News and Announcements

Residents in the Matanuska-Susitna and Kenai areas can assess their level of wildfire risk with new online maps developed by ISER research and associate professor Jen Schmidt as part of the Arctic Risks and Adaptations (AURA) project.

The Clear Fire in Interior Alaska has come within a half-mile of the Parks Highway, prompted evacuation orders for several communities, and is still just 22% contained. ISER associate professor Jen Schmidt has developed online maps residents can use to determine their level of wildfire risk. The maps also give insight to existing wildfires like the Clear Fire.

A new paper by Jen Schmidt and Henry Huntington describes a framework they developed to assess food, energy and water security. It provides a consistent means of assessing problems, identifying causes and developing solutions by looking at four components of FEW security: availability, access, preference, and quality.

A new generation of ISER researchers discuss the questions that fascinate them and the challenges of conducting social science and policy research in Alaska. Lee Gorsuch, ISER director between 1976 and 1994, joined to provide a perspective from the past.

The 2022 Arctic Encounter Symposium in Anchorage brought together researchers and leaders from government, the business community, the University of Alaska, and ambassadors of Arctic nations. ISER Director Diane Hirshberg served on a panel related to workforce development.

Researchers with ISER study a number of important topics related to education, including what the state spends per pupil and how it invests in school facilities. Two legislative briefs from 2021 analyzed the cost for school districts in providing basic but critical needs: internet access and energy.

With hotter and drier summers, wildfires in Alaska will continue to be a concern for communities and individual property owners. Anchorage residents can view the potential for wildfire risk in their neighborhoods with a new online wildfire hazard map developed by ISER researcher Jen Schmidt.

This 2022 update to a 2019 report analyzes Alaska’s per-pupil spending compared to that of other U.S. states, using 2019 and 2017 figures respectively. After adjusting for Alaska’s higher living costs, and accounting for differing per-pupil spending costs across the state, the figures show that Alaska’s 2019 per student spending was only 93% of the national average, compared to 98% in 2017.

ISER and the UAA Department of Public Policy and Administration are co-hosting a seminar with Dr. Chad Briggs on Thursday, March 24, from noon-1 p.m. Dr. Briggs will give an overview of the recent expansion of the war in Ukraine, including security and energy implications for the United States and Alaska. A Q&A will follow.