Joan Braddock recently retired from her position as dean of the UAF College of Natural Science and Mathematics.
SFOS Newsletter
Fall 2009
Featured Alumna: Joan Braddock, Ph.D. Oceanography, 1989
by Carin Stephens, Senior Public Information Officer
Joan Braddock can't stay away from UAF.
She was born in Fairbanks and received all of her degrees here at UAF: a B.S. in biology ('73), an interdisciplinary M.S. ('83) and a Ph.D. in oceanography ('89). After she received each degree she left Alaska to explore the possibility of living or studying elsewhere. Each time she returned to Alaska, and to UAF.
Braddock recently retired as dean of the UAF College of Natural Science and Mathematics, her position since 2003. She is currently the director of the University of Alaska Press. She is internationally recognized for her research related to the microbiology associated with oil pollutants in cold climates.
She received her Ph.D. in oceanography from SFOS in 1989. Although her degree is in oceanography, Braddock says her focus as a student was in limnology (the study of freshwater lakes) and the competition for phosphorus between species of algae.
While at SFOS, she conducted most of her research in the lab, but she took every opportunity she could to volunteer on scientific cruises, on the now-retired research vessel Alpha Helix and other ships.
The year Braddock graduated was also the year of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. As any longtime Alaskan can tell you, the oil spill changed lives all over the state. Although her Ph.D. work had been on freshwater microbiology, her research quickly morphed into work on marine contaminants.
Despite describing her Ph.D. focus as rather "esoteric," Braddock says that her Ph.D. in oceanography provided a solid foundation for her future work in marine contaminants. She says she feels fortunate to have been in the program and that she especially enjoyed some of the more practical training she received from SFOS faculty on how to communicate science to other scientists and the public.
When asked why she kept coming back to UAF, Braddock says "I love the people here." She also says that enjoys the openness and collaboration at UAF, its strong programs in sciences and the many opportunities for interdisciplinary research.
After Braddock received her Ph.D., she eventually joined the faculty as a joint assistant professor for both the CNSM's Department of Biology and Wildlife and the Institute of Arctic Biology. She taught until becoming dean in 2003.
When asked if she has any advice for students, Braddock offers the following words of wisdom: "Be open to opportunities and take advantage of them as they come along." She adds that her life was never perfectly planned out, and because of that, she was receptive to exciting opportunities as they came along– and she loves where it has taken her: always back to UAF.
The UAF Alumni Association awarded Braddock with the Alumni Achievement Award for University Support at an awards luncheon in late September.
Learn more about Joan Braddock and read her complete interview at www.sfos.uaf.edu/newsletter.
Read more about SFOS alumni at www.sfos.uaf.edu/alumni.
Click on the image to download the Fall 2009 newsletter (5.6 MB PDF).
Greetings from the Dean
This will be an exciting year for
the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. After adding seven new faculty members last year, five new faculty
will join us this semester and two more after the first of the year. We also begin this semester with more graduate students and the largest incoming class of fisheries undergraduates (20) in our history.
New findings show increased
ocean acidification in Alaska
The same things that make Alaska's marine waters among the
most productive in the world may also make them the most vulnerable to ocean acidification.
According to new findings by a University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist, Alaska's oceans
are becoming increasingly acidic, which could damage Alaska's king crab and salmon fisheries.
Christie takes over Alaska Sea Grant
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has appointed David Christie as the director of the Alaska Sea Grant College Program.
Bristol Bay region welcomes local as new Marine
Advisory Program agent
Bristol Bay, home to Alaska's largest wild commercial salmon fishery, once again has an Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory
Program agent to help fishermen, seafood processors and marketers, and other marine resource users.
Spotlight: Richard H. Carlson Scholarship
Scholarships are increasingly important as our current economy encourages more people to attend and return
to higher education. In times like these, scholarships are vital because for many students scholarships are the
difference between taking two classes or four, filling up their gas tank or buying books, and
they provide stability in otherwise uncertain times.
Mathis didn't graduate with his bachelor's degree saying "I want to be an oceanographer," but he did say "I want an adventure."
Featured faculty
Jeremy Mathis, Asst. Prof. of Oceanography
Jeremy Mathis never expected to be an oceanographer in Alaska, and he certainly
never expected to be a voice for the effects of climate change on Alaska waters.
Atkinson takes the helm at the Fisheries Division
Shannon Atkinson is the new interim director of the UAF Fisheries Division, headquartered in Juneau.
Atkinson took the helm from Bill Smoker, after he retired this summer.
Standouts - Faculty and Staff News
AOOS launches Prince William Sound Field Experiment
This summer, the Alaska Ocean Observing System conducted high-tech, high-speed field experiments in Prince William Sound
to collect data and evaluate models that predict wind, waves, ocean circulation, and oil spill trajectories.
More
"I grew up hearing about Alaska from my parents and neighbors and later in college from friends who worked on fishing boats. The stories fed my imagination and much of what I imagined I found to be true."
Featured Staff
Deborah Mercy, Program Development Media Specialist
Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program
In 1976 I visited Anchorage during the spring break of my final year at the University of Washington. After graduation, that
same year, I got a job on a Southeast Alaska salmon purse seine fishing boat. We were based out of Craig on Prince of Wales
Island.
PROJECT Spotlight
Surveying the giant Pacific octopus
by Tara Borland, Proposal Coordinator
In a partnership with the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, SFOS Marine Advisory Program agent, Reid Brewer, is working
on a project studying the ecology of the giant Pacific octopus.
"the curriculum has integrated classroom learning and 'real world' opportunities"
Featured Student
Mark Young, Bachelor of Arts in Fisheries
The Army brought my family and me to Alaska. My involvement with UAF started almost immediately upon my
arrival, both as a student and an adjunct instructor in the music department.
Welcome Aboard
by Madeline Scholl, Academic Programs Assistant
As we usher in a new academic year I would like to welcome and introduce our new graduate students joining the SFOS
community this fall. The 19 graduate students joining SFOS this September...
Undergraduate enrollment up at SFOS
SFOS has more undergraduate students than ever before, with 51 total undergraduate fisheries students enrolled this fall.
Standouts - Student News
Congratulations to our Spring 2009 graduates!
Congratulations to our Summer 2009 graduates!
Other Student News
Featured Alumna
Joan Braddock, Ph.D. Oceanography, 1989
SFOS alumnus honored by President Obama
President Obama recently awarded SFOS alumnus Dana Hanselman the 2008 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Featured photo
Photo by Pam Goddard
Uinniq Ahgeak (second from left), a B.S. fisheries major, helps sort rockfish with the scientific crew on board
the F/V Vesteraalen as part of her summer internship with the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
