Scientists

by Ted Land Tuesday, January 26, 2010 JUNEAU, Alaska -- A group of Democratic lawmakers in Juneau is calling for the Parnell administration to stand up to what they call corporate abuse. Four representatives and two senators wrote a letter to the governor protesting the removal of a scientist from a state advisory panel. Dr. Gershon Cohen is a self-described clean water advocate and scientist who has spent decades advising the state about cruise ship water discharge.

by Ashton Goodell Wednesday, January 20, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Marine scientists from across the globe are focusing on Alaska to understand climate change. At the Marine Science Symposium being held in Anchorage Wednesday, hundreds of scientists discussed issues of rapid warming in the Arctic. New reports show sea ice is melting faster than models first projected. Scientists say interest in environmental and marine issues has grown in recent years due to fears of global warming, but they say this conference is meant to sort through the speculation and find the science.

by The Associated Press Tuesday, March 30, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are commending a Juneau scientist for 50 years in federal fisheries research. Officials say NOAA scientist Bill Heard of Auke Bay Laboratories in Juneau has spent most of his career in the National Marine Fisheries Service. Douglas DeMaster, director of NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center, says Heard has been "building a scientific legacy that has helped lay the basis for greater understanding of marine life in Alaska, especially salmon.

A new report from the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado says the Arctic sea ice cap was 22 percent below average this year. The report comes just after the U.S. Geological Survey warned that tens of thousands of walruses that usually rest on the ice are instead congregating on the shores of the Chukchi Sea. Scientists are concerned about stampedes, and say that the walruses will have to swim farther to find food because the ice has receded so far. Researchers expect the melting to get worse.

by Ned Rozell Friday, July 9, 2010 The blackened scars that Alaska fires leave on the landscape may result in more lightning, more rain in some areas just downwind of the scars, and less rain farther away, according to two scientists. Nicole Mölders and Gerhard Kramm, both of the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, study how changes in landscapes affect the weather. After Alaska's fire season in 2004, when smoke befouled much of the air Alaskans breathed and a collective area the size of Vermont burned, the scientists wondered how all that charred country would affect local weather patterns.

by Rhonda McBride Tuesday, April 20, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The debate over the connection between climate change and volcanic activity is not new.    But the latest eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano in Iceland has some scientists taking a closer look. "One of the things that captivates your attention when you go to a place like Iceland are its magnificent glaciers. They sit on volcanoes, so it's a natural connection to think about how glaciers and volcanoes interact," said Chris Waythomas, a vulcanologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

Recently some people found what they thought was an ancient Athabascan village here, an unfolding experiment at the Bureau of Land Management's Campbell Creek Science Center. A class of Kasuun Elementary School fifth graders are the test subjects. The center's Eric Stuart is the professor. And the laboratory? Alaska's nature. "Our job today is going to be to uncover those artifacts and make a hypothesis and try to decide what happened at this site. " Stuart told the class. "We're going to record where in the grid we found stuff.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today (Wednesday) wrapped-up the public portion of its scientific "Peer Review" of the proposed Pebble Mine. Twelve scientists will spend the next few months -- in closed-door sessions -- gathering information that will eventually allow the agency to determine whether Pebble can be operated in compliance with the "Clean Water Act of 1972. " The Bristol Bay Fishermen -- and Alaska Natives --  who brought the E.P.A. Into the decision process allege that Alaska State authorities have never blocked a major mine project in the history of the state.

This week, as a $2.5 billion rover touched down on the surface of Mars, U.A.A students were watching intently. And they weren't watching out of mere "curiosity" either (pun intended). They were watching because their research may play a pivotal role in answering the question that the Curiosity Rover is trying to answer: was there once microbial life on Mars. Working under a portion of a one million dollar grant from NASA, the group -- just two months ago (in Mid-June) -- found a species of cold weather, radiation-resistant microbes that's never been seen before.

by The Associated Press Saturday, May 1, 2010 PALMER, Alaska -- A 6.0 magnitude earthquake occurred Friday afternoon under the Bering Sea, but officials say it posed no tsunami risk and was too far away to be felt on land. David Hale at the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, says the quake at 3:12 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time was followed 4 minutes later by a 6.0 magnitude aftershock. The quakes were centered about 480 miles southwest of Nome and about 9.8 miles deep.