Polar Outreach Catalogue

The Alaska Soil Geography Field Study Class has been offered as a summer course in University of Alaska Fairbanks course offerings since 1998 and has been listed as an IPY Arctic Field class since 2006. The course is designed to give students hands on experiences in permafrost-affected soils, their formation as it relates to geology, landforms and the vegetation communities of the Arctic and Subarctic Alaska. The field class provides all levels of participants (students and high-level researchers) the opportunity, many of them the first time, to see and work in the permafrost environment. Students and researchers learn the intricacies of soil sampling to support their research, teachers are provided the tools to enhance their earth science curriculum, and the regulatory individuals and consultants learn the fundamental elements needed when one is considering the management criteria in the frozen frontier.