gro orealis volume 36 number 1 summer 2004 Wildlife Watching Reindeer Inspire Teaching Guide Birch in the Circumpolar North School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station University of Alaska Fairbanks Contents: 4 • Reindeer Inspire New Teaching Guide A new curriculum and teaching kit produced by the Reindeer Research Program brings history, biology, electronics, cultural studies, and more into classrooms....By Doreen L. Fitzgerald 10 • Susan Willsrud & Calypso Farm A graduate of SNRAS, Susan Willsrud returned to Alaska with her husband to found a small community supported agriculture center. The farm and ecology center are devoted to teaching principles of organic gardening, soil care, and the value of fresh, locally grown food....by Deirdre Helfferich 12 • The Wildlife Viewing Challenge Watching wild animals is an increasingly popular recreational activity for which public land managers must plan. …By Doreen Fitzgerald with Peter Fix 20 • Taxonomy and Evolution of Alaska Birches In the quest for useful chemicals from plants, knowing which tree is which could be vital. The author explains taxonomic terminology and looks at birch species in Alaska...By Edmond C. Packee 27 • Birch Use in the Former Soviet Republics In the vast region of the former Soviet Union, every part of the birch tree has a use. The author, a Russian, describes the traditional cultural and Dwarf birch, Betula nana, in Togiak medicinal uses of the sap, bark, leaves, buds, twigs, and wood of birches National Wildlife Refuge. in the East....By Andriy Boyar —PHOTO BY JENNIFER CULBERTSON, ALASKA IMAGE LIBRARY, US FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE 31 • Heavenly Garden, Earthly Pursuits The Georgeson Botanical Garden is developing a children’s garden and a new picnic pavilion, with help from the community....By Doreen Fitzgerald About the cover: “Infl orescence,” a 4½' bronze sculpture given to the Georgeson Botanical Garden in 1992 as part of the University of Alaska’s 75th Anniversary celebration. The sculpture was designed by Dr. Wendy Ernst and student artists Carol Desnoyers, Rachelle Dowdy, and Heather Wells. —PHOTO BY DOREEN FITZGERALD Right: Orca in Resurrection Bay during the NRM 290 trip, 2004. —PHOTO BY NORMAN R. HARRIS Agroborealis is published by the Alaska LetterLetter fromfrom tthehe DeanDean andand Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, University of Alaska Fairbanks. thethe associateassociate ddirector:irector: For more information about our research and education programs, please contact us at: his issue of Agroborealis hightlights the School of Natural Resources new directions we at SNRAS/AFES & Agricultural Sciences are taking, rather than our traditional P.O. Box 757140 T Fairbanks, AK 99775-7140 pursuits in agricultural crops, livestock, and forest management research. Two new directions in research at AFES and SNRAS are in recreation management 3 Offi ce of the Dean (907) 474-7083 and forestry. Researchers predict that participation in wildlife viewing will increase faster than [email protected] the population. Seventy-eight percent of Alaska residents and seventy-four percent of visitors Student Information want to know more about how to fi nd and watch wildlife. Land managers are learning how to (907) 474-5276 provide this information from our applied program in recreation management research. The or visit our website: relationship of pharmaceuticals and ecology is important as the worldwide search for new and http://www.uaf.edu/snras useful chemicals from plants continues. We participate at both ends of the spectrum in our Changes of address and requests for a research involving Alaska’s birch. We are investigating the pharmaceutical properties of Kenai free subscription or extra copies should birch and Alaska birch, and we are asking ecological questions, such as why moose browse one be addressed to: species and caribou another, and what the species effect of leaf litter is on soil. AFES Publications We have brought you a few snapshots of how we fulfi ll our land-grant mission for the state P.O. Box 757200 Fairbanks, AK 99775-7200 of Alaska. Research results are only important if they reach the people who will be using the in- formation. Our expanding outreach program brings this information to a variety of audiences. [email protected] Our outreach program is diverse. Research conducted by the Reindeer Research Program was Agroborealis, Natural Resource News, the spark that led to the development of Reindeer Roundup!, a new curriculum for grades K-12. and other publications are available in alternative formats. Please provide your Reindeer Research Program faculty and staff developed it with help from teachers in Nome and e-mail address if you would like e-mail Fairbanks, and from the Kawerak Reindeer Herders’ Association. It is an excellent example of notifi cation of online availability of how we work with the community to bring our information back to them—in this case using our periodicals and other publications. You may download them from our an important northern agricultural livestock species to teach science, mathematics, history, and website at: culture. http://www.uaf.edu/snras/afes/ The Georgeson Botanical Garden is a many-faceted Fairbanks community asset. It provides pubs/index.html a participatory experience, from hands-on volunteering to simply enjoying the ambiance. Now Agroborealis is produced by the AFES it will be a learning center for children, thanks to the help of Walt and Marita Babula, who have Publications Offi ce. made the Babula Children’s Garden possible. ISSN: 0002-1822 We hope you enjoy these new snapshots of our ongoing research Managing Editor and outreach programs. You can learn more about our programs,programs, our Deirdre Helfferich history, and our mission and goals from our 2004 strategic plan.plan. TheThe Information Offi cer/Science Writer theme is “Working for Alaskans: A Wealth of Knowledge.”Knowledge.” SNRAS Doreen L. Fitzgerald StrategicStrategic PlanPlan 2004 is available as a PDF on our website at http://www. Webmaster uaf.edu/snras/afes/pubs/misc/index.html. Steve Peterson Your comments and ideas are always welcome. Enjoy the Alaska To simplify terminology, we may use summer, have fun at the upcoming fairs and community events.events. WhileWhile product or equipment trade names. you travel, be sure to visit us at our Fairbanks Experiment Farm anandd tthehe We are not endorsing products or fi rms mentioned. Publication Matanuska Experiment Farm. material may be reprinted provided no endorsement of a commercial product is stated or implied. Please credit the researchers involved, the University of Sincerely, Alaska Fairbanks, and the Agricultural Carol E. Lewis and Forestry Experiment Station. Dean and Director The University of Alaska Fairbanks is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. UAF is an G. Allen Mitchell AA/EO employer and educational institution. Associate Director www. uaf.edu/snras/afes/pubs/agro/ Reindeer Inspire New 4 Teaching Guide by Doreen Fitzgerald hen Elsa the reindeer first stepped into the class- room, handler Greg Finstad had no idea where that Wfirst educational excursion would lead. Now, five years later, the Reindeer Research Program (RRP) has pub- lished Reindeer Roundup! A K-12 Educator’s Guide to Reindeer in Alaska. Development of the curriculum, complete with book, CD-ROM, and instructional kit, was supported by the Greg Finstad, Reindeer Research Program manager, with Elsa visiting schoolchildren in class. National Science Foundation, the US Department of Agri- —PHOTO COURTESY REINDEER RESEARCH PROGRAM culture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and the UAF College of Rural Alaska, with consider- them only Santa’s reindeer could do that.” She also noted that able support also coming from the SNRAS Reindeer Research because the reindeer industry in Alaska is rich in history, sci- Program. ence, and culture, it offers a local vehicle for teaching many of “Reindeer Roundup! is our response to the countless re- the Alaska state standards in science, math, and social studies. quests we’ve had to take Elsa to classrooms and give presenta- Interest by other teachers led to many such visits by Elsa tions on reindeer,” said Finstad, project manager for the re- to Fairbanks area schools, and the new curriculum will expand search program. Finstad took Elsa to that first classroom visit this outreach to Bering Straits, Fairbanks North Star Borough, at the request of his wife, Bev Finstad, a kindergarten teacher and various Lower 48 school districts that will receive the in Fairbanks. book, CD-ROM, and a kit of support material related to rein- “Kids need real life experiences to link to the information deer anatomy and physiology. All but the support kit will be they are being presented in the classroom,” she said. “What available on line for teachers everywhere to download. could be more real than a reindeer they can touch and observe “The curriculum was developed in part using lesson plans up close? That experience makes the adaptations of arctic ani- written by Nome and Fairbanks teachers who attended our mals much more meaningful to the students. Of course,” she reindeer education workshops,” Finstad said. “We wanted to added, “Greg had to think fast on his feet when the kindergar- produce a unit that uses Alaska’s reindeer industry as a working deners asked if Elsa could fly, and then he had to be very en- model for the management of a sustainable natural resource in tertaining to get them over their disappointment when he told a northern ecosystem, one that would broaden the curriculum and expose students to applied science. Reindeer are an excellent medium to study the characteris- tics of tundra ecosystems and adaptations of ani- mals living in the Arctic.” Teachers were exposed to reindeer produc- tion and research through workshop presenta- tions made by Larry Davis, Carl Emmons, Rose Fosdick, Dan Karmun, Knut Kielland, Heather Oleson, Kumi Rattenbury, William Schneider, Tim Smith, and Suzanne Worker.