August 2025 Outlook
Note from Jodie
What happens when four VIPs visiting Anchorage for the Arctic Encounters Symposium have their Saturday special field trip to Kotzebue canceled at the last minute (and one of them is a former agronomist 鈥 Ambassador H酶egh)? You invite them to tour the Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center, of course!
They only had a couple of hours as they wanted to have an afternoon in Girdwood, and it was drizzly 鈥 not a problem at all! We started with coffee and conversations about our research work, the Alaska food system, and the Circumpolar Agriculture Association and the Arctic Council, then we all climbed into the Explorer and I gave them a brief tour.
I have come to love speaking with colleagues who live and work in the circumpolar north: I don鈥檛 have to take time to explain our daylight with regard to our cropping systems; I don鈥檛 have to answer questions about what we can actually grow outside; I don鈥檛 have to hear jokes about eating Rudolph when we talk about reindeer as livestock; and I don鈥檛 have to always say 鈥渙ur ag isn鈥檛 large-scale like the Lower 48鈥 because they get it!
This visit was no different and even pushed me to understand more about how we are more closely related to their living experiences than we are to our land-grant university friends. I was also reminded that the Nordic region of the circumpolar north is very innovative and has really worked hard to push the envelope of agricultural industries and waste products beyond just the food sold at the markets or thrown into the landfills.
My Saturday guests were very engaged and loved the Extension publications wall almost as much as the outside tour! Ms. Olsen was very excited to see the 鈥Canning Walrus鈥 publication and took one home with her and Ambassador H酶egh was happy to take the 鈥Rhubarb Recipes鈥 publication! The tour included a stop at the rhubarb collection, the vegetable variety trials, the new livestock feeding area, the small grains variety trials and an overview (literally at the top of the hill looking down) of all the projects in the lower field. They were very happy to see all the work we are doing and, most importantly, the applied nature of the research driven by the needs of our stakeholders.
I鈥檓 proud to have the opportunity to work at levels we haven鈥檛 previously been able 鈥 getting our efforts in front of state, national and international groups; pursuing opportunities for diversified funding; and educating our upper leadership at both the UAF and UA systems so their leadership can better advocate for us. This lets us show off the work we are accomplishing here at the institute to our international colleagues and hear from them about work that might connect with our goals.
Be well,
Jodie
Wagaman named director of UAF Cooperative Extension Service
鈥 Julie Stricker
Jennifer Wagaman has been named director of the 夜色福利 Cooperative
Extension Service, part of the Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension.
Wagaman has served as the communications manager at IANRE since 2022. She has 25 years of experience in science communication, public relations and community program management to support the institute鈥檚 diverse research and community engagement missions.
She has strong community and statewide ties, said Jodie Anderson, IANRE director, and has built great working relationships with other Extension folks in the Western region, as well as nationally.
鈥淪he has seen how our stakeholders see us, knows the strengths of our communities and has new and creative ideas for engaging those who can support and guide our work,鈥 Anderson said. 鈥淪he will serve as an excellent representative of IANRE, UAF and Alaska.鈥
Wagaman is a long-time Alaska resident and UAF alumnus. She has a bachelor's degree in anthropology and art and a master鈥檚 in communications, both from UAF.
She has served as an adjunct professor, teaching writing, science writing and special education courses at the university level for more than 20 years. Wagaman runs her own consulting business, providing training to caregivers and professionals working with individuals with complex neurobehavioral conditions.
She lives with her family in Fairbanks, where she enjoys walking on the trails, traveling and making pottery.
2025 Field Days
Photo by Aimee Young.
Photo by Julie Stricker
Photo by Julie Stricker
From soggy to sunshine, Field Days a success
鈥擫aura Weingartner
Thank you to everyone who made this year's Research Field Days a success! We had people
from Nenana, Delta Junction, Moose Pass, Fort Yukon, Anchorage, Florida(!), Fairbanks
and Palmer visit the 夜色福利 experiment farms in Fairbanks
and Palmer to learn from our researchers about the science happening at the farm.
Visitors commented on how they enjoyed seeing the farm, talking to the researchers and learning about so many great topics. Thank you for taking the time to share AFES research with our communities! Take a look at the Facebook .
If you have any suggestions for improving next year's Field Days, besides "more sunshine,"
please email lgweingartner@alaska.edu. 
New Z眉rn goes to work
鈥 Laura Weingartner
It was harvest day in early August on the Fairbanks Experiment Farm. Kieran Gleason
and Charles Ashlock used their brand new Z眉rn combine for the first harvest of Mingchu
Zhang鈥檚 small grains variety trials, with research technicians Inga Peterson and Kristin
Haney.
The combine harvester collected seeds from almost 80 varieties of barley, wheat and canola, which are grown to find which varieties thrive in Fairbanks鈥 short summer.
The combine cuts the grain near the base of the stalks and separates it from the stalk (called threshing). Then, by blowing air, it separates the heavier grain from the lighter chaff (husks, straw, etc.), saving the grain and sending everything else back into the field.
The grain is collected in bags and labeled according to the variety. The varieties that look promising in the field 鈥 meaning they mature early, don鈥檛 shatter (grains fall to the ground before harvest), have high yields and stand upright for harvest 鈥 will be evaluated in the lab. Lab work includes measuring bushel weight, per-acre weight and nutrient content.
This work aims to develop a spring wheat variety, find a feed barley variety for malting purposes and finalize a canola variety that can be used as an oilseed and rotational crop.
Far North Currant Festival coming up
Workshops during the third annual Far North Currant Festival will give participants hands-on opportunities to learn about, cook with and taste currants.
The festival itself is a free, family-friendly event from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23. It celebrates currants (Ribes spp.), delicious, nutrient-packed berries that thrive in Fairbanks鈥 sub-Arctic climate.
The festival is organized by the 夜色福利 Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The festival and all workshops will be held at the Georgeson Botanical Garden Pavilion on the UAF Troth Yeddha鈥 Campus. Learn more about the workshops and register at .
Learn more about the Far North Currant Festival .
For more information, contact Katie DiCristina at kmdicristina@alaska.edu.
鈥 Laura Weingartner
The Georgeson Botanical Garden in Fairbanks is home to a collection of more than 80
varieties of currants. For the past three years, the garden has celebrated these fruits
with the annual Far North Currant Festival, which returns Saturday, Aug. 23, from
1 to 4 p.m.
This collection of currants almost didn鈥檛 make it to Fairbanks. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture withdrew its Agricultural Research Service from Alaska and shut down the Arctic and Subarctic Plant Gene Bank in Palmer, a repository for peonies, rhubarb, currants, mints, Arctic and sub-Arctic species used for land reclamation, and other native and cultivated plants.
Read more on the .
Pink 鈥楪loire des Sablons鈥 currants, a variety from France, are part of the Georgeson Botanical Garden鈥檚 collection.
Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center update
鈥 Aimee Young
- Palmer Farm / MEFEC update: We're in the swing of the summer season here in Palmer. We had a great time visiting with friends from Fairbanks during Field Day and were honored to welcome our community and special guests to the farm throughout the event. In addition to the hard work of our researchers and farm staff, MEFEC recently hosted a 4-H shooting instructor training at the farm, and we now have five new shooting sports volunteer leaders ready to educate Alaska youth in rifle and archery.
- Alaska State Fair: Come visit us at the Alaska State Fair! Swing by the Tull Building on the Red Trail to learn more about Mat-Su/Copper River 4-H, grab some of our Cooperative Extension publications, and enjoy special events daily. Did you hear about our worm petting zoo? You won't want to miss it!
Dr. Edmond Packee obituary
Dr. Edmond Packee, professor of Forest Management, Emeritus, died July 24 in Wisconsin. Packee was at UAF from 1983-2006, and continued to work on forestry projects in the upper Tanana Valley through summer 2024.
Jodie Anderson and former Chancellor Dan White toured several of these projects with Packee in 2024. Anderson said, 鈥淗is work has quite a footprint in that region.鈥
You can read his .
Public comment open on USDA reorganization plan
A public comment period continues so stakeholders may provide feedback on USDA鈥檚 reorganization
plan, as outlined in Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins鈥 issued July 24. All stakeholders, including USDA employees, members of Congress,
and agricultural and nutrition partners are encouraged to provide feedback by emailing reorganization@usda.gov. The comment period closes Aug. 26.
Check out what's happening at IANRE
Looking for informative workshops and events around the state? You can keep up-to-date with what鈥檚 happening on the IANRE online calendar. Scroll to the bottom of the page and check out what's happening statewide.
In the News
- Joey Slowik talks with Alaska's News Source about ways to manage slugs: .
- Darren Snyder discussed various ways to gather, process and apply seaweed to a garden on the .
- The Delta Wind has a story on Pat Holloway鈥檚 in Delta Junction.
- Art Nash and Meriam Karlsson are listed as authors on the article in Nature Partner Journal Sustainable Agriculture.
- Sitka Raven Radio KCAW has a July story about the Sitka 4-H ocean science project:
- Adrian Kohrt's Aug. 8 column in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:
- Marla Lowder's July 27 column in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:
- Alex Wenninger talked to Alaska's News Source about garden pests in its July 15 story:
- Alaska Public Media interviewed Gino Graziano for its July 17 story on bird vetch:
- Leslie Shallcross's July 15 column in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:
(Note, if you don't subscribe to the News-Miner, you can read Extension columns on the )