Plastic insulation like Styrofoam is commonplace in seafood packaging and buildings.
But plastics never completely disappear, instead they break up into ever smaller particles
or microplastic. These tiny particles are harmful to the soils, marine environment
and wildlife, and may affect human health.
Researchers with the Biomaterials Lab seek to better understand the effects of these
stray plastic bits. The team is working to solve the global plastic pollution problem
by developing insulation that is recyclable, reusable, and biodegradable. Researchers
combine design-thinking, microbiology, and physics to dream-up scalable biological
materials that store carbon and provide a sustainable vital barrier from the elements.
Their key ingredients to de-carbonizing industries include beetle-kill spruce trees
and renewable cellulose that is literally grown in a lab. The Biomaterials Lab is an active innovation platform for new bio-based
materials and circular bio-economy solutions in the Circumpolar North. The lab uses
norm-critical design thinking as a framework to tackle some of the most pressing environmental
and public health problems facing the Arctic today.
Over 400 high school juniors and seniors from 11 high schools across Anchorage converged on the UAA Alaska Airline Center on Sept. 30, 2022 to explore their future career and academic options at UAA’s Academic Preview Day.
The University of Alaska Anchorage Interprofessional Health Sciences Simulation Center (IHSSC) invites the UAA and broader Anchorage community to join the global celebration of Healthcare Simulation Week September 12-16, 2022.
Students in the UAA Paramedic Program and Nursing Program participated in an interdisciplinary simulation involving an active shooter incident at a Women's Health Center on the Mat-Su College campus.