July 2023 Outlook
NIFA's State of Success: Alaska
To celebrate National Alaska Day on June 28, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) highlighted the innovative NIFA-funded research conducted by University of Alaska’s Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
You can read it
A prickly little problem at Georgeson Botanical Garden
— Julie Stricker
Last winter, Lacey Higham, operations lead at Georgeson Botanical Garden, discovered that the garden on the west side of the TVcampus had a prickly little vandal living on the premises.
A porcupine had made its home in a culvert and spent weeks “living its best life” feasting on trees in the garden, according to Katie DiCristina, GBG manager.
Alaska porcupines usually spend their winters eating the inner bark and needles of white spruce trees. DiCristina said the animal had completely girdled some of the trees in the garden, which prevents the trees from moving nutrients from the roots to the area above where the bark was removed, effectively killing the trees.
This spring, four trees in the garden had to be cut down, two that were porcupine-damaged this year and two that were porcupine-damaged in the winter of 2021-22, she said.
A third, a Scotch pine at the entrance, lost almost all of its bark and is nearly dead.
Several other trees in the garden have gnaw marks on their trunks and branches where the porcupine sampled them and then moved on. Fortunately, the porcupine itself seems to have moved on.
DiCristina said the Scotch pine at the entrance doesn’t pose a hazard at this time, so she is leaving it as an educational tool.
"The garden is a stage where many ecological systems are at play," she said. "Although sometimes challenging, we strive to celebrate nature and use these events as learning opportunities for both us and our visitors."
Agriculture researchers get taste of Alaska at TV and Alaska farms
— Chelsea San Roman and Caley Gasch
On June 19-22 a group of scientists from Agricultural Research Service labs in Mandan and Fargo, North Dakota, and Pullman, Washington, visited Alaska.
First stop on the tour was the Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center. Here our staff and faculty showed off research plots made possible by their collaboration with the university, specifically in the areas of grain production, cover crops, and soil health.
Read about the trip and see lots more photos on .
Research update
Permafrost Grown Project in Nenana
— Glenna Gannon
We are doing cursory monitoring of permafrost as part of the Permafrost Grown Project in Nenana, since it is not one of our official research sites.
To date, our project team has done some satellite imagery and LIDAR (remote sensing) analysis; identified that there are indeed polygon formations in parts of the Nenana-Totchaket Agriculture Project; taken soil samples from different areas within the project; done several exploratory drill sites (up to 4 meters); and installed soil moisture and temperature sensors on the AFES/ TV parcels.
At right are several images that are a time series identifying the presence of ephemeral lake systems likely as a result of shallow seasonal ice; bordered by permafrost.
TV alumnus heads boreal research group
On July 11, Glenn Juday led a group from the Winslow Hansen research lab at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, to the AFES long-term forest reference stands in Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest.
Winslow did his master's degree at TV in the Forest Sciences Department and AFES from 2011-2013. His project, directed by Scott Rupp, involved ecosystem modeling, and was titled “Disturbance Interactions in South-Central Alaska: Implications for Ecosystems and People.” He also has a current appointment as a TV affiliate faculty with IARC and Columbia University in New York City. His team includes postdocs and graduate students that are launching new research, synthesis, and modeling of boreal forests.
The 40-year history of research and monitoring in the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest and Long Term Ecological Research site is the starting point for much of their work, and offers opportunities for future TV collaboration.
Winslow also directs the newly formed Western Fire and Forest Resilience Collaborative, a multi-year initiative. The persistent smoke over much of the Lower 48 states from extensive Canadian boreal forest wildfires this summer has generated great media interest in Winslow’s work and perspectives. Fortunately, his background and education at TV prepared him well, as Alaska experienced essentially the same phenomenon a couple of decades earlier in its transition to a warmer environment, and much of that research from TV in fact essentially predicted what is happening now in the boreal forest of Canada.
Celebrating Fourth of July in Eagle
Marla Lowder spent the Fourth of July in Eagle, which celebrates with a big community party.
She wrote, "Happy 4th of July from Eagle, Alaska. Love this little community. I watched the flag raising this morning and then the parade. Afterward, I did a CES booth and had people make smoothies with the smoothie bike."
Iceland farmers learn about Alaska rhodiola
A group of Iceland farmers traveled to Alaska the week of June 26 to learn how to begin rhodiola farming in that country.
Matanuska Experiment Farm's Steve Brown hosted them as they visited rhodiola farms on the Kenai Peninsula and in the Matanuska and Susitna valleys. Although rhodiola rosea is native to Iceland, it has never been grown commercially in that country. Rhodiola is primarily used as a non-toxic substitute for caffeine but is also used in cosmetics.
Because wild-harvested rhodiola in Russia and China has been banned, there is a large demand for agriculturally grown rhodiola.
Annual report of accomplishments posted
Our federal funder, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, accepted our joint CES/AFES annual report of accomplishments based on our activities during the Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2022, year. You can read the approved copy on the IANRE website.
4-H Update
Bristol Bay 4-H featured on Alaska Afterschool Network's Facebook page, blog
A post on the Alaska Afterschool Network site states: "At Bristol Bay 4-H, youth learn about local plants, birds and animals. They also experiment in making medicine, crafting dance fans and headdresses, and participate in Native Dance! Bristol Bay 4-H follows the Yup'ik values of sharing and working together in all that it does."
Read more on .
In the News
- Gooseberry Peter is featured in the KTVF story on bird vetch:
- The News-Miner featured a story about the OneTree Alaska Tempestry Tapestry Project:
- Jodie Anderson commented on Sen. Lisa Murkowski's addition to the Farm Bill, which ran in the News-Miner: Here is Murkowski's press release on the topic:
- Joey Slowik was interviewed on KTUU about European black slugs and the reporting portal:
- Art Nash's July 16 column in the News-Miner:
- Heidi Rader's July 9 gardening column in the News-Miner:
- Glenn Juday on climate change in the Detroit Catholic: .
- Gino Graziano is a co-author of this op-ed piece on invasive species in the Anchorage Daily News:
- Reina Hasting's July 2 column in the News-Miner:
(Note, if you don't subscribe to the News-Miner, you can read Extension columns on the )
Events
Check out the rolling calendar at the for the most up-to-date schedule of events.