Thu, 05 Mar 2026 01:41:49 -0500 https://alaskasciencepod.buzzsprout.com/ en-us © 2026 Alaska Science Pod yes Alaska, USA f0288488-01a1-5235-8fca-053979960fe6 UAF Geophysical Institute episodic false Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) Alaska,Geophysics,Nature,Alaska Science,Ravens,Natural Science,Field Work,Research,Natural History UAF Geophysical Institute https://storage.buzzsprout.com/5sti2519bf3uky3mchmmfvx55l14?.jpg https://alaskasciencepod.buzzsprout.com/ Ep. 11: Field Notes: Into the Ghost Forest At the height of summer in 2021, Ned accompanied University of Alaska Fairbanks ecologist Ben Gaglioti to a ghost forest a glacier had run over in Southeast Alaska. Ned and Ben spent about two weeks near La Perouse Glacier, the one that ran over the trees during a cold period called the Little Ice Age. The story begins with the pair standing on a lonely beach about 100 miles south of Yakutat after a bush pilot dropped them off. (28:10)

]]> At the height of summer in 2021, Ned accompanied University of Alaska Fairbanks ecologist Ben Gaglioti to a ghost forest a glacier had run over in Southeast Alaska. Ned and Ben spent about two weeks near La Perouse Glacier, the one that ran over the trees during a cold period called the Little Ice Age. The story begins with the pair standing on a lonely beach about 100 miles south of Yakutat after a bush pilot dropped them off. (28:10)

]]> UAF Geophysical Institute Buzzsprout-10419421 Tue, 12 Apr 2022 12:00:00 -0800 1708 Ghost Forest, Alaska, Science, Glacier, glacier, forest, 1 11 full false Ep. 10: Thirty Years of Permafrost Research with Vladimir Romanovsky, Part 2/2 Permafrost researcher Vladimir Romanovsky, professor emeritus at the Geophysical Institute, reflects on his career and surprising changes to Alaska's permafrost during his 30-year career. This episode is part 2/2 of  a conversation with Romanovsky starting in the previous episode . (38:51)

]]> Permafrost researcher Vladimir Romanovsky, professor emeritus at the Geophysical Institute, reflects on his career and surprising changes to Alaska's permafrost during his 30-year career. This episode is part 2/2 of  a conversation with Romanovsky starting in the previous episode . (38:51)

]]> UAF Geophysical Institute Buzzsprout-10169711 Tue, 01 Mar 2022 13:00:00 -0900 2349 1 10 full false Ep. 9: Thirty Years of Permafrost Research with Vladimir Romanovsky, Part 1/2 Vladimir Romanovsky is retiring after 30 years of studying permafrost at UAF's Geophysical Institute. He enters professor emeritus status while seeing changes in Alaska's frozen ground he never anticipated when scientists spoke of a new ice age in the 1970s. Romanovsky talks about why these discoveries of rapidly thawing ground are hard on roads and houses built over permafrost — frozen ground that has survived the heat of two summers — but are fascinating to him as a researcher. Part 1 of 2.

]]> Vladimir Romanovsky is retiring after 30 years of studying permafrost at UAF's Geophysical Institute. He enters professor emeritus status while seeing changes in Alaska's frozen ground he never anticipated when scientists spoke of a new ice age in the 1970s. Romanovsky talks about why these discoveries of rapidly thawing ground are hard on roads and houses built over permafrost — frozen ground that has survived the heat of two summers — but are fascinating to him as a researcher. Part 1 of 2.

]]> UAF Geophysical Institute Buzzsprout-10032531 Tue, 08 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0900 2823 1 9 full false Ep. 8: From Alaska to New Zealand, the bar-tailed godwit with Dan Ruthrauff Bird biologist Dan Ruthrauff of the USGS Science Center in Anchorage describes the bar-tailed godwit, a bird that every fall flies from Alaska to New Zealand without stopping. That’s a week to nine days straight in the air!

]]> Bird biologist Dan Ruthrauff of the USGS Science Center in Anchorage describes the bar-tailed godwit, a bird that every fall flies from Alaska to New Zealand without stopping. That’s a week to nine days straight in the air!

]]> Buzzsprout-9737274 Mon, 03 Jan 2022 14:00:00 -0900 2133 1 8 full false Ep. 7: Calls of killer whales with Hannah Myers Hannah Myers is a graduate student and a killer whale linguist. She has listened to hundreds of underwater recordings from which she can identify distinct families of whales. Myers and other researchers found that killer whales hang offshore of the Gulf of Alaska even during winter, when salmon are no longer headed for their birth streams.

]]> Hannah Myers is a graduate student and a killer whale linguist. She has listened to hundreds of underwater recordings from which she can identify distinct families of whales. Myers and other researchers found that killer whales hang offshore of the Gulf of Alaska even during winter, when salmon are no longer headed for their birth streams.

]]> UAF Geophysical Institute Buzzsprout-9680071 Tue, 07 Dec 2021 00:00:00 -0900 2160 1 7 full false Ep. 6: Martin Truffer and the surging Malaspina Glacier Martin Truffer is a glaciologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. He reports that the Malaspina Glacier is more than three thousand feet deep in some places, describes how his research group is monitoring its progress and speculates about future changes to this massive glacier in Southcentral Alaska. (29 minutes)

]]> Martin Truffer is a glaciologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. He reports that the Malaspina Glacier is more than three thousand feet deep in some places, describes how his research group is monitoring its progress and speculates about future changes to this massive glacier in Southcentral Alaska. (29 minutes)

]]> UAF Geophysical Institute Buzzsprout-9478376 Tue, 02 Nov 2021 12:00:00 -0800 1780 1 6 full false Ep. 5: Randy Brown and the Bering cisco, a tasty Alaska fish Randy Brown is a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Fairbanks. For years, he lived off the land in Alaska on a tributary of the upper Yukon River. In this episode, Randy describes the detective work he and others used to learn more about a tasty Alaska fish, the Bering cisco. (37 minutes)

]]> Randy Brown is a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Fairbanks. For years, he lived off the land in Alaska on a tributary of the upper Yukon River. In this episode, Randy describes the detective work he and others used to learn more about a tasty Alaska fish, the Bering cisco. (37 minutes)

]]> UAF Geophysical Institute Buzzsprout-9317000 Tue, 05 Oct 2021 12:00:00 -0800 2259 1 5 full false Ep. 4: GI's 75th Anniversary with Roger Smith: Past, present and future of the institute Roger Smith is a space physicist who moved to Alaska from London in the 80s. He became the director of the Geophysical Institute in 2000. Roger describes what the early days at the GI were like and why the institute has endured for 75 years. (47 minutes)

]]> Roger Smith is a space physicist who moved to Alaska from London in the 80s. He became the director of the Geophysical Institute in 2000. Roger describes what the early days at the GI were like and why the institute has endured for 75 years. (47 minutes)

]]> UAF Geophysical Institute Buzzsprout-9190838 Mon, 13 Sep 2021 18:00:00 -0800 2889 1 4 full false Ep. 3: Sherry Shimpson's "Telling Raven Stories," read by Lee Zirnheld Sherry Simpson, one of the best descriptive writers in Alaska — and  possibly the world —  died in 2020 of a brain tumor. Science writer Ned Rozell worked with Sherry at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, where he soon noticed that no one could write quite like her. Here, Lee Zirnheld of Fairbanks, Alaska, reads aloud Sherry’s essay, Telling Raven Stories. (25 minutes)

]]> Sherry Simpson, one of the best descriptive writers in Alaska — and  possibly the world —  died in 2020 of a brain tumor. Science writer Ned Rozell worked with Sherry at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, where he soon noticed that no one could write quite like her. Here, Lee Zirnheld of Fairbanks, Alaska, reads aloud Sherry’s essay, Telling Raven Stories. (25 minutes)

]]> UAF Geophysical Institute Buzzsprout-8824701 Tue, 06 Jul 2021 23:00:00 -0800 1575 1 3 full false Ep. 2: Seismologist Carl Tape investigates the 1900 earthquake near Kodiak, Alaska In this episode, seismologist Carl Tape transforms into both historian and detective to investigate the strongest earthquake on the planet in the year 1900, somewhere near Kodiak, Alaska. (30 minutes)

]]> In this episode, seismologist Carl Tape transforms into both historian and detective to investigate the strongest earthquake on the planet in the year 1900, somewhere near Kodiak, Alaska. (30 minutes)

]]> UAF Geophysical Institute Buzzsprout-8622563 Tue, 01 Jun 2021 23:00:00 -0800 1779 1900 Earthquake,Kodiak,Alaska,Science,Natural Science,Seismology,Geophysical Institute,UAF, Nanook Nation 1 2 full false Ep. 1: Cathy Cahill talks innovation in unmanned aircraft Cathy Cahill directs the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Her fleet of vehicles encompasses those too intelligent to call “drones” to tiny aircraft fitting in one hand, to gas-powered, 16-foot dual-engine ships that may soon deliver snowmachine parts to rural Alaska villages. Alaskans like Cahill and her team are constantly innovating — now using unmanned aircraft to monitor whale populations and pipelines, and complete other jobs too dirty, dull or dangerous for human pilots. (40 minutes)

]]> Cathy Cahill directs the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Her fleet of vehicles encompasses those too intelligent to call “drones” to tiny aircraft fitting in one hand, to gas-powered, 16-foot dual-engine ships that may soon deliver snowmachine parts to rural Alaska villages. Alaskans like Cahill and her team are constantly innovating — now using unmanned aircraft to monitor whale populations and pipelines, and complete other jobs too dirty, dull or dangerous for human pilots. (40 minutes)

]]> UAF Geophysical Institute Buzzsprout-8276866 Mon, 03 May 2021 22:00:00 -0800 2432 UAS,ACUASI,Whales,Alaska 1 1 full false