News

  • Study: Tiny rodent-like mammals outlasted Arctic dinosaurs

    May 19, 2026

    More than 70 million years ago, the Arctic was a lively place for some of Earth's ancient mammals. Today, their fossil teeth are offering clues about where they came from and how they outlived the dinosaurs.

  • Alaska climate report: April brought sharp weather swings

    May 18, 2026

    April was a month of meteorological change in Alaska, as expected each year. What stood out this time, however, was the wide range of conditions during those changes.

  • A black and white dog sniffs the ground near a red-capped Amanita muscaria mushroom with white spots growing amongst fireweed, horsetail and dwarf dogwoods, with a smaller immature Amanita emerging beside it.

    Time Capsule: The world according to a dog's nose

    May 16, 2026

    When a Lab vacuums the ground with her nose and her tail moves like a helicopter blade, you know a grouse is about to fly. When the dog stops like a dragonfly, then runs off sniffing an invisible path, a snowshoe hare has crossed your trail.

  • A band performs under the arched wooden pavilion at Georgeson Botanical Garden, with a guitarist, drummer, upright bassist, and additional musician facing an outdoor crowd seated and standing on the lawn amid spring foliage and hills in the background.

    Music in the Garden concerts begin Thursday, May 21

    May 15, 2026

    The 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Music in the Garden concert series will kick off Thursday, May 21, at the Georgeson Botanical Garden. Part of 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø's Summer Sessions and Lifelong Learning, the concert series offers 13 weeks of family-friendly performances on Thursday evenings throughout the summer.

  • A NASA sounding rocket carrying the FOXSI-5 mission lifts off from Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks at 11:23 a.m. Thursday, May 14, 2026. A bright plume of flame and smoke rises from the launch pad as the rocket climbs above a dense forest of spruce and leafless birch trees. The FOXSI-5 mission is part of a continuing NASA-led program to study the sun.

    Mission to study solar flares launches from Poker Flat

    May 15, 2026

    A NASA sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range at 11:23 a.m. Thursday in a continuing mission that uses X-rays to study the sun.

News

  • Study: Tiny rodent-like mammals outlasted Arctic dinosaurs

    May 18, 2026

    More than 70 million years ago, the Arctic was a lively place for some of Earth's ancient mammals. Today, their fossil teeth are offering clues about where they came from and how they outlived the dinosaurs.

  • Alaska climate report: April brought sharp weather swings

    May 18, 2026

    April was a month of meteorological change in Alaska, as expected each year. What stood out this time, however, was the wide range of conditions during those changes.

  • A black and white dog sniffs the ground near a red-capped Amanita muscaria mushroom with white spots growing amongst fireweed, horsetail and dwarf dogwoods, with a smaller immature Amanita emerging beside it.

    Time Capsule: The world according to a dog's nose

    May 15, 2026

    When a Lab vacuums the ground with her nose and her tail moves like a helicopter blade, you know a grouse is about to fly. When the dog stops like a dragonfly, then runs off sniffing an invisible path, a snowshoe hare has crossed your trail.

  • A band performs under the arched wooden pavilion at Georgeson Botanical Garden, with a guitarist, drummer, upright bassist, and additional musician facing an outdoor crowd seated and standing on the lawn amid spring foliage and hills in the background.

    Music in the Garden concerts begin Thursday, May 21

    May 15, 2026

    The 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Music in the Garden concert series will kick off Thursday, May 21, at the Georgeson Botanical Garden. Part of 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø's Summer Sessions and Lifelong Learning, the concert series offers 13 weeks of family-friendly performances on Thursday evenings throughout the summer.

  • A NASA sounding rocket carrying the FOXSI-5 mission lifts off from Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks at 11:23 a.m. Thursday, May 14, 2026. A bright plume of flame and smoke rises from the launch pad as the rocket climbs above a dense forest of spruce and leafless birch trees. The FOXSI-5 mission is part of a continuing NASA-led program to study the sun.

    Mission to study solar flares launches from Poker Flat

    May 15, 2026

    A NASA sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range at 11:23 a.m. Thursday in a continuing mission that uses X-rays to study the sun.

  • Buildings and truck with mountains and an ocean inlet in the background. Haines, Alaska

    Food safety, preservation classes planned in Haines, Skagway

    May 12, 2026

    The 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Cooperative Extension Service will hold a series of food safety and preservation workshops in Haines and Skagway in May. Sarah Lewis, professor of Extension, will lead the workshops.

  • A person stands at a podium speaking, with their arm raised. There is another person in the background, as well as a globe.

    51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø, Defense Innovation Unit launch collaboration

    May 08, 2026

    U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan today announced a newly inked collaboration between the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø and the federal Defense Innovation Unit.

  • Tunnels left by root maggots are shown on fresh turnips

    Webinar will discuss ways to control root maggots in gardens

    May 08, 2026

    Root maggots, the larvae of a small fly that feed on crops such as turnips, broccoli and cabbage, are a difficult pest for many home gardeners in Alaska. 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø researchers at the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station have been researching the species, timing and damage these maggots cause. A free webinar will go over some of their findings and discuss options for controlling these pests.

  • A large crowd browses tables piled high with free books and other items at the 2025 Really Free Market outdoor recycling event, with a 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø-branded tent visible in the background under a clear blue sky.

    51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø to host Really Free Market May 16

    May 08, 2026

    The 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø will host the Really Free Market recycling event on Saturday, May 16, at 10 a.m. in the parking lot next to the Lola Tilly Commons. The popular annual market helps find new homes for items donated by the Fairbanks community.

  • A man with glasses, white hair and beard, Brian Bond

    Workshops to demonstrate design, operation of solar lumber drying kilns

    May 07, 2026

    Daylong workshops in Fairbanks and Palmer will give participants hands-on experience of the design and use of solar kilns to dry lumber. The workshops will be led by Brian Bond, professor and associate dean of Extension at Virginia Tech, in collaboration with the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Cooperative Extension Service.

  • Bright pink and white orchids grow in a clump in the woods of Interior Alaska.

    Native plant identification walk set in Delta Junction

    May 07, 2026

    A free native plant identification walk is planned in Delta Junction in May for Alaska Native Plant Month. The walk, from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, is co-hosted by the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Cooperative Extension Service, Partners for Progress in Delta and the Salcha-Delta Soil and Water Conservation District. Location details will be provided upon registration.

  • Two young children work with clay at a table covered by a world map, guided by an adult instructor.

    Museum program to focus on seeds in May

    May 06, 2026

    The University of Alaska Museum of the North will feature seeds during a family program in May.

  • A wide aerial view of Tracy Arm in Southeast Alaska shows the scar from the Aug. 10, 2025, landslide descending from a steep mountainside into the fjord near a glacier terminus. Gray rock and debris cut through the center of the mountain, reaching the water below, where floating ice and sediment spread across the fjord. The glacier terminus is visible at lower right, with snow-covered peaks rising above the surrounding mountains. Along the far side of the fjord, a pale trimline marks where the tsunami stripped vegetation from the slopes. The photograph was taken from across the fjord during a U.S. Geological Survey flight on Aug. 13, 2025.

    Study of 2025 Alaska landslide and tsunami contains warnings

    May 06, 2026

    Scientists studying the massive August 2025 landslide and tsunami in Southeast Alaska warn that the likelihood of similar large-scale events has increased substantially across the North as glaciers retreat and permafrost degrades.

  • Visitors walk among 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø-branded blue and gold tents set up along a campus pathway during the Arctic Research Open House on the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø campus in May 2025, with the Elvey Building and a satellite dish visible in the background under a sunny sky.

    51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø to host free Arctic Research Open House May 14

    May 05, 2026

    The 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø will host its annual Arctic Research Open House from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, May 14, on the West Ridge of the Troth Yeddha' Campus in Fairbanks.

  • A youth stands on a mountain as the sun sets over an ocean inlet

    Camp planned for teen 4-H leaders in Sitka

    May 05, 2026

    Sitka Spruce Tips 4-H is holding a two-day training camp for teens interested in serving as youth leaders and counselors at one or more 4-H camps this summer.

  • Three bundled researchers work at a snow-covered permafrost coring site in a boreal forest near Fairbanks under a bright, low winter sun. From left, Louise Farquharson of the 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø Geophysical Institute, and Shannon Hibbard and Jennifer Kielhofer, both of the Desert Research Institute, operate coring equipment beside a dug trench, with shovels, packs and field gear spread across the snow in the Goldstream Creek area on April 13, 2026.

    Coring for permafrost insights in the Goldstream Valley

    May 04, 2026

    Drilling for a permafrost core in the Goldstream Valley of Fairbanks on this late-March day first required creation of a workspace. The project is one of many efforts to understand how people can adapt to, and plan for, a warming Arctic.

  • A man, Josh Smith, stands in the middle of a field holding a tray of hazelnut tree seedlings

    Starting a native berry patch topic of hands-on Anchorage class

    May 01, 2026

    A hands-on class in Anchorage will teach participants how to plan and start a native berry patch, both from seeds and cuttings.

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Events
More events

2025 winter Aurora Magazine cover

From left, Peyton Platter, Kyle Gaffney and Matt Hubbarde skate onto the ice at the Carlson Center during opening lineup introductions at the Governor’s Cup game on Jan. 31, 2025.

In the trenches: 100 years of Alaska hockey
Planetarium construction continues at the west side of the University of Alaska Museum of the North on 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø’s Troth Yeddha’ Campus in Fairbanks in August 2025. Photo by Bryan Whitten.

Coming soon: Out-of-this-world experience at new 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø planetarium
Jay Ramras, owner of Pike's Waterfront Lodge, speaks at the Boots and Books Scholarship Dinner on Oct. 23, 2025. 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø photo by Eric Engman.

Fire at Pike’s Landing sparks legacy of scholarship support
GeoFORCE Alaska’s fourth cohort — 31 high school students, 11 staff members, a bus driver and one mentor from Doyon Ltd. — gather at Desert View Lookout in Grand Canyon National Park on June 10, 2025.

Connecting Alaska’s rural students with geosciences
ACEP 2025 summer interns gather by Golden Valley Electric Association’s solar farm after touring the nearby battery energy storage system.

Transforming Alaska’s energy future