Engage

An innovative partnership between UAF, a private business, and a student organization makes it possible for young Alaskans to get on-the-job training, for SNRAS to do research and outreach, and for the company to beautify its grounds and host an attraction for visitors. 

At Pike’s Waterfront Lodge greenhouse, SNRAS horticulturists and students are continuing cutting-edge horticulture research focusing on hydroponics. The project is headed by Professor Meriam Karlsson, who manages the Controlled Environment Agriculture Laboratory, and research professional Jeff Werner. 

Hundreds of visitors learn about Alaska agriculture and SNRAS research by visiting the greenhouse.This year six FFA students have paying positions at the property, where they assist with growing the plants, transplanting them, and maintaining them. They also take care of all the landscaping for the hotel, adjacent restaurant, and outdoor event park. At the same time, the students learn people skills and customer service, as they have regular contact with hotel and restaurant guests. Greenhouse manager Jace Bures, a UAF senior in natural resources management, is learning management skills, landscaping techniques, and hydroponics. SNRAS graduate student Yosuke Okada is studying tomatoes at the greenhouse.

The greenhouse project incorporates many aspects of research. At this and other sites, Dr. Karlsson and Werner are working to make locally-grown produce in remote Alaska regions a reality. In cold frames, high tunnels, or high-tech facilities, researchers are focusing on plant requirements, varieties, and treatments to maximize productivity for growers. Objectives are to develop cultural management techniques and reliable protocols to efficiently produce suitable vegetables, culinary herbs, small fruit, floral, and hanging basket crops in various environments. 

Dr. Karlsson’s work determines the best materials for high tunnels so that crop productivity is expanded. She studies specific crops, including tomatoes, lettuce, green beans, and strawberries, so that optimum conditions for best output can be shared with agricultural producers across the state. Partnerships with commercial enterprises such as Pike’s Waterfront Lodge and Chena Hot Springs Resort not only provide scientific expertise to the businesses but showcase innovative agricultural methods such as hydroponic techniques to the public in a positive light. 

Starting in mid-June, free nightly tours of the greenhouse will be given, with hotel guests and locals alike taking advantage of the demonstrations and lectures. The students will set up a farmstand where they will sell fresh produce from the greenhouse and local farms, with all proceeds benefiting FFA programs. 

“Pike’s is very supportive of us and FFA,” Karlsson said. “This is a working partnership at all levels. It’s a perfect setup.” One of the aspects she likes best is that it gives SNRAS an opportunity to showcase its research to the public. “This is an opportunity we can build on,” Karlsson said. 

“It’s a wonderful collaboration,” Pike’s owner Jay Ramras said. The idea formed a few years ago when he was talking to Steve Jones, UAF chancellor at that time. “He was interested in trying to export the university’s intellectual property and reputation off the hill and into the community of Fairbanks,” Ramras said. “I was struck by the idea. I love every aspect of this and it’s an exhibition to show what Alaska can do with vegetables.” 

Hydroponics 

Originally, growing plants with the roots immersed in a water solution of nutrients was called hydroponic culture or hydroponics. Over the years, hydroponic systems have become equivalent to soilless production techniques. In these systems, the required nutrients are dissolved in water and provided to the roots held directly in the solution or in a prepared growing medium. The growing medium can be organic or inorganic and may consist of a single or several mixed materials such as peat moss, gravel or perlite (siliceous rock). Advantages of hydroponics include the lack of soil-borne pests and diseases, opportunities for precise nutrient control and automation, efficient use of water and nutrients, rapid turn around, easier harvest and management, year round use, and faster production cycles. 

The hydroponics methods used at the greenhouse range widely: 

Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)

The plants rest in an enclosed growing channel. A nutrient solution is circulated through the channel providing a constant flow or film of nutrients around the roots. The solution remaining after passing through the channels is returned to a stock tank and nutrients, pH, electrical conductivity, and water levels are adjusted before re-circulation. Electrical conductivity is a measure indicating the amount of nutrients in the solution. 

Ebb and Flow (Flood and Drain)

Ebb and flow is a simple and reliable form of hydroponics requiring a low initial investment. The plants are grown in pots filled with a peat-based medium or inert material and placed in a tray. At regular intervals, a pump fills the tray with nutrient solution. After a few minutes, the solution drains back into a reservoir. The medium anchors the roots and functions as a water and nutrient reserve as the hydroponic solution is alternatively flooded and drained. 

Dutch Bato Buckets

These containers have a small siphon pipe at the bottom to regulate the nutrient solution to about a one-inch depth. The small bottom reservoir of solution keeps the growing medium moist between irrigation cycles. These containers are designed to be irrigated with a drip emitter and are plumbed to a stock tank through a common PVC pipe (2-inch diameter). 

Aeroponics (AEROFLO²® 30)

The roots are maintained in an environment saturated with a mist of nutrient solution. The method requires no substrate but some technique is needed for supporting the plants to allow continuous wetting of the roots with a fine nutrient spray. 

Aerogarden

This is an automated application of aeroponics using water, nutrients, and and air to grow herbs, vegetables, and flowers in the home. The unit has built-in lights on timers and comes with seeds and fertilizer tablets. No prior knowledge of growing plants is needed as the system alerts you when to add water and nutrients. 

Floating Pond System

The plants are seeded in rockwool or oasis foam cubes. After germination and seedling development, the cubes are moved to holes in Styrofoam “boards” and floated on a pool of nutrient solution. Air is usually bubbled through and the solution is in constant circulation. Water and nutrients are monitored and added as the crop uses the nutrient solution for growth and development.

Vertigro (Vertical Growing)

This is a system with stackable pots to allow increased space utilization. Water with the dissolved nutrients is applied in a drip system at the top and trickles through the pots and plants. The growing medium is perlite² or other inert material. (Perlite is a siliceous rock that, when heated to 1600°F, expands into light white crumbs suitable for horticultural applications.) The solution after draining through the tower can be collected and re-circulated. 

Drip Hydroponic System

In this system, a nutrient solution is dripping onto the surface of the medium around the plant in the top growing container. The solution drains into a second reservoir container and the solution is recycled using an aquarium pump. A larger reservoir can charge several modules or nutrient solution can be added manually to each individual unit as the solution drops. 

Deep Water Bubble System

This is a culture system with a static nutrient solution aerated with an aquarium or air pump. Fresh nutrient solution or plain water may be added daily to keep a constant solution level. As the nutrient concentration drops, the nutrient solution can be completely changed or nutrients added based on an electrical conductivity reading. 

Rockwool Blocks

Rockwool is made from basalt rock, chalk, and/or sand melted at 3000˚F. The molten rock is spun into a wool of fine intertwined fibers. The resulting product absorbs water while still providing air to the roots. A nutrient solution is applied several times during the day through drip emitters. 

Top Irrigation

In top irrigation, nutrient solution is periodically applied to the medium surface. This may be done manually or through drip emitters to containers filled with peat or other inert medium. When automated, the nutrient solution can be scheduled for delivery multiple times each day. 

Related stories: 

“Growing Plants without Soil,” by Rayna Nelson, September 2008, The Ester Republic. Nelson worked as an FFA student at Pike’s Waterfront Lodge greenhouse for a summer and describes her experiences there in this article. 

“FFA hydroponics program offers education, hope for sustainability,” by Erica Goff, Aug. 31, 2008, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Goff provides an in-depth overview of FFA’s involvement and the development of the experimental horticulture education program with UAF.

The spring issue of Agroborealis is out, and features full color and a new design to highlight SNRAS research in geography, forest sciences, high-latitude agriculture, and natural resources, as well as a section on events, people, and places and briefs on news and publications. This is the 40th year of publication of this research magazine. Articles include:

• “Counting on tradition: Math in a Cultural Context adds up” (staff report)
• “Log cabin building workshop: from hangar to woods,” by Valerie Barber, on a hands-on workshop using local materials in the Sitka Ranger District;
• “The Midnight Sun-flower: a bloom for northern birds,” by Bob Van Veldhuizen, about the development of a new variety of sunflower adapted to the Alaska Interior;
• “Biomass fuels: local energy, local jobs, and community resilience,” by Nancy Fresco and F. Stuart Chapin III, on the potential for sustainable harvest of woody biomass for fuel in villages across the Interior;
• “How to save Old Faithful: geyser protection areas,” by Kenneth A. Barrick, about the dangers posed to geysers and hot springs by geothermal energy development, and a proposal to protect this important resource;
• “Two for the Peace Corps” (staff report), on the experiences of two participants in the Peace Corps Masters International program at UAF;
• “The IPY at UAF” (staff report): International Polar Year research by SNRAS and other UAF personnel;
• “A Sustainable PhD” (staff report)
• “Kerttula Hall dedication” (staff report)
• “James Drew: piloting agriculture” (obituary)
• “Leslie Viereck: infectious curiosity” (obituary)

Many of the issues discussed in the magazine have been touched on in this blog, but are treated in more depth in Agroborealis. The magazine may be downloaded as a PDF or obtained in hard copy from the SNRAS/AFES Information Services Office. If you would like to subscribe to this free magazine, contact us via e-mail or write to us at PO Box 757200, Fairbanks AK 99775-7200.

When the UA International Polar Year Young Researchers’ Network asked students “What’s Your Alaska?,” doctoral student Archana Bali (pictured at left) had an answer. “Voices of the Caribou People,” a film Bali shot in collaboration with indigenous communities, was the first place winner of the IPY video contest, and will be shown during the UAF student film festival.

Bali said she undertook the project because she wanted to document the knowledge of indigenous people who have a long relationship with caribou as part of her dissertation research on the cumulative effects of climate change, industrial development, and disturbance to caribou herds. Bali said, “I wanted to collect information from local people who are making local observations of change, using their own words.”

She found that the indigenous people she talked to were eager to share their knowledge and observations. “They wanted to contribute,” Bali said, “and I was lucky to be in the right place.”

Anaktuvuk Pass in Alaska; Old Crow, Yukon Territory; LutselK’e and Wekweeti in the Northwest Territories; Arviat, Nunavut; Kawawachikamach, Quebec, were the locations Bali visited over a four-month period in the summer of 2008. She traveled alone and found the journey enjoyable and the people she met kind and extremely hospitable. “These are wonderful people and because of them, it was a great learning experience,” she said.

When starting the work Bali had no film experience, so she took a two-week film course at UAF. Also, Assistant Professor Maya Salganek of the theater department was a big help. Bali developed the project with her advisor, Associate Professor Gary Kofinas. Funding was provided by the CircumArctic Rangifer Monitoring and Assessment Network, a program of the International Polar Year.

Bali grew up in India and arrived in Alaska in September 2007 to start her studies as a student of UAF’s Resilience and Adaptation Program. She has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s in wildlife biology and conservation from the National Center of Biological Sciences and the Center for Wildlife Studies in India. She came to UAF as the George Schaller Fellow in conservation studies, and is working on an interdisciplinary PhD in wildlife conservation and natural resources management. Her past work experience includes a stint with Greenpeace.

Before coming to UAF, Bali had no experience with caribou but was interested in climate change and conservation. She has since become fascinated with caribou research, including the impact of climate change on wildlife habitats. “I didn’t know anything about the conditions and I wasn’t able to appreciate them,” she said. “As a way of getting grounded and starting my research I decided to go to the communities and understand why the caribou are so important.” Using video she was able to capture their words exactly the way people wanted to say them.

In some communities the elders did not speak English and she had to work through interpreters. While caribou hunting with local residents, she found herself in the midst of a large caribou herd. “It was very exciting to see caribou moving all around me,” she said. “It was incredible.”

After shooting 108 hours of video, Bali created a short version of her work—twelve minutes—which she entered in the contest. “Reviewing the tapes and editing the file was a slow process,” she said. She doesn’t plan to let the rest of the footage go to waste, and will create a short film based on interviews in each village and produce a final consolidated documentary that can be used to communicate people’s voices to researchers and decision makers. All the interviews will be made available in public domain via the internet, for people interested in the human-caribou systems of the North. “Video is a powerful tool to reach out to the outside world,” Bali said.

Winners of the “What’s Your Alaska?” video contest will be shown Saturday, May 2 at 2 p.m. during the UAF Theater and Film Department’s student film festival. Photo contest winners will be displayed in the Great Hall from 2 to 7 p.m. The event will also include a reception for the winners from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Great Hall. For more information, call 474-7931 or 474-6264 or e-mail.

High Latitude Agriculture student Ellen Hatch (pictured at right) will spend the summer of 2009 studying and mapping growing degree days in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.

“It’s a question as old as agriculture itself,” Hatch said. “What should be planted when?”

Current USDA Alaska zone delineations are based on extremes, and Hatch decided to obtain more accurate information. Working with her advisor, Dr. Nancy Fresco, Hatch relied on projections provided by the Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning. She wants to discover how accurate the predictions are. “I’m going to take another swing at mapping things,” she said, pointing out obvious problems such as Prudhoe Bay and Fairbanks showing the same zones on the USDA map.

In current maps, micro-zones are based on minimum extreme temperatures, which only pertains to overwintering plants and perennials. Hatch plans to tackle growing degree days based on heat requirements for plants to develop physiologically, taking into account Alaska’s long daylight hours. She will use historical climate data from the Climatic Research Unit, projections of future Alaska climates based on the five best global circulation models, multiple scenarios based on optimistic, midrange, and pessimistic emission predictions, and scaled down historical and projected data with local topography information. She will also incorporate data from ten weather stations in the borough. Hatch hopes her new maps will benefit farmers by providing information on potential crop production zones, the potential future of crops and growth zones based on predicted climate change, and make possible diversification of the produce market in the borough.

The research will concentrate on annual plants that are directly seeded (not transplanted). She will begin with standard Fairbanks crops such as spinach, beans, beets, kale, and expand to experimental crops, including cilantro, apples, and new cultivars.

“I’m more interested in finding out what the farmers can grow, not what they are not able to grow,” Hatch explained.

Hatch, who was selected as “outstanding student of the year” by the High Latitude Agriculture faculty, became interested in this topic after hearing Dr. John Walsh lecture on climate change and Nancy Fresco discuss SNAP. “Climate change in the future will have some serious implications for agriculture around the world, and these effects can potentially be examined right here at home in the North Star Borough,” Hatch said.

She took into consideration the larger agricultural community – scientists, growers, potential growers, people thinking about buying land in Alaska – when selecting her thesis subject. “I hope my project will prove useful,” she said. “More exploration in the usefulness of the growing degree day increment to Alaska agriculture is certainly needed and my project and the ground truthing I plan to do this summer will hopefully provide another point of insight.” The accuracy of the maps will be the key to the work’s value to farmers, she said.

Knowing what areas of the borough are cooler or warmer will likely be of interest to prospective land buyers and farmers should find the trends and increments of increase in growing degree days of interest, she said. Hatch plans to visit local farmers with a set of interview questions and follow up by phone or e-mail throughout the summer. She also intends to spend lots of time at the Tanana Valley Farmers’ Market. Any growers interested in the project should contact Hatch.

Hatch has spent her college years at UAF except for exchange studies she did in Hawaii, Norway, and Scotland. She plans to pursue master’s and doctorate degrees and ultimately attend medical school. She is greatly interested in helping Alaska become more independent in food production. Her other passions are geothermal energy and climate change. In free time, Hatch enjoys mountaineering, ice climbing, backpacking, soccer, ultimate Frisbee, jazz music, and reading.

“I am so grateful to my professors in High Latitude Ag who have provided intellectually stimulating classes and inspired me with their enthusiasm,” she said.

Nancy Fresco, Hatch’s advisor, said, “It’s great to be working with a motivated student who is taking advantage of the climate projections that SNAP offers.  This project is both timely and important; it has the potential to assist farmers and gardeners across the borough as they fine-tune their agricultural capabilities and plan for change.”

• To pay by credit card fax to:  Front Office at 907-842-5692.
  
• To pay by check, fax the form to hold a seat, indicate a check is being mailed, and mail original with check to:  Bristol Bay Campus, Front Office, P.O. Box 1070, Dillingham, AK 99576.
  
• By e-mail:  bnmje@uaf.edu.

• “Charging ahead with nature-powered wheels,” Bristol Bay Times, Jan. 22, 2009, by Tammy Judd
• “Fairbanks engineering students build award-winning electric snowmachine,” Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, April 4, 2009, by Tim Mowry
• “New York native, engineering student builds electric car,” The Alaska Post, Feb. 6, 2009, by David Bedard

Addendum May 8, 2009:
•“Gasoline-powered car now runs on batteries,” Anchorage Daily News, May 5, 2009, by Rindi White

In the ongoing quest for viable alternative energy, biofuel is more than a buzzword or a trend. It is the topic of ongoing research at UAF, recently highlighted in the Spring 2009 issue of Aurora Magazine.

Three SNRAS faculty are included in the Aurora cover story about biofuels. Professor Stephen Sparrow and Associate Professor Mingchu Zhang were interviewed about their research on shrubs, grasses, and grains for potential energy use. Sparrow details his work on supplemental energy sources including willow for western Alaska and the Seward Peninsula. Canola is one of the crops Zhang is working with as a viable alternative that Alaska farmers could grow for fuel. The article also highlights Assistant Professor Andy Soria’s woody biomass research at the Palmer facility of UAF’s Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

More information:

Video: Mingchu Zhang on Canola as a Rotational Crop, by Megan Otts, UAF Marketing & Communications
Video: Bob Van Veldhuizen on the Process of Crushing Canola, by Megan Otts, UAF Marketing & Communications
“Researcher seeks energy answer in biofuels,” SNRAS blog, Oct. 30, 2008