For the past several years, Dr. Roman Dial has researched tree line in northern Alaska. His undergraduate students may spend 99 days straight in the backcountry, gathering data by foot and by packraft from Canada to Kotzebue. That hands-on research has now produced an open-access publication in Nature, one of the world’s most renowned, most…
Outdoor Studies
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,”…
Block Course Teaches Kayak Design, Cultural Understanding
Photos courtesy of Matt Allen Traditionally, kayak building was a rite of passage for young Alaska Native boys, a process that would mark the transition from boyhood to manhood. For a handful of Alaska Pacific University students, it’s also been the focus of a one-of-a-kind block course. Over the course of three weeks, Andrew Abyo…
Photo Essay: Backcountry Travel and Packrafting Gets a Taste of Alaska Fall (and Wilderness Pizza)
Over Fall Block, a handful of Outdoor Studies students took a course in backcountry travel to develop their abilities to plan, prepare for, and undertake a significant Alaskan wilderness traverse using packrafting and lightweight approaches. Not sure what that means? Here’s a look. Photos by Professors Tony Perelli and Becky King // Captions by Professor Tony Perelli Crossing…
Inside ‘Confluence Radio’: How one student explores nature through podcasting
Thirty minutes before his interviewee arrives, Dave Schmidt is in the studio. He’s running through his checklist: adjust the mic stands, plug in both sets of headphones, open the recording software, run through the recording setup. Then he’ll do the standard “check, check” on both microphones while adjusting the gain on each channel to make…
“Teaching Climbing through the lens of Emotional Intelligence” Dave McGivern, hosted by the Alpine Club
By Cayley Eller Following our recent spring break a handful of lucky Alaska Pacific University students and administrators had the pleasure of hanging out with former APU instructor David McGivern. Dave, who was a beloved member of the faculty at APU was a prominent figure in developing the climbing program at the University, as well…
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…
In A League Of Its Own: The EcoLeague Exchange Program
An exchange can enable students to study in a different ecosystem, learn about life in another location and culture, and to take enriching classes that complement their studies at their home university. APU students don’t need to learn another language or fly to another country to have an exchange experience, though. With an Eco League…
