Science

This May photo shows Mount Edgecumbe on a relatively clear day. New research has shed new light on magma activity underneath the “historically active” volcano. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

New research finds magma rising under Mount Edgecumbe

No signs of imminent eruption

This May photo shows Mount Edgecumbe on a relatively clear day. New research has shed new light on magma activity underneath the “historically active” volcano. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
U.S. Forest Service fish biologist Eric Castro prepares to drop a minnow trap into East Ohmer Creek. The crew moved hundreds of young fish prior to doing work in back channels. (Mary Catharine Martin / SalmonState)

The Salmon State: Growing ‘giant pumpkins’ and fish habitat in Petersburg

A tree grows in Petersburg.

U.S. Forest Service fish biologist Eric Castro prepares to drop a minnow trap into East Ohmer Creek. The crew moved hundreds of young fish prior to doing work in back channels. (Mary Catharine Martin / SalmonState)
A platypus in the Sydney Aquarium chases fish and crayfish in this photo available under a Creative Commons license. (Alan Wolf / Flickr)

On the Trails: The eclectic marvels of electric ecology

What do a platypus, salamander and dolphin have in common?

A platypus in the Sydney Aquarium chases fish and crayfish in this photo available under a Creative Commons license. (Alan Wolf / Flickr)
UAA associate professor of public health Philippe Amstislavski collects samples of some of the fungi found in the forests around UAA which are similar to those his team has used to develop a lightweight packaging alternative to Styrofoam. (Courtesy Photo / James R. Evans, University of Alaska Anchorage)

Alaska Science Forum: Home insulation from wood and fungus

Alaska researchers are working to create insulation that removes carbon from the atmosphere.

UAA associate professor of public health Philippe Amstislavski collects samples of some of the fungi found in the forests around UAA which are similar to those his team has used to develop a lightweight packaging alternative to Styrofoam. (Courtesy Photo / James R. Evans, University of Alaska Anchorage)
A bull moose looks at a photographer near Whitehorse, Yukon, in summer 2022. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: The man who knew moose like no other

Vic Van Ballenberghe had stood amid their knobby legs for many springs and falls in Interior Alaska.

A bull moose looks at a photographer near Whitehorse, Yukon, in summer 2022. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
Kelsey Aho holds a jar of clay she collected while fishing for hooligan on Turnagain Arm near Anchorage in 2021. (Courtesy Photo / Kelsey Aho)

Alaska Science Forum: Grains of Alaska made into art

“I can hand a piece of the Yukon River or Mendenhall Glacier to someone thousands of miles away…”

Kelsey Aho holds a jar of clay she collected while fishing for hooligan on Turnagain Arm near Anchorage in 2021. (Courtesy Photo / Kelsey Aho)
“Hurricane Hal” Needham smiles on a benign day on a Galveston, Texas, beach. The extreme weather and disaster scientist for CNC Catastrophe & National Claims recently drove to a parking garage in southwest Florida to document Hurricane Ian. (Courtesy Photo / Hal Needham)

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska megastorms vs. East Coast hurricanes

Unlike the giant storm that hit Alaska in mid-September, hurricanes and typhoons both have eyes.

“Hurricane Hal” Needham smiles on a benign day on a Galveston, Texas, beach. The extreme weather and disaster scientist for CNC Catastrophe & National Claims recently drove to a parking garage in southwest Florida to document Hurricane Ian. (Courtesy Photo / Hal Needham)
A bracket fungus exudes guttation drops and a small fly appears to sip one of them.( Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Water drops on plants

Guttation drops contain not only water but also sugars, proteins, and probably minerals.

A bracket fungus exudes guttation drops and a small fly appears to sip one of them.( Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
The hoverfly can perceive electrical fields around the edges of the petals, the big white stigma, and the stamens. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Electric flowers and platform plants

You cannot see it, it’s electric.

The hoverfly can perceive electrical fields around the edges of the petals, the big white stigma, and the stamens. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
Seadrone photo showing stone fish trap found in Shakan Bay on the west side of Prince of Wales could potentially be oldest ever found in the world. The structure was first discovered in 2010 and officially confirmed as a stone weir earlier this year. (Courtesy Photo / Sealaska Heritage)
Video

Ancient weir sheds new light on Alaska Native history

Stone fish trap dates to at least 11,100 years ago, according to scientists.

Seadrone photo showing stone fish trap found in Shakan Bay on the west side of Prince of Wales could potentially be oldest ever found in the world. The structure was first discovered in 2010 and officially confirmed as a stone weir earlier this year. (Courtesy Photo / Sealaska Heritage)
Video
On Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in 2018, biologist Jesika Reimer releases a little brown bat with a radio transmitter on its back. (Courtesy Photo / James Evans, University of Alaska Anchorage)

Alaska Science Forum: Where do Alaska bats spend the winter?

I think bats do hibernate in interior Alaska…”

On Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in 2018, biologist Jesika Reimer releases a little brown bat with a radio transmitter on its back. (Courtesy Photo / James Evans, University of Alaska Anchorage)
A beaver pauses on top of its dam.(Courtesy Photo / Chuck Caldwell)

On the Trails: All about beavers

Leave it to ‘em.

A beaver pauses on top of its dam.(Courtesy Photo / Chuck Caldwell)
This photo shows a view of Manhattan from the window seat of a New York to Seattle flight. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Chasing the sun from New York to Alaska

Around the country in a day.

This photo shows a view of Manhattan from the window seat of a New York to Seattle flight. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
Courtesy Photo /Chris Arp Harry Potter Lake, at the top of this photo, as it looked four years ago, perched 10 feet above and 30 feet away from the creek that in 2022 received most of its water.
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Alaska Science Forum: If a lake drains in northern Alaska…

Rarely do people get to see it.

Courtesy Photo /Chris Arp Harry Potter Lake, at the top of this photo, as it looked four years ago, perched 10 feet above and 30 feet away from the creek that in 2022 received most of its water.
Video
A blue darner dragonfly perched on hands, shoulders, and heads. (Courtesy Photo / Ralf Gerking)

On the Trails: Sights and sounds from the trails in late summer

Winged wonders abound.

A blue darner dragonfly perched on hands, shoulders, and heads. (Courtesy Photo / Ralf Gerking)
Elizabeth Hall, assistant paleontologist for the Yukon government in Whitehorse, stands in her office laboratory. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Secrets of an ancient horse of the Yukon

The Yukon is a great place to find the preserved remains of ancient creatures.

Elizabeth Hall, assistant paleontologist for the Yukon government in Whitehorse, stands in her office laboratory. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
From left, Kelsey Dean, watershed scientist with the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, and Kaagwaan Eesh Manuel Rose-Bell of Keex’ Kwáan watch as crew members set up tools to drag a log into place. Healthy salmon habitat requires woody debris, typically provided by falling branches and trees, which helps create deep salmon pools and varied stream structure. (Courtesy Photos / Mary Catharine Martin)  

The SalmonState: Bringing the sockeye home

Klawock Indigenous Stewards and partners are working to a once prolific sockeye salmon run.

From left, Kelsey Dean, watershed scientist with the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, and Kaagwaan Eesh Manuel Rose-Bell of Keex’ Kwáan watch as crew members set up tools to drag a log into place. Healthy salmon habitat requires woody debris, typically provided by falling branches and trees, which helps create deep salmon pools and varied stream structure. (Courtesy Photos / Mary Catharine Martin)  
A northern oriole used dietary carotenoids to make its feathers bright orange. (Courtesy Photo / J. S. Willson)

On the Trails: The colorful world of birds

Colors are produced by cell structure, which can scatter light rays, making iridescence, and by pigments, which absorb or reflect particular wavelength of light. Pigments… Continue reading

A northern oriole used dietary carotenoids to make its feathers bright orange. (Courtesy Photo / J. S. Willson)
A little fish called a graveldiver had hidden under a flat rock. (Courtesy Photo / Aaron Baldwin)

On the Trails: Bricolage — this and that, bits and pieces

There were good minus tides in May and June, and I went out with some friends to take a look at the intertidal zone in… Continue reading

A little fish called a graveldiver had hidden under a flat rock. (Courtesy Photo / Aaron Baldwin)
Red salmon gather at a Gulkana Hatchery fish weir that prevents them from going upstream on the east fork of the Gulkana River.(Courtesy Photo/ Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: High-country Eden for sockeye salmon

“It’s the largest sockeye hatchery in the world. Two-hundred and sixty miles from the ocean.”

Red salmon gather at a Gulkana Hatchery fish weir that prevents them from going upstream on the east fork of the Gulkana River.(Courtesy Photo/ Ned Rozell)