NSF awards Bristol Bay Campus $888,749 to build local STEM workforce

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Bristol Bay Campus, located in Dillingham, will receive $888,749 from the National Science Foundation to build a new science credential program designed to prepare STEM graduates to work in surrounding rural Alaska communities.

The grant, awarded July 2 under NSF's Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program, funds a three-year project running from October 2026 through September 2029. The program will create a new Occupational Endorsement in Science: a structured credential combining classroom coursework, faculty-led research, and community field experiences calibrated to the conditions of remote Southwest Alaska. Practical applications named in the award abstract include developing reliable heat sources for Alaska winters, a subsistence-infrastructure problem that recurs across the region's off-road communities.

A Grow-Your-Own Model

The project's stated logic is a grow-your-own model, meaning graduates are trained in place and oriented toward roles in the communities where they studied. The award abstract describes the goal as graduating "STEM professionals prepared to fill a niche critical to ensuring the well being of communities in remote areas of Alaska."

Chandler Kemp, a faculty member associated with Bristol Bay Campus STEM and outreach programming, serves as principal investigator. The program, managed by faculty members at University of Alaska-Fairbanks Campus at Bristol Bay (UAF-BBC), will focus on developing STEM professionals trained to address STEM issues unique to the remote communities of Alaska. Regina Sievert, program officer for NSF's IUSE: EDU program, oversees the award on the federal side.

Existing Partnerships

The Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation and Alaska Sea Grant have both partnered with the campus on prior science outreach, including a monthly Lunch and Learn program and regional science talks. Those partnerships illustrate the network the new credential program may draw on, though whether they will formally participate in the Occupational Endorsement has not been announced.

Durability Question

Rural Alaska educators and program leaders involved in other NSF-funded initiatives, including the NSF-backed ACTION Project focused on climate-driven coastal change, have noted that grant-funded STEM programs often create temporary student opportunities without producing lasting local employment once funding ends. The grow-your-own framing orients graduates toward community roles, but the three-year grant window leaves the program's post-2029 continuity unresolved.

The Bristol Bay Campus is already promoting Fall 2026 course offerings; prospective students can reach the campus at 907-842-5109.