By Paul Twardock Search and Rescue is a major focus of the outdoor profession, and of Alaska Pacific University’s Outdoor Studies Program. Outdoor Studies Associate Professor, Eeva Latosuo, is an active member of the Alaska search and rescue community, in particular the Alaska Search and Rescue Dogs. Eeva and her dog, Sisu, have been involved…
Outdoor Studies
Alaska Pacific University’s Paul Twardock Joins Host of KSKA’s “Outdoor Explorer” to Discuss Winter Adventure in Alaska’s Public Use Cabins.
Winter in Alaska is a magical place. Students, staff, and faculty thrive under the Northern Lights with a variety of strategies. They hunker down reading, watching movies, studying, and flexing one’s creative mind. Many, however, also embrace winter by getting outdoors. Nordic skiing, ice skating, snow shoeing, “fat” mountain biking, and simply walking in the…
APU on the Air: KTVA visits Louise’s Farm School
Anchorage-based KTVA Channel 11 highlights the University’s outdoors-based education in a segment about Louise’s Farm School. Aired Oct. 29 and reported by KTVA’s Lauren Maxwell, the news story takes viewers to the 800-acre Kellogg campus in Palmer. KTVA is the local CBS affiliate. Farm School students are shown making devil’s club salve and walking through…
APU on the Web: Candela explains icefield study for LinkTV viewers
Glacier science undertaken by double-major Sal Candela is showcased in a short film that takes viewers to one of the world’s largest non-polar masses of snow and ice. Candela, ’15, is completing bachelor’s degrees in Outdoor Studies and Earth Science and was selected for summer 2013 fieldwork by the Juneau Icefield Research Program. It recruits…
OS Faculty Profiles: David McGivern
Which comes first, experience or judgment? Wrong question, says Associate Professor David McGivern. For OS students, attitude is everything. Not long ago my colleagues and I were thinking about our expectations for students who undertake backcountry journeys of their own. On our minds was the tale of a student who attempted to surf an…
OS Faculty Profiles: Steve Rubinstein
Steve Rubinstein directs the master’s program in Outdoor and Environmental Education. Based at the University’s community service agriculture farm, his vantage extends far beyond the next harvest. People who call us here at Kellogg Farm Campus often want to know how to live more sustainably. They ask how to help their children spend more…
OS Faculty Profiles: Eeva Latosuo
Moving through snowy backcountry mountains is sheer joy for Finnish-born Eeva Latosuo. But amid all that high-latitude athleticism, her APU students quickly learn that there’s a more to an OS degree than navigating safely from Here to There. OS students often are attracted to the degree because they envision an active life, packed with climbing,…
Outdoor Studies Marks 20 Years
With its roots in an outdoor education program begun more than 20 years ago by venerated University ski coach Jim Mahaffey, the Outdoor Studies degree that helps define APU today is a textbook example of capitalizing on strengths. Mahaffey (see profile Page 24) was offering popular courses at Alaska Methodist University, precursor to APU; his…
Spring Creek Farm Journal Week 1
The trail wound its way up into the hills, around small, weed-edged ponds, and across a shallow stream. It was lined with spruce trees and berries, and the smell of leaves beginning to decay filled the crisp air. It was perfect country for grouse and moose and bears. – John Elvis Smelcer, author of Alaskan…
Academics, affordability add to APU’s ranking on Outside magazine’s Top 25
Alaska Pacific University is among Outside magazine’s top 25 colleges for students seeking affordable wilderness outings as well as academic courses that require outdoor fieldwork. In rankings released Aug. 14, APU placed 16th on a list that includes powerhouses like Stanford, Bowdoin and University of California campuses at Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa…
