Moose-Crossing

My neighbor Agota (she's from Hungary and is a Ph.D. Candidate in Engineering), just stopped by with a great treat. We live just a twenty-minute walk from campus, and she shot this at the end of our driveway.



The the moose (or "elk", for our European 'Nooks)carefully looks both ways before crossing the street.

This video combines two things that I really appreciate about being at UAF - the wildlife and the great community in which we get to share our experiences.

Snow, Birthdays, and Student Appreciation!!

I've lived in both Pennsylvania and Colorado and I've been through blizzards in both places. I sometimes miss the big snow that completely transforms the landscape in a matter of hours, or getting stuck in Silverthorne afer going over Vail Pass, heading from Denver to my home town of Grand Junction, or being stuck at home after a central Pennsylvania has buried a car under 6 feet of snow. That kind of snow doesn't happen in Fairbanks. For those of you outside of Fairbanks - we don't tend to get a lot of snow in the interior of Alaska. Don't get me wrong - there's snow on the ground all winter long - but it's not especially deep. It just accumulates incrementally, almost like it's growing out of the ground, rather than falling from the sky. Yesterday, though, we had our biggest "snow storm" since at least 1970. I hesitate to call it a snow storm, because we only got about a foot of snow, and when I picture a snow storm, I picture harsh wind, ugly skies, and extreme cold - we had none of that. It's been relatively warm, it was beautiful outside (especially this afternoon - the sun was shining really brightly), and though we had a lot of snow in a small amount of time, it fell rather lackadaisically. Skiing is going to be incredible this weekend (I hope I make it out!) and I imagine that if the big hill by the SRC isn't already being swarmed by sledders, it will be by tomorrow. I know Joe and our Student Ambassadors have already arranged to go sledding together next Friday (it's Spring Break for students, and staff has that Friday off, as well).

















Some other cool things going on in the Office of Admissions: All four of the Admissions Counselors (Jessica, Carrie, Joe, and I) had our birthdays this week!! Well, almost all of us - Joe's half-birthday is this week, and we figured that was close enough to allow him to celebrate with us.



Also, next week is Spring Break, so we decided to have a potluck to celebrate our awesome student employees ( I know it's a bit of non sequitor, but but we love potlucks and we love our students!). A lot of what we do in the Office of Admissions couldn't be done without the dedication of students who are working part-time while also taking classes. They do everything from answering questions at our front desk, to writing letters to prospective students, making phone calls to students who have applied and students who have been admitted. They arrange campus visits, process incoming mail, help prepare the packets you may receive in the mail, scan documents, like transcripts, into digital files, etc. Becca, Ben, Crystal, Danielle, Kendall, Leah, Nathan, Sarah, Zachary, and Natasha, we all appreciate everything you do!

If you're interested in learning about some of the student jobs available on campus, I recommend going to www.uakjobs.com.

Fitness Fun!

The student recreation center, better known as the SRC, is one of UAF's hot spots for working out, intramural sports, indoor rock climbing, and even dance classes.

I go to the gym two or three times a week and am always astonished at just how much traffic the sports complex gets. Yesterday, as I ran around the indoor track I saw a volleyball tournement, the rugby club practicing, a boot camp fitness class, a couple of people practicing tae kwon do, and a basketball tournement happening all at the same time.

On different days you'll see different activites, but one thing is for sure, you'll defintely see lots of people at the gym. To the left you'll see a picture of me making an attempt at climbing the rock wall. After taking a quick rock climbing safety course, you too can try your hand at climbing the wall.

Hope to see you at the gym!

Academic Decathlon!

Hey team,

This is Joe again. I just wanted to take a moment to tell you all about the awesome state Academic Decathlon competition I just attended. The Academic Decathlon, for those of you who haven't heard of it, is a high school academic program designed challenge the best and brightest students from each school in a competition with other schools from their region and state. The students compete in 10 different categories (hence, decathlon): Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science, Social Science, and Speech. In high school, I did Drama Debate and Forensics, so I couldn't do Aca Deca, but I wish I had the chance.

For my part, I was a guest judge and proctor for the event, and I got to hand out 18 scholarships during the awards banquet. I have quite a background in public speaking, so I was totally stoked to be a judge for both the Interview and Speech programs. These student were great!

The result of the competition were as follows:
1st Place large school: Lathrop High School (my alma mater)
1st Place medium school: Monroe Catholic Jr/Sr High School
1st Place small school: Klawock High School

If you want to find out more about the Alaska Academic Decathlon, feel free to visit their website. They also compiled a video of the event and it's online here. If you watch the video, make sure to watch out for the couple of shots of me! Thanks for reading, and I'll update you with exciting information from my adventures soon!

Joe

Nanook Hockey!

Hello,

This past weekend the UAF Nanooks Hockey team competed in the 16th Annual Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup Series. The series has changed over time, but the basic elements are still the same, the University of Alaska Fairbanks plays the University of Alaska Anchorage for the Cup and bragging rights. This year the title went to UAA, but that will not dampen the spirits of the UAF Nanooks because their next venture is the CCHA playoff quarterfinals March 13-15 at the Carlson Center. This will be the second time that UAF has hosted playoff games in Fairbanks in the last five years. I was lucky enough to go to one of the playoff games five years ago and it was great. I don't remember if UAF won or lost, but it sure was exciting with the fireworks and the fog machine (now we have a gigantic polar bear). I am looking forward to the games and hopefully UAF will do well.

Hello Readers! This week I wanted to blog/brag about a cool event I attended this weeked hosted by our College of Engineering and Mines and Flint Hills. This weekend was the High School Robotics State Championship. Teams from high schools all over the state designed and built their very own robots and brought them here to UAF to compete against each other. The robots earned points by collecting plastic pucks and dumping them into a basket in the center of the ring all while navigating obstacles and other robots in the ring. The winning team, East High School, will now go to Atlanta, Georgia along with their partner team from Lathrop High School to compete in the World Robotics Championships. Good luck teams!

International Research Opportunities

Being at UAF, it's easy to be inspired. I was reading today that one of our professors, Dr. Katey Walter, was just named one of National Geographic’s ten Emerging Explorers for 2009. You can read National Geographic's profile of her on their website. Katie conducts her research in Alaska and Russia, studying methane released from thawing permafrost. Katie did her Ph.D. at UAF, and at the time, her dissertation received the nation's highest honor. Katie's research demonstrates the important role that UAF plays in addressing circumpolar issues that ultimately impact the entire world.

Update: Here's an LA Times story about Dr. Katey Walter that ran after my initial post. The story includes the following video.



By the way, if your interested in joining in on research in remote places in Alaska and Russia, Dr. Pavel Izbekov of UAF, and former UAF professor, John Eichelberger of the Volcano Hazards Program, USGS, will be leading two trips as part of UAF Summer Sessions to study volcanoes in Katmai National Park, in southwest Alaska, and on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia. The International Volcanological Field School is held every year and is open to both undergraduate and graduate students alike. I've included some photos below from my trip to Kamchatka in the summer of 2006 to help my wife, Anastasia, gather samples for her research. They're from the same areas that the Field School takes place.

Mutnovsky Volcano on a clear August day. Mutnovsky is one of the volcanoes students explore as part of the International Volcanological Field School.











The whole region is dominated by active volcanoes, making for dramatic views and intense back-country hiking.













As part of my duties as Anastasia's research assistant, I helped gather water samples from geothermal springs and glacial runoff.












Despite it's remote location, and potential hazards, scores of extreme adventurers from around Russian and the world make their way up treacherous path to Mutnosky's crater every year.

College Goal Sunday!

Hey UA Fans!

This is Joe from Admissions, again. College Goal Sunday was this past Sunday, and I was lucky enough to get to volunteer to help at the Fairbanks event. This is a nationwide event with the goal of encouraging and assisting students and parents in filling out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). The FAFSA is your key to thousands upon thousands of dollars in Financial Aid for college.

We had spectacular turnout at the event, and we were on the radio advertising it as much as we could. I got to be the lucky announcer person on the live broadcast with KWLF (that's "K-Wolf") who was enthusiastically encouraging students to fill out the FAFSA! If you heard my broadcast, I am not yet so famous that I won't sign autographs ^_^

In all seriousness, though, this was a great event and a great opportunity to find out more about getting the money you need to go to college. If you have questions, the most important thing you can do is ask them. If you'd like to speak to anyone in the UAF Financial Aid Office, feel free to visit their website by clicking here, or email them at financialaid@uaf.edu. The nice folks at the Alaska Commision on Post-Secondary Education have also posted a video online with instructions for filling out the FAFSA. Check it out by clicking here.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day. Remember, if you have questions about college, the best thing you can do is ask them. Have a great week!

Joe

Power Shift is coming!

Dear fellow shifters,

Hello, this is Joe from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Office of Admissions again. Just wanted to give a quick post about a meeting I sat in on last night. The meeting was sponsored by the upcoming Power Shift event which will be happening in Washington DC at the end of February. This is an opportunity for people all over the country to come together to share their thoughts, concerns and hopes for the future of the environment. I was impressed to see such a wide variety of students attending this meeting on campus. It seemed like a real community event. Parents with their children attended, undergraduates, graduates, staff members, and more were present. I was impressed with the dedication to the environment, and I can only hope that the response was as positive on other campuses throughout the nation and world. I know that some students and community members from Fairbanks will be attending, and I hope that many more attend. I won't be able to attend, unfortunately, but I will be following the event and related events closely. Remember, that's powershift09.org!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day. I'll post again soon about some more excitement!

Joe

Lucky to live in Alaska

Last night I flew to Kodiak with my UAF colleagues (from the College of Engineering and Mines, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, ROTC, and from the RAHI program with the College of Rural Development) to present at Kodiak High Schools for their annual Career Day.

The more I participate in the recruitment events or other visits throughout the state, the luckier I feel to live in Alaska. Mostly because I get to see the diversity of Alaska's people, geography, and culture.

Coming from Fairbanks, I wasn't sure what to expect when I landed in Kodiak. I was awed as I walked off the plane and was greeted by a giant mountain which seemed to rise out from nowhere. As we drove to our hotel we were greeted by hundreds of bald eagles, perched in trees or on roof tops. Before moving to Alaska, I'm not sure that I had ever seen a bald eagle, let alone hundreds of them! When we stepped out of the shuttle at our hotel, I was greeted by the fresh scent of the sea, a rich salty breeze, and a gorgeous sunset. Where else but Alaska!

Our Fisheries (http://www.sfos.uaf.edu/) students have the opportunity to experience Kodiak as a part of their UAF experience. They get to complete internships, research, and field work right here in Alaska in one of the largest fishing communities in the state. It amazes me how unique and rare that opportunity is for students.

It makes me feel so lucky to live in Alaska, to have access to a place this beautiful, and to have the ability to visit other places like this (including Fairbanks) which are so unique and distinct.

If you haven't already visited, we have an upcoming preview day on March 30th called Inside Out (http://www.uaf.edu/admissions/insideout/index.html).

I hope you'll join us and see for yourself how spectacular it is here in Alaska.