C-Notes

C-Notes August 25, 2025

Message from the Dean

As we have now kicked off the fall semester, it is a pleasure to welcome everyone back! As always, our outstanding faculty, staff and students are working hard to advance many exciting research, academic and outreach activities. One important near-term goal is preparing to meet with the new CFOS Advisory Council in the coming weeks, which will include a discussion of priorities of the college with UAF Interim Chancellor Mike Sfraga. There are many notable aspects of our college to highlight, including new faculty and staff hires, sustained strong enrollment in our graduate and undergraduate programs, growth of our research portfolio, and outstanding operation of major facilities including R/V Sikuliaq.

Please join me in congratulating our summer 2025 graduates:

Keith Herron, M.S. Fisheries, Tamamta program; Major Advisors: Peter Westley and Jessica Black
Elizabeth Hinkle, Ph.D. Fisheries; Major Advisor: Jeff Falke
Jonah Jossart, M.S. Marine Biology; Major Advisors: Sarah Mincks, Amanda Kelley
Emily Ortega, Ph.D. Oceanography; Major Advisor: Ana Aguilar-Islas
Isaac Reister, Ph.D. Oceanography; Major Advisor: Seth Danielson
Audrey Rowe, Ph.D. Interdisciplinary; Major Advisor: Matthew Wooller
Felicia Holman, B.S. Fisheries and Marine Sciences, concentration Fisheries Science

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway for the Arctic Collaborative Ecosystem cruise, which is funded by the NSF Division of Ocean Sciences as part of a barter agreement with NOAA. The expedition includes several research programs: the Distributed Biological Observatory (Jackie Grebmeier, University of Maryland); NOAA Ecosystems and Fisheries Oceanographic Investigations (Phyllis Stabeno, NOAA Pacific Marine Environment Laboratory); the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (chief scientist Katrin Iken, CFOS); and the Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory (Seth Danielson, CFOS). The 17-day cruise will collect water column, zooplankton, benthic macrofauna, sediment and epibenthic organism samples, as well as conduct mooring retrievals.

Accomplishments

CFOS students Sydney Almgren and Erica Ebert have been awarded . The new group of fellows also includes CFOS alumni Emma Luck and Emily Reynolds. 

CFOS in the News

Scientific American mentioned R/V ܱ’s growing role in Antarctic research in an article about .

Andrés López was quoted in a Northern Journal article .

 

Dean's Report Archives