Research news
ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ webinar examines climate change impacts on salmon
September 12, 2025
A warming climate is both harming and helping salmon in northern regions, according to a University of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Fairbanks fisheries researcher. Peter Westley, principal investigator of the Salmonid Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Lab, will discuss the variable role of warming on ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ’s salmon in a free statewide webinar hosted by the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Cooperative Extension Service.
From the Bronx to Barrow to Ghana
September 12, 2025
It's a long way from the Bronx to Barrow. It's even farther from Fairbanks to Ghana. Lewis Shapiro covered a lot of ground during his 90 years.
ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ climate report: August, a time of meteorological change
September 10, 2025
The ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Climate Research Center, a part of the University of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, released its statewide August climate summary earlier this month.
Researchers reject geo-engineering as a climate-warming response
September 09, 2025
Proposals to reduce climate warming in the polar regions through geo-engineering rather than carbon emission cutbacks would be dangerous and ineffective, according to an international team of scientists that includes two from the University of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Fairbanks.
The long fade of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ's largest glacier
September 05, 2025
While paddling a glacial lake complete with icebergs and milky blue water, I dipped my left hand, then tasted my fingers. Salty.
Calling lost chickadees in far north poplars
August 29, 2025
"Chick chick whirrr, chick whirrr." Although it was a recorded birdsong that chattered through each of the poplar stands we entered, I still occasionally caught myself believing we were hearing the real thing -- the call of the gray-headed chickadee, last heard in ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ in 2018.
Botanical garden collection showcases global diversity of currants
August 22, 2025
The Georgeson Botanical Garden in Fairbanks is home to a collection of over 80 varieties of currants. For the past three years, the garden has celebrated these fruits with the annual Far North Currant Festival, which returns Saturday, Aug. 23, from 1 to 4 p.m.
August 21, 2025
The recent landslide-generated tsunami in Tracy Inlet of Southeast ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ recalls the granddaddy of them all: the giant wave that scarred Lituya Bay in 1958.
2022 Pacific volcano eruption made a deep dive into ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ
August 20, 2025
Atmospheric waves from a massive 2022 South Pacific volcanic eruption created seismic waves that penetrated Earth to at least 5 kilometers in ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ, creating an opportunity to employ an unusual method of peering into the state's deep subsurface.
If a mountain fell in the wilderness...
August 14, 2025
Camped on an island in Southeast ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ a few mornings ago, Sasha Calvey heard a commotion outside her tent.
State of the climate continues to track global change
August 14, 2025
The American Meteorological Society released its annual State of the Climate report this week, providing a comprehensive overview of global conditions in 2024. University of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Fairbanks scientists contributed data and analysis for the Arctic and ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ regions, as they have for years.
Tsunami-causing slide was largest in decade, earthquake center finds
August 13, 2025
Sunday's massive tsunami-causing landslide in Southeast ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ likely sent more than 100 million cubic meters of debris into an icy fjord and onto a prominent glacier in one of the largest slides in at least 10 years, according to analysis by the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Earthquake Center.
ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ climate report: Above and below normal, July had it all
August 12, 2025
Nome was a hot place to be in early July. The temperature was 20 degrees above normal at one point during that period, according to the monthly summary of the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Climate Research Center. The center, part of the University of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Fairbanks, released its July summary earlier this month.
August 08, 2025
It has been a rainy week in middle ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. Blah. But perhaps I judge liquid precipitation a bit harshly.
Research shows early quake warning system could provide critical seconds
August 05, 2025
A proposed earthquake early warning system could have provided several ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ communities an alert of 10 seconds or more ahead of strong shaking from the magnitude 7.3 quake that occurred south of Sand Point near the tip of the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Peninsula in mid-July.
The war within the aspen leaves
August 01, 2025
On one of the friendliest platforms imaginable, a ferocious battle rages. While mowing its way through the surface of a trembling leaf, an aspen leaf miner meets one of its kind. Instead of offering a nuzzle of recognition, the tiny caterpillar tears into the other with its sickle-like mouthparts, while trying to avoid a fatal gash from the other.
ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ satellite facility to manage massive NASA data surge
July 31, 2025
Years of preparation by the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Satellite Facility will ensure that a flood of freely available data from a NASA-India satellite mission that launched Wednesday will be easy for the global public to use.
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Policy brief proposes changes to Yukon River salmon management
July 30, 2025
A group of Indigenous leaders, scientists and policy experts have proposed management actions to promote recovery of Yukon River salmon and manage their harvest more equitably.
Kachemak Bay otters' behavior seems unaffected by oyster farms
July 25, 2025
The growing Kachemak Bay mariculture industry and a booming population of local sea otters appear to have a surprisingly uneventful relationship, according to a new University of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Fairbanks study. The study, published recently in The Journal of Wildlife Management, focused on otters around a handful of oyster farms in the area, comparing their actions to otters that were foraging in nearby control areas without farming. During hundreds of hours of observations, otters weren't seen eating any oysters and the presence of mariculture operations didn't appear to have a notable effect on their behavior.
Sikuliaq underway on unique ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ coastal research voyage
July 25, 2025
A 2,500-mile, 16-day research cruise that began Thursday in Seward and concludes in Nome aims to advance environmental research in coastal ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ through a novel addition: public tours of the research vessel when it makes port calls.
