Wildfire wisdom under cathedral trees

A gray-haired couple puts their arms around each other and smiles in front of a photoshopped background of a shady forest.

“We call them our cathedral trees, I don’t think they grew up to have this much wind, so you hear them snapping during wind events, too. And it’s warmer. It’s much warmer. We don’t have those 40 below for a week at a time anymore.”
-Mary Burtness

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Field log: A full career of fundamental boreal forestry

A woman and man in smile in a selfie in front of a photoshopped background of blueberry bushes and mountains int he distance.

“I remember his frustration as budgets were being cut. Now most of us experienced a mixture of apprehension and anger. The anger from the injustice of it and apprehension from how is this going to affect what matters to me? Not just my job, although that’s there, but also the things that I’m doing that I think are important And as near as I could tell, he experienced only anger. He was pissed.” – Dave Valentine

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Deciphering the many facets of weather

Two young adults smile in front of a photoshopped background of a road leading to Denali.

“Come here and find out that million-acre years are pretty common and they’re dealt as extreme years, but in more recent years, you wind up seeing more and more million acres burned.” -Jacob Coffey

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Partnering with communities for reciprocal research

Two women smile in front of a photoshopped background of a Sitka marina.

“There’s this history of research happening, disregarding those pieces, and I’m really excited about this as a mechanism to shine a light on that, and ask those questions: does this work really need to be done? Are you willing to invest in the relationships with the community to ensure that your work is meaningful to the people who live here, and if not, then maybe we need to think twice about it.” -Lauren Bell

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Supercomputer as stepping stone

Two men wearing similar glasses and t-shirts smile in front of a photoshopped background of the Mount Katmai volcano.

“I was always interested in technology, ever since I was a little kid. I remember the first computer my dad bought us was an old Compaq and he thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.”
-Bob Torgerson

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Identifying incompatibilities and resolving conflicts in research

Two women smile in front of a photoshopped background of a vast swampy tundra.

“When I see people, I’d say maybe more senior personnel, get very angry about this, that, or the other, it almost comes out as like, an entitlement to that anger. ʼI have every right in the world to be this way,ʼ and there’s no longer any room to be like, ʼHm, maybe we need to take a step back.ʼ” -Jessie Young-Robertson

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Alaska Voices Season 2 Coming Soon

White text on a blue background reads Alaska Voices, Stories from the Far North. University of Alaska Fairbanks. Gold star in the top right corner.

The second season of Alaska Voices will be released December 1st with new episodes every Monday. Listen for your weekly dose of Alaskan lore, place-based knowledge, science stories, and climate adaptation.

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Alaska Weather Voices – Episode 4: Reflections

A group of eight ACCAP researchers and staff smiling and waving at the camera.

This podcast miniseries focuses on the life and career of Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP)’s climate specialist, Rick Thoman. This podcast, hosted by Liz Carter, is made by ACCAP in partnership with Alaska Voices. In this episode Rick Thoman shares lessons learned throughout his time in Alaska. He offers advice on how to build trust and serve rural communities.

“Ultimately I feel like I’ve made a difference in a positive way and that’s a good feeling when you’re in your 60s … but y’know most of my career is behind me and to think I’ve made a positive difference is an important feeling for me.” – Rick Thoman

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