After financial turmoil, staff furlough Northern Center squares its debts with help from the Alaska conservation foundation and ‘night for the north’ event

The Northern Alaska Environmental Center is moving forward with a recovery plan after paying off debts following near financial ruin. At the beginning of September, following a separation with their executive director, board members said they discovered there was not enough funds for payroll. This led to the furloughing of the entire staff and pausing on all programs.

Community members, farmers, and Indigenous food advocates gathered Nov. 22 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for a town hall on food security as the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, funding becomes increasingly uncertain and local food systems face growing pressures.

Organized by Concerned Residents of Interior Alaska and co-sponsored by UAF’s Office of Sustainability, Resource Management Society, and the Alaska Farmers Market Association, the town hall featured a panel followed by breakout sessions focused on strengthening Fairbanks’ culturally rooted food systems.

When Mike Sfraga was appointed interim chancellor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in July, he knew he had to manage and navigate a dynamic budget landscape. At the chancellor’s budget forum on Nov. 20, his goal was to have the public understand where UAF’s money comes from and how it flows out though the whole community.

The meeting kicked off with Sfraga’s opening remarks and then transitioned to talks from other UA leaders discussing the difficult budget ahead. After Sfraga, Julie Queen, the vice chancellor for administrative services at UAF, spoke to the crowd. 

After months of staff furloughs, financial strain and the executive director departing, the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, founded in 1971, is working to rebuild its operations and regain stability.

On Sept. 10 the center’s board of directors released a letter stating that Elisabeth Dabney, former executive director, would be “concluding her service” with the Northern Center. Five days later, the board issued a second message announcing that they would be placing their programming on pause. This included furloughing all four staff members.

The former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, William “Bill” Taylor, who served under President George W. Bush and as a chargé d'affaires to Ukraine during President Trump’s first term, spoke at a town hall on the Ukraine-Russia conflict at UAF in the Davis Concert Hall. In addition to explaining the historical context and background that led to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Taylor gave insights into the current geopolitical situation, the progress of the war, and the recent Trump-Putin summit in Anchorage. 

“Today is your day,” Sean Wise told a packed room of veterans and students at UAF’s Rasmuson Library Tuesday as veterans, students, and community members gathered for a Veterans Day celebration.

Pat Pitney, University of Alaska system president, announced her retirement Thursday morning in an email to UA students and staff. Pitney has been in this role since August 1, 2020.

Pitney was working as the financial director for the legislature when she got a call on a Thursday night five years ago. 

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is home to many important researchers, from forensic anthropologists to criminologists and victimologists. Ingrid Johnson, a criminologist and victimologist on campus, teaches classes and conducts research involving domestic violence in the state of Alaska.

Tribal leaders, scholars, and elders from across Alaska gathered together at the University of Alaska Fairbanks from Oct. 28–30 for the 2025 Tribal Governance Symposium, a three-day event centered on traditional leadership, sovereignty, and the future of Indigenous governance.

Fairbanks is home to the state’s only forensic anthropologist, Petra Banks. Banks works as a researcher and professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and is currently in the beginning stages of research that will help to bring more forensic anthropology to Alaska. Recently, The Sun Star had the opportunity to interview Banks about her research and how she became involved in the unique field. 

On the evening of October 23, Melanie Bahnke, President and CEO of Kawerak, Inc., an Alaska Native tribal nonprofit, delivered a talk as part of the ongoing Arctic Leadership Series about Alaska Native perspectives and history, challenges incited by Western contact, Typhoon Halong’s major impacts on her community, how to become a great leader, and her own personal story. 

Ex-typhoon Halong tore through the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta’s villages last week, leaving widespread destruction in its wake. 

Jaimee Mesak evacuated from Kipnuk to North Pole with her children and extended family, 5 adults and 6 children in total, described the terrifying speed of the flooding.

On October 6, President Trump approved an appeal made by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority which authorized the Ambler Road Project. In the following days, the senate overturned The Central Yukon Resource Management Plan, a Biden- era land management plan that blocked the development of the road. 

The Arctic Leadership Lecture Series brought in guest speaker veteran diplomat and Arctic policy leader Ambassador David Balton to discuss the changing North and ways the community and the nation can help. 

A record-breaking crowd packed the Wood Center Tuesday night to listen to Fairbanks’ future leaders. Candidates for local office shared their visions on energy, education, housing and community care during the 2025 Municipal Candidate Forum, an event co-hosted by the UAF Honors College, ASUAF, and the Department of Political Science.