After three years, the newly assembled juvenile humpback whale skeleton and accompanied mural will be unveiled at its new home at the University of Alaska – Sitka campus this Thursday (4-30-26). Dr. Lauren Wild and Stacy Golden join KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss the journey of assembling the skeleton, as well as what attendees can expect from the event.

Next week marks Giving Day for the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka campus, where for 49 hours one can donate money to support up to seven student and community initiatives for the campus. Aklei Helen Dangel, Liz Zacher, and Lauren Wild from UAS join KCAW for the Morning to share more about what Giving Day entails and what prospective donors can support such as arts programming, dual enrollment students, and whale research.

Health sciences, welding, and scuba diving are only a minor selection of subsidized courses available to high school upperclassmen to take through a special dual credit program with University of Alaska Southeast-Sitka. Sitka High School teacher Mike Viera and counselor Megan Reid, alongside UAS welding instructor Luke Gibes, joins KCAW for the Morning Interview to discuss the dual credit program and how rising upperclassmen can get involved in the upcoming fall semester.

The upcoming “State of the Sound” event aims to gather local residents, knowledge holders, researchers, and students to share observations and ask questions about Sitka Sound. The event, from Feb. 19 to 21 at Harrigan Centennial Hall, includes storytelling, roundtable discussions, talks, and field trips. Lauren Wild, assistant professor of applied fisheries at UAS, joined KCAW on the Morning Interview to talk about what’s on the agenda and what attendees can expect. Listen to the conversation here:

Lauren Bell, research director at the Sitka Sound Science Center, Lauren Wild, a professor of applied sciences, and Ellen Chenoweth, professor of marine biology, joined the Morning Interview to discuss the upcoming “State of the Sound” event in Sitka. The event, scheduled for Feb. 19-21, aims to foster community knowledge sharing among researchers, local residents, and traditional knowledge holders. The initiative, a year in the making, includes various sessions, including roundtable discussions, skill shares, and field trips, emphasizing the importance of integrating diverse perspectives. Listen to their conversation here:

The University of Alaska Southeast’s Applied Fisheries program offers degrees, certificates, and occupational endorsements in aquaculture and fisheries management. Upcoming online classes, which are open to everyone, start on Jan. 12. They include Shellfish Hatchery and Farming Techniques, Intro to Mariculture, and Alaska Salmon Culture. A three-day lab in late April will cover various aquaculture techniques. The fall semester’s hands-on intensive program, typically full by March, covers salmon, shellfish, and kelp mariculture, and includes practical skills like boat driving and cold water safety.

Angie Bowers, assistant professor in applied fisheries at UAS, and Brenna Haakinson, mariculture education coordinator with UAS/Sitka Sound Science Center, joined the Morning Interview to discuss the applied fisheries program. Listen to their conversation here:

UAS art professor and regional coordinator for the Northwest Coast Indigenous Arts program Liz Zacher and academic advisor Akléi Helen Dangel joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to discuss the growing program and array of opportunities for students.

Listen to their conversation here:

The UAS Chancellor serves as the university’s chief executive officer– they will oversee the three Southeast campuses Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka. While the chancellor is ultimately appointed by the president of the university system, and reports to her, the process for choosing a chancellor is long, and includes input from many stakeholders.

The hiring process started last semester with over 40 applicants. Around two-dozen semi-finalists were selected from that pool. Of the interviewed candidates, five advanced to a final round.

Community members and staff have lots of opportunities to weigh in, and many were able to meet the candidates during site visits in late January. All five spent two days in Juneau, one in Ketchikan, and one in Sitka.

“We like to say they saved the best for last with Sitka.” says Sitka Campus Director Paul Kraft. Kraft and Sitka campus academic advisor Katie Sill were on the search committee, which included professors, staff and a retired UAS chancellor. Kraft told KCAW that after the in-person visits, around 70 staff and faculty submitted feedback on each of the candidates. 

In an interview on Monday, Kraft said the search committee planned to convene later that day to review that feedback and make their recommendation to the university president. He and Sill say there’s no definitive date by which the president will announce her decision, but he’s hopeful it will happen in the next couple of weeks. 

On September 2, the White House announced $49 million dollars in funding for further development of Alaska’s mariculture industry– that’s mostly shellfish and seaweed. The “Alaska Mariculture Cluster,” led by Southeast Conference, was one of 21 winners in the nationwide “Build Back Better Regional Challenge” program.

$2.3 million of that money is going to the University of Alaska Southeast.

“And so aquaculture and mariculture have been a part of our program for over a decade now. But the mariculture side of things has really started to grow, as the industry has started to receive more attention and more interest over the past years,” said Joel Markis, who directs the applied fisheries program in Sitka.

“And so we’ve seen that portion of our program grow in the last five years and these funding opportunities kind of go in-line with that,” he added.

Markis said the money will support their growing mariculture workforce development program by helping them hire a faculty member, a marketing and recruitment specialist and a technician. It will also fund the development of a climate controlled growth chamber for spawning algae and kelp, along with a commercial kitchen.

“Now that we’ve collected or harvested these organisms out of the ocean, what are we going to do with them? The hope is that, with the addition of a commercial kitchen space that’s FDA certified, we can actually prepare some of these things for food,” Markis said. “[And] give students a glimpse at that side of things of what does it take to actually…turn these different products into food? And then, are there ways that we can potentially add value to them through that culinary side of things?”

Markis hopes this investment in their program will help them bring the mariculture industry to a wider audience and help it grow.

“I think there’s a huge amount of potential out there. We’ve got tens-of-thousands of miles of coastline in Southeast Alaska alone, and the capacity to grow a lot of food in our waters…right here locally and throughout Southeast Alaska,” Markis says. “And so if we can aid in doing that in a responsible manner, in a sustainable manner, and help support the industry by teaching people about the different aspects of mariculture, and of growing food in the ocean, I think it’s something that we’re all really excited about.”

“The Alaska Mariculture Cluster” was one of 529 applicants to the federal funding program. They have five years to spend the funding on eight different projects to develop and expand the industry throughout the state.  

Lead academic advisor at UAS, Katie Sill joins KCAW’s Meredith Redick to chat about tuition assistance for local students over the coming fall and spring terms. Qualifying students can save around $700 for a 3 credit class through the Sitka Campus. Listen Below:

Classes begin August 29th and the deadline to apply for financial aid is September 1. For more information on the application process and to connect with an advisor email, sitka.advising@alaska.edu or call 9077477777.