In the freezing waters of Earth’s loneliest continent, secrets are being unveiled: from a marine invertebrate producing a compound effective in treating skin cancer, to the only animal surviving without the oxygen transporter molecule hemoglobin, all while more is discovered about one of Earth’s mass extinctions. In this breathtaking environment, the R/V Sikuliaq is serving as a floating home to researchers who aim to understand more of the Southern Ocean’s secrets.

University of Alaska President Pat Pitney discussed the progress and growth UA has made in reversing enrollment declines, creating more research opportunities, funding scholarships and more at the last State of the University Address before her upcoming retirement in May. Pitney gave her speech at a hotel with the Rotary Club of Fairbanks March 19.

After more than 50 years of preserving Alaska Native languages, the Alaska Native Language Center now faces budget cuts, staffing shortages, and a gap in leadership. These challenges threaten decades of progress in the efforts to preserve languages on the brink of extinction.

When Jessie Holmes won his second Iditarod tonight, the year after he won his first championship, he achieved a feat only matched by race legends Susan Butcher and Lance Mackey.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin joined Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Alaska Attorney General Stephen J. Cox at the University of Alaska Fairbanks power plant for a press conference following a series of meetings and visits around the Fairbanks area. 

The UAF Pre-Health Society hosted a Stop the Bleed training course, which is licensed by the U.S. Department of Defense, this past Thursday at the Margaret Murie Building. President of the Pre-Health Society Shea Geller said the primary purpose of this course is for people to be able to “protect themselves and take care of themselves in a life threatening situation.” 

Facing rising enrollment, housing shortages and mounting graduate worker concerns, the University of Alaska Board of Regents spent the week advancing major construction projects, reviewing tuition increases and hearing student calls for health insurance stability. 

Mushers across Alaska convened this February to compete in a particularly demanding iteration of the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race. Following a new approximately 750 mile course, contestants battled a variety of weather, trail, and dog related challenges.

A lawsuit filed in state court against the University of Alaska in January claims the institution mishandled a Title IX discrimination investigation, harming a University of Alaska Fairbanks grad student’s professional life, emotional and psychological well-being.  

The case points to a larger theme of Title IX violations within the UA system, referencing the 2017 finding by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which determined through a four-year compliance review that UA violated Title IX in its response to sexual harassment complaints, including complaints of sexual assault and sexual violence and failing to protect its students and staff from discrimination on the basis of sex.  

Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prevents sex discrimination in education. It covers all behaviors within university programs and activities. 

Last Tuesday, University of Alaska President Pat Pitney presented the system’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget to the House Finance University of Alaska Subcommittee, emphasizing institutional stability, workforce development, compensation shortfalls, continued investment in research, and a pending unionization vote involving thousands of nonunion employees.

UAF’s track and field athletes practicing on the indoor track in the student recreation center has become a topic of concern for some Student Recreation Center, or SRC, members. According to director of the SRC Mark Oldmixon, the team has utilized the track for the last three winters. 

A campus walkout on Friday Jan. 30 drew about 110 participants during its peak protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, citing concerns about deportations, deaths tied to ICE operations and immigration enforcement.

Former Rep. Mary Peltola kicked off her campaign to unseat current Sen. Dan Sullivan in Fairbanks last Tuesday in a spacious and stunning log cabin at Trail Breakers Kennel with an interesting twist on her politically moderate messaging.

Cold weather be damned, Fairbanks residents took to the streets three times in the last few weeks to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, on Jan. 9 Jan. 20 and Jan 25.  Chants cut through the cold air, “No hate. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here!” 

University of Alaska Fairbanks student Graham Granger was arraigned in Rabinowitz Courthouse last week on charges of criminal mischief after he destroyed another student’s artwork in the UAF Fine Arts Gallery on the Troth Yeddha’ campus.

University of Alaska Fairbanks leaders and community partners outlined funding priorities, budget challenges and advocacy strategies during the Chancellor’s Legislative Kickoff on Thursday, Jan. 15, as the Alaska Legislature prepares for the 2026 session.