting surveys on trail usage in Anchorage this summer. The results will inform her…
APU student research spotlights Eklutna Glacier
For more than a decade, Alaska Pacific University (APU) faculty and students have camped, dug, monitored, and measured on Eklutna Glacier, the main source of Anchorage’s water supply. Those years of observations contributed to a recent article published in the Journal of Glaciology about the glacier’s response to climate change. In short, Eklutna Glacier is…
Seven women. Three weeks. One APU expedition.
Photos by Outdoor Studies student Addy Wright APU regularly offers expedition courses, but this year’s mountaineering class was special. For likely the first time in program history, all participants were women. The multi-week expedition – a graduation requirement for Outdoor Studies majors – spent May Block in the Alaska Range camping on glaciers, skiing on…
