UAF — flagship research university in Fairbanks. Home of the Geophysical Institute (aurora, earthquakes, volcanoes), International Arctic Research Center, and College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
505 S Chandalar, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
A UAF fix for the battery-and-generator clash in village grids
A UAF researcher is developing a way to stop batteries and diesel generators from destabilizing village grids, a fix that could help remote Alaska cut diesel and energy costs.
by Melinda Communities.News3d ago2 min readAI
Can a bacterium pull rare earths out of coal waste? Alaska researchers just got $4.7M to find out
UAA and UAF received $4.7 million from the National Science Foundation to test whether a bacterium can extract rare earth elements from coal mining waste, a potential domestic supply source.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago2 min readAI
As Alaska's glaciers retreat, new carbon-storing bogs are forming behind them
The National Science Foundation awarded the University of Alaska Fairbanks $94,000 for InsPIRE, a three-year study of how carbon-storing peatlands form in landscapes exposed by retreating glaciers, with mapping products aimed at land managers and communities.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago2 min readAI
A $1.6 million grant to help Alaska burn on purpose, before wildfire does
A $1.6 million NSF grant to UAF would build a fire-weather forecasting tool suited to Alaska, helping managers plan the controlled burns that reduce wildfire risk.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago1 min readAI
A UAF mathematician is building better tools for understanding networks
The National Science Foundation has awarded $150,000 to the University of Alaska Fairbanks for a three-year project on group-labeled graphs led by Youngho Yoo, with graduate student training written into the grant.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago1 min readAI
Chukchi Sea ice runs above median for third straight late June
Chukchi Sea ice extent stood well above the 1991-2020 median as of Saturday, the third consecutive late June with that pattern, per ACCAP data — with high-concentration ice still hugging the Alaska coast north of Wainwright and the Beaufort Sea nearly ice-locked.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska won up to $160M to hunt critical minerals with AI and microbes
The NSF picked UAF to lead a new critical-minerals "innovation engine" worth up to $160M, using AI-enabled exploration and biomining — in a state holding 56 of 60 US critical minerals.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
How bubbles can throw off the sound Alaska uses to count its fish
A new $400,926 NSF grant will study "bubble sweep" — air bubbles that scatter the sound beams UAF's research ship Sikuliaq uses to map the seafloor and count fish in Alaska's seas.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min readAI
NSF backs UAF-led critical minerals coalition with $15 million
NSF named a UAF-led coalition a Regional Innovation Engine, funding $15 million in Alaska critical minerals research, bioleaching, AI exploration and workforce training.
by Melinda Communities.News3w ago1 min readAI
A Dillingham campus wants to grow rural Alaska's scientists at home
UAF's Bristol Bay Campus in Dillingham won a $888,749 NSF grant to build a "grow-your-own" science credential training STEM professionals for remote Southwest Alaska communities.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min readAI
NSF awards UAF $1.77 million to build AI geohazard forecasting tools
The National Science Foundation awarded the University of Alaska Fairbanks $1,772,170 on July 10, 2026, to develop AI-driven tools that fuse seismic, satellite, and weather data into a continuously updating hazard forecast, with Alaska and Pacific Northwest landslides as test beds through 2032.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min readAI
A federal minerals program is funding science on the seafloor mining wants to dig
A $678,748 NSF Critical Minerals grant funds UAF-led research at Davidson Seamount, mapping mineral-rich hydrothermal seafloor that scientists say is also vital habitat.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min readAI
To understand today's coastal flooding, a UAF scientist will study an ancient one
A $462,771 NSF grant funds UAF research using fossil diatoms to reconstruct how the Bering Land Bridge flooded — insight aimed at today's western Alaska coastal hazards.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min readAI
UAF grant aims to read what a volcano is doing while it does it
NSF awarded UAF $360,443 to study whether seismic and infrasound signals can measure eruption intensity in real time, comparing Shishaldin and Mount Etna.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min readAI
Students get to fire the HAARP transmitter at UAF's summer school
A $199,999 NSF grant funds UAF's 2026 summer school at HAARP, where students design and run their own ionosphere experiments on the Gakona research array.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago1 min readAI
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson visits UAF on July 14 to take questions
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will appear at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on July 14, answering questions Alaskans submit in advance at Davis Concert Hall.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
National Lab, University of Alaska Fairbanks sign energy partnership
The National Lab of the Rockies and University of Alaska Fairbanks formalized a partnership Wednesday focused on critical minerals, energy infrastructure, and workforce development.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min readAI
Mercury in Western Aleutian sea lion pups exceeds safety thresholds, prompting $1.5M NSF study
Mercury in Western Aleutian Steller sea lions has doubled in a decade, and a $1.5 million study will test whether zooplankton gut microbes are the hidden source.
by Melinda Communities.News3w ago1 min readAI
The strange snow bug Alaska is spending $750K to understand
A UAF researcher won a $746,000 NSF grant to sequence the genomes of snow scorpionflies, rare cold-adapted insects, work that could resolve how they relate to fleas.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min readAI
UAF scientist gets $300K to unlock permafrost's carbon time bomb
UAF microbiologist Mario E. Muscarella received a $299,972 NSF grant to develop molecular tools identifying which dormant microorganisms activate when permafrost thaws, critical knowledge as Alaska's frozen soils hold twice the carbon of Earth's atmosphere.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Rural Alaska Electricity Costs Run Three to Five Times Urban Rates
Rural Alaska residents pay electricity costs three to five times higher than urban areas due to diesel-powered microgrids and fuel delivery challenges in remote villages.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min readAI
Chukchi Campus is getting ADA and fire-safety upgrades after 14 years on the master plan
The University of Alaska Fairbanks issued an invitation for bids Sunday to renovate restrooms for ADA compliance and create a fire-rated exit corridor at its Chukchi Campus in Kotzebue, with bids due July 10.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
UAF scientist leads $36K Antarctic sea ice study amid record lows
The National Science Foundation awarded UAF $36,000 for a collaborative study of rapid Antarctic sea ice decline in the Ross Sea, led by sea ice geophysicist Andrew R. Mahoney.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
UAF glaciology program returns to McCarthy for eighth summer
University of Alaska Fairbanks will run an 11-day graduate glaciology program in McCarthy starting June 1, 2026, supported by a National Science Foundation grant.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readAI
Fairbanks and Kodiak Residents Capture Last Aurora Displays Before Midnight Sun
by Alaska News3mo ago3 min readAIVivid Northern Lights Draw Fairbanks Viewers to Night Sky
Fairbanks and North Pole residents witnessed vivid aurora borealis displays on April 19, 2026, featuring intense formations that matched UAF Geophysical Institute forecasts during the ongoing solar maximum period.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min readAI
Fairbanks spruce pollen hits season high in UAF count
Spruce pollen reached 346 grains per cubic meter Friday, the highest reading this season. UAF's 25-year counting program tracks allergy trends and climate shifts in Interior Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Aurora Borealis Lights Up Kodiak and Interior Alaska Skies
Residents in Kodiak and Interior Alaska reported seeing a vibrant aurora borealis display on the evening of April 18, 2026, sharing photos and videos of the event that occurred during the current solar maximum period.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min readAINSF awards UAF $877,501 for mass spectrometer to support fisheries and minerals research
The National Science Foundation awarded the University of Alaska Fairbanks $877,501 on July 16, 2026, to acquire a high-resolution mass spectrometer that will support research in aquaculture, critical mineral extraction, and marine carbon sequestration through July 2029.
by Melinda Communities.News4w ago1 min readAI
Permafrost Thaw Releases Unexpected Methane in Alaska Uplands
Research shows Alaska's thawing permafrost is releasing unexpected amounts of methane while coastal erosion threatens Native villages across the state.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min readAIRobots are fighting Alaska wildfires near Nenana right now — on their own
Finalist teams in the $11 million XPRIZE Wildfire competition have until Thursday to demonstrate autonomous detection and suppression systems near Nenana, testing technology that aims to respond four times faster than current wildfire response rates.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min readAI
Northern lights draw crowds to Fairbanks and Kodiak viewing spots
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min readAI