News and Announcements

On Thursday, January 28 join us for a discussion on what UAA researchers have found on how COVID-19 has impacted mask wearing in Anchorage, fishing decisions in Bristol Bay and how rural Alaskans describe their experience with the pandemic.

ISER is currently recruiting for a health economics/public policy faculty member and will be hosting five candidates for public job talks over the next few weeks. Please join us virtually for these sessions.

List of news articles from 2020 that reference ISER studies or researchers.

Dr. Diane Hirshberg has been named Vice-President Academic of the University of the Arctic (UArctic), a collaborative network of universities, colleges, and other organizations committed to higher education and research in and about the North. Hirshberg is Professor of Education Policy at ISER, where she contributes to two of its main research areas: Arctic Communities and Education.

Researchers at ISER’s Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services (CBHRS) have been tracking data on distribution and use of Narcan^® rescue kits supplied to the general public through the State of Alaska's Project Hope program. Rebecca Porter, Kathryn Davis and Bridget Hanson are the authors of two infographics that reflect data collected from 2017 through 2019. The report on Narcan^® use in Alaska showed that 299 lives have been saved by using a rescue kit. That number is likely even higher, say researchers.

The National Science Foundation has selected a collaborative proposal between the University of Alaska Southeast and the University of Alaska Anchorage for a $650,000 competitive award that will provide 22 scholarships for students pursuing 4-year STEM degrees at UAS. The 5-year grant, Increasing the Academic and Career Success of Alaska Native and Rural Students in Science and Math, is the product of a collaborative effort between UAS and UAA faculty and staff.

ISO 37120 is an international list of standards that measure sustainability in urban cities. It boasts 49 equally-weighted core indicators, along with 59 supporting indicators and 24 profile indicators. Gathering all of this data can give cities insight into their sustainability, but does it work for Anchorage, Reykjavík or Yakutsk as well as it does for Seattle and São Paolo? In a recent study, ISER's Matthew Berman and co-author Robert Orttung analyzed how ISO 37120 could be improved to make it an effective tool for the Arctic.

Understanding the acceptance and perceptions of renewable energy is key to facilitating their sustainable development in northern communities say researchers Jennifer Schmidt and Amanda Byrd. Alaskans in rural areas are faced with a number of challenges, including increasing costs for energy and imported foods into their remote communities. Many residents rely on subsistence foods as part of their culture, but also to avoid high prices in the local store. Communities have begun turning to renewable energy to make energy more affordable as well. Schmidt and Byrd examined the connection between renewable energy and subsistence activities in a new paper.

Faculty from UAA, including ISER’s Katie Cueva, have been working since the spring to describe the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual’s behavior, inform policy decisions, and predict case counts and contact tracing workforce needs.