Archive

On the North Slope there are thousands of small pipes that ultimately come together to feed into the big one — the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Each of those pipes are a potential hazard, especially as they experience the effects of air, water and chemistry over long periods of time.

As the nation’s only Arctic state, Alaska faces unique challenges and environmental conditions unlike anywhere else in the United States. Faculty and students at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) continue to drive research that tackles regional challenges in practical ways, such as studying how temperature affects metal corrosion in the Arctic or the effects of tire rubber contamination on salmon mortality.

UAA Associate Professor of Environmental Health Micah Hahn is leading a research project around climate change, health, wildfire smoke and environmental justice in Alaska that recently received a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Part of the Division of Population Health Sciences and Department of Journalism and Public Communication’s Alaska Public Health Information Response Team project, computer science Professor Shawn Butler has been using artificial intelligence to debunk COVID-19 misinformation on social media with scientifically accurate information from credited sources.

By studying two sites in the Alaska Range near Tok struck by a 2002 earthquake, professor Joey Yang and graduate student Dave Eibert hope to develop new models that may help the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities better prepare for future earthquakes.

Mechanical engineering grad Peter Renner now contributes to 3D printing and corrosion research as a postdoctoral fellow at Sandia National Laboratories, one of three National Nuclear Security Administration research and development labs in the country.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Alaska Native Education program will help the Bristol Bay Teaching and Learning Collaborative facilitate teacher development and retention, enhance positive engagement between the communities and schools, and provide culturally responsive education courses to teachers from outside the region.

UAA Biological Sciences Professor Brandon Briggs and students in his lab have traveled throughout Alaska to study the microbes and microbial processes associated with extreme environments in polar regions. By looking at how these “extreme microbes” respond to and manipulate their environments, the researchers hope to better understand how glaciers change over time.

Provided by the Office of English Language Acquisition, the federal grant will help the School of Education’s language and literacy education graduate certificate program provide students and teachers with development opportunities that increase their knowledge, confidence and skills in language, literacy and content instruction for English learners.

UAA dental hygiene students recently presented their research on therapy dogs in dentistry. During the presentation, the team discussed the benefits of dental therapy dogs, what kind of specialized training therapy dogs receive and what it might look like to have one in the office.