Diego Noreña – AK CASC | Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center

Sentinels of the Northern slopes: Mountain Goats, Avalanches and Ceremonial Robes

May 11, 2026

A white mountain goat is standing on a black, rocky part of a mountain covered in snow.

To be a mountain goat is to live where no one else dares. High above the treelines of Southeast Alaska, the alpine mammals creep along ridgelines and mountainsides through dense snow in search of bare ground where they can forage for food.

Changing Ice and Rising Waters: Glacial Floods in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley

May 11, 2026

A glacier sits on top of a basin, surrounded by black, rocky, mountainous terrain.

It was one of those rare cloudless days in Juneau when the Mendenhall Valley felt like a playground. Kids pedaled along trails, families hiked beside the lake, and lawns buzzed with summer chores. But beneath the glacier, a hidden force was building, and it would soon surge into the city.

Rivers of Change: The Impact of Climate Shifts on Salmon Habitats in Southeast Alaska

May 11, 2026

A river spreads through and across a valley, with sloping forested hills and snowy mountains in the background.

Water is the thread that weaves Lingít Aaní or Southeast Alaska together. It falls from the sky as relentless rain, clings to mountains as snow and collects in ice fields and glaciers. It trickles through peat-rich muskegs and carves deep fjords that open into the sea.

70,000 Walrus, Seals and Sea Ice

May 11, 2026

Hundreds of walrus, close together, move onto a beach.

The loss of Arctic sea ice has cycled through headlines for decades, rising and falling in public attention as new records are broken. But for researchers like Maeghan Connor and Donna Hauser, sea ice loss is not a trending headline, it is the focus of their lives’ work.

Ice science from pre-k to gray

May 11, 2026

A man in a fur hat stands in front of a green boat, docked on shore.

Father Thinh Van Tran knows about ice. A Catholic priest who serves the Diocese of Fairbanks, he’s spent time in the remote rural Alaska communities of Nulato, Koyukuk, Galena and Kaltag, deep in Interior Alaska. During that time he’s come to appreciate how river ice serves as a major transportation corridor for these communities.

Monitoring Glacier Changes: Tools and Techniques

April 15, 2025

Monitoring Glacial Changes: Tools and Techniques.

Each tool scientists use to study the Mendenhall GLOF serves a specific purpose and helps reveal how much water is stored in the basin, when drainage begins, and how the basin itself is changing over time.

Glacier Outburst Floods Storymap

April 1, 2025

Glacier Outburst Floods: Mendenhall Glacier. Every year since 2011, Juneau, Alaska, has been impacted by a unique type of flood that can only occur near places with glaciers.

Every year since 2011, Juneau, Alaska, has been impacted by a unique type of flood that can only occur near places with glaciers.