The Arctic Coastal Geoscience Lab offers a variety of engaging educational programs. This includes undergraduate and graduate courses at UAF, community education and citizen-scientist training, and an undergraduate internship program. We also mentor graduate students through training and direct experience in research tasks that build the skills and critical thinking necessary for professional or academic careers.
Academic Classes
Chris Maio’s Classes
The Dynamic Alaska Coastline
GEOS F460
3 Credits
Offered Spring Even-numbered Years
This course will provide the knowledge base for understanding Alaska’s dynamic coastlines with an emphasis on climate and tectonic, driven changes. The class includes a multiday field trip to Homer offering field-based learning activities. Special fees apply.
Prerequisites: Junior standing; GEOS F111X or GEOS F101X; CHEM F105X or PHYS F123X; NRM F338 or equivalent GIS coursework.
The Dynamic Alaska Coastline
GEOS F660
3 Credits
Offered Spring Even-numbered Years
This course will provide the knowledge base for understanding Alaska’s dynamic coastlines with an emphasis on climate and tectonic, driven changes. The class includes a multiday field trip to Homer offering field-based learning activities. Special fees apply.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing.
Matthew Balazs’ Classes
AlaskaX: Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS): Fundamentals
Learn the fundamentals of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) including terminology, types of platforms, flight physics, and selection of UAS for specific needs and applications.
Prerequisites: None.
AlaskaX: Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS): Operations
Dive into the applications of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for research, industrial, surveying, emergency response, and commercial purposes. Learn flight planning, the basics of flying, and how to process data to make useful products.
Prerequisites: None.
Undergraduate Internship Program
The ACGL undergraduate internship program offers students a variety of exciting research opportunities and the ability to gain important workforce skills. Student interns work as a team to learn how to use laboratory equipment, software programs for processing and visualizing geospatial data, to carry out sediment core analysis and to work collaboratively to advance the understanding of Alaska’s coastlines.
Two to three interns each year are selected and trained to work at the ACGL. Interns are mentored and trained by Dr. Chris Maio, staff, and graduate students in the collection, processing, and interpretation of project datasets. Interns are afforded the opportunity to participate in research projects that have broader impacts and benefit society.
Environmental Coordinator Training and Knowledge Exchange
The ACGL conducts a variety of education workshops and programs within K-12 schools and also provides community and regional workshops. The goal of the community outreach is to engage local residents with research, support informed decision-making, and actively train the next generation of geoscientists.
Middle and High School Education Activities
Here is some text from a recent abstract:
“In the rural coastal communities of southwest Alaska, flooding and erosion are resulting in the loss of important land, damage to infrastructure, and changes to subsistence activities. Addressing these issues using local Indigenous knowledge and leadership, scientific inquiry, and place-based active learning techniques provides an opportunity to invest in youth education. We are designing and piloting coastal hazard focused materials and an accompanying teacher training course for middle and high school classrooms.”
Concept model depicting the drivers and impacts of coastal change.