December 2023 Outlook
Measuring our impacts
鈥 Jodie Anderson
Over the last month, IANRE faculty and staff have been focused on impacts. Impacts are a reporting requirement for our institute that gives us a chance to tell our funders and the broader public how the money they give us creates change in Alaska communities.
Last year, I was sitting in a national meeting of state Cooperative Extension and Experiment Station directors in Baltimore, Maryland. It was my first national meeting, and I was on my best behavior (promise). We had a session conducted by a program lead from USDA about writing impact statements and USDA鈥檚 expectations. We were told how critical impact statements are for USDA, how they use them, and why this is different than just counting the number of people in a class. I was listening, honestly thinking about how IANRE has such great stories and how we won鈥檛 have problems telling our stories at all, and then the speaker got my attention again . . .
鈥. . . the best impact statement I ever read was one from Alaska. It was not long, and it was powerful: the research from UAF Agriculture Forestry and Experiment Station on peony production in Alaska started a cut flower industry that did not previously exist. This statement shows the economic impact of the peony work in Alaska.鈥
MIND BLOWN! Everyone was looking at me, and I was just smiling and nodding my head 鈥淵ep!鈥
Not all of our impacts are so huge as the time we supported the creation of an industry like this one 鈥 nope, not at all. But they are an opportunity for us to reflect on the impacts we are making in Alaska 鈥 helping address food security, supporting environmental stewardship, strengthening natural resource development, developing our workforce and stimulating youth development.
I look forward to sharing our impact stories with you in the coming months, and I appreciate the support you have given our institute over the past year.
Be well!
Updated website launched
The new and improved Cooperative Extension website launched this week with several upgrades to make things more accessible to all of you! Our publications are now available as web pages in addition to PDFs and can be searched using an easy-to-use tool linked from our front page. In addition, you can quickly search by topic, browse news stories or submit questions to our experts.
Stay tuned for improvements to the Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station website coming this spring!
IANRE researchers display artwork
Three members of the Forest Soils Lab team 鈥 Jessie Young-Robertson, top left, Sam Dempster, top right, and Nathaniel Bolter, right 鈥 displayed their artwork in the Dec. 1 First Friday event in the Akasofu Building on UAF鈥檚 West Ridge.
Young-Robertson said her line drawings are based on her observations of nature when she's out in the field. Drawing is a way to relax and unwind from field work, she said.
Dempster's prints show the magnified stomata of various plants. He colorized them
for study, then realized that the outcome created interesting images. "Just a happy
accident," he said. Bolter's tree ring research also turned out to be unexpectedly
artistic. Both researchers noted the artwork is still scientifically valid.
Sapmi Boazu: A visit to the Sami Reindeer Husbandry Range of Finland
Jackie Hrabok, UAF's Northwest Campus assistant professor of High Latitude Range Management, hosted and led an international cultural exchange for the Alaska Reindeer Directors. Delegates were from Mekoryuk on Nunivak Island, the Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association and the Kawerak Environmental Department.
Sun and Soil podcast
A six-part series on food security in Alaska and featuring several IANRE faculty, staff and partners just dropped on the Sun and Soil podcast.
C.C. Clark and Noah Spickelmier produce the podcast. They talked to key players in the state's food system, discussed the system's strengths and weaknesses, and ask can the Last Frontier feed itself? Topics include climate change, reindeer herding, growing your own food, Alaska's wild resources, marketing, and food security.
Find the podcast: , , : @sunandsoilpodcast
YouTube:
email: sunandsoilpodcast@gmail.com
Good turnout at Invasive Species workshop
鈥 Gino Graziano
The annual was held in Sitka on Nov. 7-9. The theme of this year鈥檚 workshop, Invaders on the
Edge, featured sessions on invasive European green crabs, knotweeds, and other top
issues for Southeast Alaska. The keynote speaker, Cascade Sorte, spoke about the research
she has conducted in Sitka and the interaction of climate and invasive species in
the north. Attendance was up for the hybrid event, with 140 registrants, of whom 85
attended in person.
IANRE Day of Service
On the afternoon of Nov. 21, Fairbanks IANRE staff, faculty and friends spent quality time at the Fairbanks Community Food Bank to help the facility prepare its Thanksgiving food boxes.
In attendance: Katrina Paul, Adrian Kohrt, Glenna Gannon, Jerry Dragon, Julie Stricker, Reina Hasting, Rose Peters, Soumitra Sakhalkar, Anja Maijala and Marla Lowder. Overall, the Food Bank gave out more than 3,000 food boxes this year.
How supermarket mergers affect food deserts
This talks about the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons. Fairbanks is used as an example of what the merger may mean for people living in food deserts.
Food protection manager course set for January
The Cooperative Extension Service will offer a certified food protection manager training on Monday, Jan. 29, with proctors for testing available in 14 communities.
Winter break
Because of the upcoming holidays, our offices will be closed statewide between Dec.
25-Jan. 2, and some may have reduced hours in addition to these dates. In the meantime,
you can find all our publications and other helpful information on our website.
Ignite by 4-H Lead to Change Project 2023
Teens Paeden Lane, Ian Hasting, Iram Sobarzo, Jaleen Gattenby and Erika Sobarzo proposed a Lead to Change Project after attending last year鈥檚 first Ignite by 4-H event in Washington, D.C. They presented their proposal to National 4-H Council and other nonprofit foundation representatives and were awarded $2,000.
They wanted to bring awareness to recycling, especially among their peers. They visited the FNSB Central Recycling Facility and toured the Fairbanks landfill. With the information, videos and pictures that they gathered, they created a Reel to be posted on America Recycles Day.
It has more 2,800 views through the Alaska 4-H Facebook page and 669 views through the UAF Extension Facebook page. It鈥檚 also posted on Instagram. The team plans to reconnect after the holiday season and determine the next steps after evaluating the outcomes.
The reel can be found here:
Job listings
- Graphic designer:
- Operations lead at Georgeson Botanical Garden:
- Temporary forestry field and lab techs:
- NextGen coordinator:
- Snap-Ed nutrition educator - Dillingham:
- MAPTS administrative assistant:
- Research Technician of Small Grain Breeding:
- Bethel 4-H seasonal temporary positions:
- Extension Outreach generalist in Kodiak:
- Term Assistant Professor, Tribes Extension Educator for the Aleutian Pribilof Island Region:
In the News
- News-Miner coverage of full moon gathering:
- Ned Rozell column: Memories of souls in a winter birch forest
- Reina Hasting鈥檚 Nov. 19 News-Miner column:
- Art Nash's Dec. 3 News-Miner column:
(Note, if you don't subscribe to the News-Miner, you can read Extension columns on the )