SNRE student wins international rifle competition

Sagen Maddalena UAF photo by J.R. Ancheta

Sagen Maddalena is a senior natural resources management student at UAF. She is studying forest management.

By Nona Letuligasenoa
On Friday, Alaska rifle's redshirt-junior Sagen Maddalena completed her final day of competition in Europe, being one of five members to represent Team USA in the women's air rifle discipline in both the Meyton Cup in Innsbruck, Austria, and the IWK Hochbrueck in Munich, Germany. Maddalena was named the champion in Monday's Meyton Cup before placing in the top 35 at the IWK on Friday.

On Monday, Maddalena shot a 417.3 in the qualifying round of the Meyton Cup to place fourth overall in a pool of 35 international shooters. Only eight shooters would advance to the final round out of the 35, with Team USA taking three of those eight slots.

In the single-elimination final round, Maddalena shot a 10.1 or higher in each of her 14 individual shots to tally a 249.0 total, taking first place over her teammate Emily Smith, who registered a 246.5. The Alaska rifle co-captain's score of 249.0 broke the Cup's previous record of 211.0 from Yi Siling from July 3, 2014 and also marks Maddalena's first individual senior international title.

After her big win, Maddalena and the rest of Team USA traveled to Munich to compete in the women's air rifle portion of the IWK Hochbrueck early Friday morning. In a field of 98 international shooters, Maddalena placed 34th overall with a score of 414.5, with each of her four shots being 102.5 or higher. Maddalena placed third among her Team USA teammates, with Nikola Mazurova from the Czech Republic taking first overall with an aggregate score of 419.9.

Maddalena will return to Fairbanks to continue the 2016-17 season with the Alaska Nanooks rifle team, with their next competition being held at the University of Nebraska on Thursday, Feb. 2.
Letuligasenoa is the sports information director for UAF.

Distance-delivered classes offered this spring

Students may take distance-delivered classes with the School of Natural Resources and Extension this spring on horticulture, GIS programming, nutrition and soil chemistry. The graduate natural resources management seminar will also be distance-delivered.

All are offered through UAF eLearning and Distance Education or from SNRE directly.

Classes through eLearning include horticulture, GIS and nutrition. Emeritus Horticulture Professor Pat Holloway will teach two one-credit horticulture classes, Plant Propagation I, Seeds and Seed Germination, and Plant Propagation II, Vegetative Propagation. Professor Dave Verbyla will teach GIS Programming and Professor Roxie Dinstel will teach Nutrition Across the Lifecycle, which are three-credit classes.

Plant Propagation I, NRM 150, will run from Jan. 17 to Feb. 28 and will cover the botany of seeds from flowering to seed development, methods of seed germination, and the germination of wild and cultivated seeds. A course in basic biology, botany or plant science is recommended as background.

Plant Propagation II, NRM 151, will run March 21 to May 2. The course will cover the principles and practices of plant propagation useful in horticulture botany, forestry, agronomy, vegetation and land reclamation projects and plants research. The course will cover propagation methods and will emphasize Alaska native and economically useful plants. A high school course in biology is recommended as background.

Holloway will also teach the one-credit Plant Propagation Practicum from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 8-11, which will not be distance delivered.

GIS Programming, NRM 638, will include programming for ArcView, Arc/Info and ArcGIS. It will include programming techniques for customizing GIS, efficient batch processing, and development of custom tools for GIS display and analysis. An introductory GIS course such as NRM F338 or equivalent is a prerequisite.

Nutrition Across the Lifecycle, NRM 393, will explore nutritional information based on age groups of people. It uses current research to explain the nutritional foundations necessary for the growth, development and normal functioning of individuals in each stage of their lifespan.

See more information about the classes at https://elearning.uaf.edu/courses/. Anyone interested in the eLearning classes may register through eLearning or through UAOnline.

Other SNRE distance-delivered classes offered through UAF this spring include:

• NRM F692 Natural Resources Management Graduate Seminar

• NRM F466, Environmental Soil Chemistry

Entries due Jan. 20 for SNRE food security contest

Participants in the Refugee Farmers Market Project prepare to sell vegetables
 at the farmers market in Spenard.

The deadline for entries is Jan. 20 for undergraduate UAF students who wish to compete in writing, engineering and media contests that address food security issues in northern communities.

Organizers of the second annual Food Security in the Arctic competition will award $1,000, $500 and $250 prizes for first-, second- and third-place awards in three contests sponsored by the School of Natural Resources and Extension.

Contest co-chair Professor Jenifer McBeath said students are invited to address some of the issues involved with developing environmentally responsible agricultural practices in the North. An estimated 95 percent of food consumed by residents is produced elsewhere and it travels over a tenuous transportation network, she said.

For the essay contest, students may submit up to an eight-page, double-spaced essay about the challenges or innovative solutions involved in growing and storing food in northern communities.

Participants in the engineering contest are asked to submit an engineering design that attempts to address energy-efficient and environmentally friendly large-scale food storage in the North. Designers should research and consider the ideal conditions that aid in cold climate food storage. Individuals or teams may compete. The designer of the winning entry will be awarded $5,000 to build a prototype.

Students who participate in the media contest are asked to submit a 30-second public service announcement that represents some of the current challenges in growing food in northern communities. Films or videos should be submitted as an uncompressed MOV or M4P file.

For more more details about the contests and the entry form at www.uaf.edu/snre/fsa. For more information, contact McBeath at 907-474-7431 or jhmcbeath@alaska.edu.