February 2023 Outlook
Read about what the TV Cooperative Extension Service and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Stations are doing.
"America After 3PM reveals that afterschool programs play an important role in Native American communities, providing comprehensive supports for Native American children that include academic support and enrichment activities, time to build relationships with peers and adults, health and wellness programming, and connecting students with their culture.
The photos were submitted by Deanna Bair.
Jodie Anderson named IANRE director
Soil scientist Jodie Anderson has been named director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension.
Anderson began her new position on Jan. 29, taking over from interim director Pete Pinney.
Anderson has served as director of the 920-acre Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center in Palmer since 2018. Her personal life has shaped her passion for the mission of a land grant university.
She is the great-niece and granddaughter of two MichiganState University Cooperative Extension Service professionals.
“I love what I do and give 100 percent to my job,” Anderson said. “I plan to follow the ‘engaged university’ model where IANRE will be a unit that is responsive, accessible, integrated, academically neutral, respects our partners and promotes resource partnerships.”
TV Provost Anupma Prakash said Anderson has demonstrated strong leadership as interim associate director of IANRE.
“I look forward to working with her as she takes on the reins as the new IANRE director,” Prakash said. “She brings with her great passion, and creative ideas for growth that align with the values and mission of TV and IANRE.”
In addition to promoting research and Cooperative Extension Service activities, Anderson said, she also wishes to continue growing personal connections through service and her famous barbecues, which are known for bringing her team and stakeholders together.
Anderson came to Alaska in 2003 after 11 years of teaching chemistry and life sciences to high school and college students in North Carolina. In Alaska, she began and managed the Alaska Community Horticulture Program for TV. A self-described “nerd to the core,” Anderson’s research focuses on soil building, organic nitrogen soil supplements, compost development and community gardening.
In her spare time, she likes to barbecue and grill, fish, hike and do other outdoor activities. Anderson said she has made it her personal mission to improve Alaska barbecue standards “one pork shoulder at a time.”
A strong communicator, Anderson has traveled throughout Alaska, developing collaborations and relationships with teachers, growers and communities.
“I am strongly aware of the opportunities and challenges of Alaska’s agricultural and natural resource industries, and the essential role IANRE plays in both areas, as well as the invaluable research and educational opportunities this unit provides to all Alaskans,” she said. “I am committed to helping these industries succeed, as well as ensuring all Alaskans gain and maintain access to valuable knowledge and research that will help them sustain and grow their communities for generations to come.”
IANRE website updated
— Jenn Wagaman
The new IANRE site is launched (/ianre/) and it includes the new faculty/staff directory.
Feel free to send an email to the Communications group (uaf-ianre@alaska.edu) or directly to Jenn (jenn@alaska.edu) if you have any questions or concerns. We're looking forward to a productive spring.
Welcome to IANRE
— Caley Gasch
Chelsea San Roman and Kristin Haney
In February and March, IANRE and AFES will welcome two new employees, Chelsea San Roman and Kristin Haney, who will serve as farm field technicians at the Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center and the Fairbanks Experiment Farm, respectively.
These roles will support activities at the experiment farms within the Collaborative Food Production Systems cooperative agreement with USDA-ARS in North Dakota. Both individuals have experience as Alaskan farmhands and as technicians on research projects. Welcome Chelsea and Kristin!
Jackie Hrabok
Dr. Jacqueline Hrabok is the new Extension faculty at TV Northwest campus serving the Bering Strait communities.
Coming from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sami Education Institute Finland, and Lakehead University Canada, Jackie has lived in remote Indigenous communities in the circumpolar north for the past 20 years. As an ecologist and artisan, her teaching and research interests include reindeer husbandry and applied arts with specialties in health and disease, meat preservation, tanning fish skins and reindeer hides into leather, tourism, and hands-on experiences for youth.
Jackie leads the TV-NWC High Latitude Range Management Program in Nome.
Her hobbies consist of being a hockey goalie, pack rafting, fishing, nature photography, and adventures with her Siberian husky, Yeti.
New publication
is now available online and in print. This publication details how to grow one at home, including choosing the right variety, planting, watering and fertilizing tips, as well as how to make sure you can get your giant cabbage from the garden to a fair display.
National Radon Action Month
— Art Nash
National Radon Action Month was successful in getting kits out to the communities! More than 500 requests for kits have come through the Alaska Department of Natural Resources portal (which shares an outreach grant with CES). A multi-agency radon and lung health workshop was held in Fairbanks mid-month, and several schools in Fairbanks also were tested.
Also, for the first time, an Alaska student won the National Radon Poster Contest.
Luciana Liu attends O’Malley Elementary School. Her poster depicted an evil-looking “Queen Radonia of Radon” and a radon test kit as the avenging super heroine. The national contest, open to students between 9 and 14, awards a $1,000 prize. The contest is held each year across the nation to raise awareness of radon gas, the second-leading cause of lung cancer.
Adaptive Design
A national AARP publication, "Creating Community Gardens for People of All Ages," was released this week featuring, in part, an adaptive design of raised beds for ambulatory challenged growers. Steve Brown and Art Nash built the raised beds as a Mat-Su Community Challenge Project, which DeShana York documented. The publication can be downloaded at
Helpful tips from Glen Holt
Every so often, a social media post will take off unexpectedly. Here's a recent example from Glen Holt, CES Outreach Forester:
Splitting wood is a great way to stay in shape, but for some of us, it’s more arduous than for others. Here is a good way to keep from constantly standing firewood back up after the first split using an ax or splitting maul. Try splitting your firewood rounds on your chopping block, but in an old repurposed tire.
For more on the steps to splitting wood by hand in an old tire, check out our RREA forestry blog:
Upcoming classes and workshops
- Master Gardener classes are also scheduled this spring for the Anchorage and Fairbanks areas. Contact Steve Brown, scbrown4@alaska.edu for more information.
- Darren Snyder is teaching a Gardening 101 class for Southeast Alaska gardeners in Juneau. Complete the .
- A two-day continuing education course for certified pesticide applicators, arborists and landscape professionals is scheduled for March 15-16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sign up and sign up
- The next Certified Food Protection Manager training is scheduled for April 17. For details and to sign up, For more information, contact Julie Cascio, jmcascio@alaska.edu.
Upcoming programs hosted by the Anchorage Outreach Center.
Beating Rising Home and Vehicle Energy Prices
March 1, noon to 1 p.m.
Register at
Facebook event link:
Starting a Cottage Foods Business
March 9, noon to 1 p.m.
Register at
Facebook event link:
4-H Update
Shooting sports training
—Sterling "Todd" Williver
The April Shooting Sports Training in Palmer/Anchorage will be April 14-16. Participants will be able to choose one discipline on each day, and how many day(s)/discipline(s) they want to attend.
This 12 hour training (including 3 hours of PDY and Risk Management done online) is required for ALL leaders wanting to run a shooting sports club.
FAQ - what is Western Heritage? Western Heritage is the newest 4-H Shooting Sports discipline. It is a living history project where youth learn about the time period of 1860-1890 through research and study of historic artifacts and documents. The project incorporates clothing (including hats, boots and leather goods), outdoor cooking, and shooting single action pistols, level action rifles and coach shotguns in safe and fun timed events.)
Bristol Bay 4-H
The LEGO Club challenge was to build an air powered car. It's OK not to succeed the first time. "You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it" ~ Margaret Thatcher
Tanana District 4-H
Pearl Creek STEM night. Thanks to these wonderful volunteer leaders and teens who are making it a success. Making homemade bouncy balls.
In the News
Gooseberry Peter's column in the Jan. 15 News-Miner:
Adrian Kohrt's column in the Jan. 29 News-Miner:
Art Nash's column in the Feb. 12 News-Miner:
Events
Check out the rolling calendar at the for the most up-to-date schedule of events.
Find out more about AFES and Extension and keep up with Extension news by "liking" us on .
Check out the Extension Blog at or the AFES Science & News blog at .