Teaching

Current and Recent Courses

The summer field class includes 2 days of classroom instruction and local field trips in the Fairbanks area, an 13-day field excursion to Alaska's North Slope, and 2 days for student presentations and local field trips at the end. The course will provide students a rich variety of field experiences in the major Alaskan boreal, alpine and Arctic ecosystems during a 500-km road expedition with camps along the Elliott and Dalton Highways. The route follows the latitudinal transect from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay and traverses the Brooks Range Arctic Foothills and Arctic Coastal Plain. Students will receive training in field sampling methods for Arctic vegetation, soils, and permafrost, and complete an independent research project of their choosing. Course readings and field observatios will provide background for in-depth discussions of current Arctic science issues regarding conservation, applications to remote sensing and modeling of the Arctic ecosystems, biodiversity, climate warming, degradation of permafrost, and adaptations of infrastructure and local communities to the changing Arctic. Pre-requisites: Two semesters of college-level science with one upper-division science course, or permission of the instructor.
Instructors: Dr. D.A. (Skip) Walker, Dr. Amy Breen, Dr. G.V. (JJ) Frost

Detailed study of Arctic plant communities including their composition, structure, paleo‐history, biogeography, major environmental controls, applications of Arctic vegetation methods to current Arctic issues including climate change, wildlife management, and changing land use in the Arctic.
Instructor: Dr. Anja Kade
Course syllabus and materials will be posted on Blackboard.
Additional resources: Plant List | Plant Family Characteristics | Flashcards