Commencement is May 1. Before the big day, get to know a few members of the Class of 2021 Kela Vicich Bachelor’s of Marine and Environmental Science Class of 2021 Last summer’s travel bans threatened to disrupt long-term research at Toolik Field Station, where one year of lost data could derail decades of work. Out-of-state…
Meet the Class of 2021
APU Bookshelf: Alumni authors share their stories
Brooke Hartman M.B.A. ’04 As a children’s book author, Brooke only has a few hundred words to build characters, shape a plot, and add a few life lessons on the way. But that’s just one challenge of the writing life. You can write your story at a coffeeshop, she says, “but if you want someone…
Outdoor Studies senior wins big at business competition
At the 2021 UAA Business Plan Competition, Outdoor Studies major Kiana Till won $7,250 with the help of her business partners. Not bad for a senior project. Kiana’s prize-winning concept is an Indigenous-rooted ecotourism company located in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. The idea stems from Kiana and her partners’ lifelong connection to the…
Kikkan Randall chases down graduation
She’s back. After 17 national titles, 29 World Cup podiums, and Team USA’s first Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing, Kikkan Randall is finishing her degree. Kikkan started at APU 20 years ago, joining APU’s Nordic Ski Center after graduating from East High School in Anchorage. Though she’s taken classes over the years, her primary…
Wikipedia and the college classroom
Professors don’t often encourage students to use Wikipedia. But in two of Dr. Erin Larson’s environmental science courses – Climate Change and Water Resource Management – the open-source website is a key component. Students don’t just use Wikipedia, but also help improve it. The popular website aims to democratize information. That means anyone – including…
Alaska Indigenous Research Program to offer free health research courses online in 2021
The Alaska Indigenous Research Program (AKIRP) will be hosted online this year. The unique research program – a partnership of Alaska Pacific University and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium – increases the health research capacity of Alaska Native and American Indian individuals and communities by providing cross-cultural research education. AKIRP is available for anyone…
Small Business and Social Sustainability in the Arctic
How do we create sustainable businesses for Alaska that also protect the Arctic, its environment, and its people? That’s a question on the mind of Yaso Thiru, director of APU’s Institute for Business & Public Policy. In February, Yaso gave a keynote on the subject at the virtual Arctic Frontiers conference. Held annually in Tromsø,…
Indigenous Kayak Design Online
Typically, Indigenous Kayak Design students gather in the art studio to carve and assemble their own model kayaks. This year, Adjunct Instructor Andrew Abyo had to mail kits across the country instead. For January Block, Andrew taught from the Atwood Center art studio like always, while his students logged in from Anchorage, Kodiak, Florida, Texas,…
Positive Psychology students at APU find evidence of flourishing during pandemic
How are people responding to social distancing protocols during the pandemic? The Fall 2020 Positive Psychology course created a survey to find out. While media typically highlight problems, students in the course focused on benefits and opportunities instead. Positive Psychology students explore human strengths, or the qualities and processes that promote life satisfaction. These human…
Do Octopus Smell to Find Food?
Do octopuses actively use smell to find food? It seems like an obvious question but according to Willem Weertman, an environmental science grad student, there’s really no evidence to prove it. Yet. This year, Willem is researching octopus olfaction at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories. His test subject is the east Pacific red…