Collaborating biology faculty at Alaska Pacific University, University of Alaska Anchorage, Kodiak College, and University of Washington Tacoma were awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Incubator Grant to increase undergraduate research experiences in biology in Alaska, for Alaskans. The universities will establish AK UNiTE, an NSF Research Coordination Network in Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE). “This…
Environmental Science Department
Photo Book: Senior Project Week at APU
Last week, APU seniors put their days, months, and years of hard work on exhibit for the entire community to see displaying their senior projects in Carr Gottstein and Grant Hall. Topics ranged from remote weather stations and nature activity backpacks to resiliency in Indigenous communities and social media’s influence on avalanche forecasting. Please enjoy…
Honors Assembly Shines Light on Exemplary Students, Staff, Faculty
With the school year winding down, Alaska Pacific University took time last week to recognize it’s exemplary students, staff, and faculty members during the Annual Honors Assembly. Here are the highlights from the April 20th event. Faculty Merit Awards: It is one of the longstanding traditions at APU, that faculty would recommend one another for…
Spring Course Teaches Students Dog Mushing
For as long back as Andrea Grenier can remember, she’s wanted to be a dog musher. What she doesn’t remember, however, is how she got into the sport. “No one really knows how I got into it — I was raised in Connecticut where there isn’t much mushing and my parents don’t even like dogs,”…
APU Club Volunteers at Girl Scouts of America Women Of Science & Technology Day
On Saturday, February 3rd, the Girl Scouts of Alaska held their Women of Science & Technology Day workshop to help promote curiosity in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. Members from the American Fisheries Society-Alaska Pacific University Subunit Club (AFS-APU Subunit) volunteered to present two different workshops to Girl Scouts, grades K-3. These…
Sierra Leone project renamed after Prof Myers
Rusty Myers was not only a beloved APU professor, he was also a dedicated humanitarian. He invested much of his time and skill in Chemists Without Borders, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving lives across the globe through chemistry. Because of his years of service in the organization, Chemists Without Borders has renamed the program…
Eagle Glacier Collaboration
A new engineering project between UAA and APU looks to bring the two neighboring communities a little bit closer. Civil engineering students from UAA recently had the opportunity to travel up to the APU Thomas Training Center on the Eagle Glacier. The facility, nearly 5,000ft high up in the Chugach, gives APU Nordic athletes the…
Winter Bees
The Spring Creek Farm on APU’s Kellogg Campus is doing some great work towards local, sustainable agriculture. They collaborate with Alaskan beekeeper Ian Williams. The bees benefit from nectar from the pesticide-free flowers on the farm, and, in turn, naturally pollinate the plants. Ian is currently working on creating a bee population that can survive…
Octopuses Shed Their Asocial Reputation
Octopuses have generally been viewed as solitary creatures—and their color changing abilities primarily as a means to hide from hungry predators. But, after binge watching more than 52 hours of octopus TV, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on January 28th have found that octopuses actually do have a social life. And…
Professor Scheel braves big birds in Australia
Professor David Scheel’s internationally recognized octopus research took him to Cairns, Australia, this summer where he participated in a conference and joined a colleague for a bit of recreational diving at Manly, just outside Sydney. David sends this post card: At nearly 5 million people, Sydney is Australia’s biggest and most densely populated city. Our…
