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A marten visits the Fairbanks home of Tim Walker. Walker has seen the animal several times. Photo courtesy Tim Walker

Features

Marten visits are a glimpse into mystery

A trapper fresh out of the Cosna River country in Interior Alaska said he can’t believe how many…

Matt Druckenmiller, right, and his research advisor Hajo Eicken, a professor of geophysics, stand on an ice floe near Utqiaġvik in about 2010. Photo courtesy Daniel Pringle

Features

The full circling of a northern career

Hajo Eicken had “everything I could ever ask for” in his former career at a German institute. Well,…

A whimbrel rests on a willow near the Jago River in summer 2024. Photo courtesy Alan Kneidel

Opinion

Alaska lovebirds go their own way

During a month of endless summer light, a mated pair of shorebirds teaches their four chicks how to…

Biologist Jordan Pruszenski measures an anesthetized bear during May 2025. Biologists take measurements and samples before attaching a satellite/ video collar to the bear’s neck. Photo courtesy Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Opinion

The scent of barren ground grizzly

Unlike most of us, Jordan Pruszenski has held in her arms the following wild animals: wolves, caribou, beavers,…

Northern sea ice, such as this surrounding the community of Kivalina, has declined dramatically in area and thickness over the last few decades. Photo courtesy Ned Rozell

Opinion

20 years of Arctic report cards

Twenty years have passed since scientists released the first version of the Arctic Report Card, now a staple…

Carl Benson, born in Minneapolis in 1927, took this self-portrait of himself in Greenland when he was 28. Photo by Carl Benson

Opinion

Carl Benson embodied the far North

Carl Benson’s last winter on Earth featured 32 consecutive days during which temperatures in his chosen town did…

Retired biologist and former Kenai National Wildlife Refuge manager Robin West speaks to nearly 150 attendees gathered in person and virtually for his presentation, “Looking Back, Looking Forward,” on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. Hosted by the Homer-based nonprofit Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, West’s talk included anecdotes about his 30 year-long career in the Fish and Wildlife Service and a solo canoe trip that inspired him to write a book about his experiences. Photo courtesy of Poppy Benson/Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges

News

Former refuge manager speaks on loving the land

Robin West presented his talk, “Looking Back, Looking Forward,” in Soldotna on Tuesday evening.

A University of Alaska Fairbanks skater takes the ice against Long Island University in February 2024. Photo courtesy Leif Van Cise

Opinion

The physics of skating and slap shots

When two NHL hockey players collide, their pads and muscles can absorb enough energy to power a 100-watt…

Pam Groves of the University of Alaska Fairbanks looks at bones of ancient creatures she has gathered over the years from northern rivers. The remains here include musk oxen, steppe bison and mammoth. Photo by Ned Rozell

Opinion

What killed the world’s giants?

Most of the large animals that have walked the surface of Earth are no longer here. Why?

Four members of the Riley Creek wolf pack, including the matriarch, “Riley,” dig a moose carcass frozen from creek ice in May 2016. National Park Service trail camera photo

Opinion

The Riley Creek pack’s sole survivor

As I was driving down the highway one spring day eight years ago, I saw a shaggy, gray-black…

UAF seismologist Carl Tape, age 9, stands outside on his family’s Fairbanks deck at minus 50 degrees F on Jan. 23, 1989. “Carl was ahead of his time,” said Rick Thoman. “Now people pose in front of the UAF sign.” Photo courtesy Walt Tape

Opinion

Fuzzy memories of a real Alaska cold snap

More than 35 years have ticked away since I turned my pickup left onto a North Pole road…

James Havens of Anchorage painted this image of a woolly mammoth that illustrated a cover of Science magazine in which appeared the work of UAF’s Matthew Wooller and his colleagues. Photo provided by Ned Rozell

Opinion

A whale of a mammoth tale

Matthew Wooller couldn’t believe his ears after a California researcher rang his cellphone recently.

A graphic depicts where the magnitude 7 Hubbard Glacier earthquake occurred on Dec. 6, 2025, in southeast Alaska. Photo courtesy Ned Rozell

Opinion

A wrinkle beneath the icy face of Alaska

A few days ago, the forces beneath Alaska rattled people within a 500-mile radius: A magnitude 7 earthquake…