The Anchorage Chapter of the International Association of Energy Economics (IAEE) and UAA will co-sponsor a free public forum on the future of offshore drilling in Alaska. The focus of the forum is navigating the risk/reward spectrum. The purpose of the forum will be to present a variety of perspectives to the public, and to conduct a deliberative discussion surrounding the benefits and risks of Arctic drilling within the contexts of:

• addressing oil spills in an ice environment
• risk mitigation (prevention, paying for spill damages)
• benefits of Alaska offshore development

Panelists will include:
David Ramseur, Chief of Staff to Senator Mark Begich
Mayor Edward Itta, North Slope Borough
Pete Slaiby, General Manager, Shell Oil Alaska Co.
John Schoen, Senior Scientist, Alaska Audubon Society

The forum will be moderated by Michael Carey, host of Anchorage Edition and Running on KAKM public television and guest columnist for the Anchorage Daily News. Panelists will take questions from the audience following their presentation.

The IAEE is an organization of corporate, government, academic and scientific economists dedicated solely to the education of the public on energy economic issues.

This podcast was recorded Sept. 2010.

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Can the collapse of ancient civilizations be used as lessons for current environmental crises? Were they good stewards of their surroundings, or did deforestation, erosion and overpopulation result in their demise? Noted archaeologist Dr. Patricia McAnany of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and the Kenan Eminent Professor in the Dept. of Anthropology, examines this question. Dr. McAnany completed her undergraduate work at UAA. She is introduced by Prof. Kerry Feldman, who taught her as an undergrad.

This podcast was recorded on Sept. 23, 2010.

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For More Information:

Green & Gold: 'I am UAA'

Biography of Dr. Patricia McAnany, who completed her undergraduate work at UAA

Indigenous Rights and Maya Collapse

Press release on Dr. McAnany's talks at UAA

Dr. McAnany's bio page, UNC

Current work

Academics, industry engineers and government officials came together for the first of 10 seminars organized through the North by 2020 Forum, a university-initiated collaboration among interested parties to define risk in Arctic coastal and offshore resource development.

Sharman Haley, a professor of public policy at ISER, offers a short introduction to the ambitions for this seminar series, followed by her co-organizer, Hijo Eiken, a professor of geophysics, in Fairbanks.

Eiken, streaming from UAF, introduces this week’s guest, Walt Spring of Bear Ice Technology/Shell. Spring takes participants through an overview of draft offshore drilling standards, called ISO 19906, which will guide design, construction, transportation, installation and removal of offshore structures, related to petroleum and natural gas industry activity in arctic and cold regions.

This podcast was recorded on Sept. 16, 2010.

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Green & Gold

Announcement and schedule for seminar series

International Organization for Standardization

Home of the draft ISO 19906 standards

North by 2020

Website for forum for local and global perspective on the North

International Polar Year, Offshore Oil and Gas

Details on this theme, which gave rise to the seminar series

Terry Tempest Williams has been called “a citizen writer,” a writer who speaks and speaks out eloquently on behalf of an ethical stance toward life. A naturalist and fierce advocate for freedom of speech, she has consistently shown us how environmental issues are social issues that ultimately become matters of justice.

Williams, like her writing, cannot be categorized. She has testified before Congress on women’s health issues, been a guest at the White House, has camped in the remote regions of Utah and Alaska wildernesses and worked as “a barefoot artist” in Rwanda.

Known for her impassioned and lyrical prose, Terry Tempest Williams is the author of the environmental literature classic, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place; An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field; Desert Quartet; Leap; Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert; and The Open Space of Democracy. Her book, Finding Beauty in a Broken World, was published in October 2008 by Pantheon Books.

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Nearly 100 people gathered to debate and discuss race-based preference for University admissions. The Seawolf Speech and Debate Team opened the event with a debate in the British Parliamentary format that presented both sides of the issue.

Colin Haughey and Michaela Hernandez voiced the proposition that race-based preference for admissions should end.  They argued that a focus on socioeconomic status would guarantee an equal chance for a college education.

The opposition team, comprised of Drew Cason and Brett Frazer, argued that the university needs a race-based preference to advocate for diversity. Listeners enter the debate a few moments after it began, with Colin Haughey speaking.

This podcast was recorded Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010 in Library 307.

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Seawolf Debate Team website

Description of programs and debate competitions

Debate announcement

Green & Gold event announcement