Jessica Cherry spends her favorite moments looking at Alaska from above. As a new recruit for a class of astronaut candidates, she may someday view the world from miles higher. Cherry, 37, is a pilot and professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ International Arctic Research Center and Institute of Northern Engineering. She flies small […]
It’s late May, 118 miles from the Arctic Circle. Time for a walk to work. The season has changed since February, the last time I wrote about walking through the North Campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The North Campus consists of more than 1,000 acres that begins a few steps south of my […]
With the Government Accountability Office (GAO) releasing a breakthrough 74 page study confirming Alaskans’ suspicions of the nation’s anemic engagement in the Arctic region, Senator Lisa Murkowski joined a number of her Congressional colleagues in calling attention to the need for more action at this juncture. Tied to America’s impending role as Chair of the Arctic Council, […]
The analysis uncovered several genes that may be involved in the polar bears’ extreme adaptations to life in the high Arctic. The species lives much of its life on sea ice, where it subsists on a blubber-rich diet of primarily marine mammals. The genes pinpointed by the study are related to fatty acid metabolism and […]