���ϳԹ���

Trees are central to the story of how water moves through an ecosystem. They absorb it through their roots, move it upward through straw-like tissues called xylem, and release it back into the atmosphere through their leaves or needles in a process known as transpiration.

Roughly 25–50% of a living tree is water, and scientists estimate that about 10% of atmospheric moisture originates from transpiring trees. In that sense, forests don’t just respond to ���ϳԹ���, they help create it.

Learn more about how Jessie Young-Robertson, research associate professor of forest ecology, studies this relationship between water and forests, a field known as ecohydrology.

Santosh Panda, a professor of geographic information science, always starts his research with a problem that affects people or the environment and ends with something anyone can use or benefit from.

“I like to create something, a tool, so that anybody who is interested in this kind of product or knowledge can use it,” Panda says.” They don’t have to be a scientist.”

Panda uses remote sensing to study and predict permafrost thaw in Alaska’s National Parks, map rivers important for subsistence and to better understand changes in the boreal forest. 

Learn more about Panda and his process of making maps and other tools.

One of entomologist Dennis Fielding's favorite things about his job was getting to know insect species like the root maggot. He studied not just their phenology — the timing of important life events — but also their biology and behavior. By unearthing the intricacies of the lives of the root maggot and other pests, Fielding's work can provide information on how to manage these insects to help farmers grow successful crops.

Learn more about root maggots and grasshoppers and how Fielding went about studying these farm pests.

Jakir Hasan, research assistant professor of plant genetics, works to develop improved varieties of crops with a history of cultivation in the state, and to find new crop types that can be commercially successful in Alaska's extreme environment. “We know that it can be grown,” Hasan says, “but we need to know how to do it and what variety will make farmers more profitable.”

Learn more about Hasan's research and the path he took to become a plant breeder.