News and Announcements
New research finds that elodea, Alaska’s first aquatic invasive weed, will negatively affect the recreation experiences of Alaska’s floatplane pilots
The Institute of Social and Economic Research’s Dr. Tobias Schwoerer, Dr. Jennifer Schmidt, and Kyle Borash alongside the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Dr. Joseph Little, published a new article, “Hitchhikers on floats to Arctic freshwater: Private aviation and recreation loss from aquatic invasion”, in the latest issue of Ambio. Their economic analysis showed that the introduction of elodea to a remote floatplane destination would change the benefits pilots derive from their destinations by -$185 on average per round trip. […]
Dr. Hirshberg presents at education conference in Finland and will co-edit a new book on circumpolar education
Dr. Diane Hirshberg traveled to Joensuu, Finland to meet with collaborators on a new project called Enhancing Equity and Inclusion in Education in Circumpolar North (EICN). Funded by the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education (DASHE) in support of UArctic Networking Activities on Arctic Research and Education, the goal of EICN is to strengthen collaboration under the UArctic Thematic Network on Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity with member institutions from Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark, and to publish a book focusing on inclusive policies and practices in educational settings. This first workshop resulted in an outline for the new book [...]
A simple decomposition of Alaska’s Labor force
Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) Associate Professor of Economics, Dr. Mouhcine Guettabi, recently released his report, A simple decomposition of Alaska’s labor force participation rate, which details his research surrounding the steady decline in the percentage of people working or seeking employment over the past two decades in Alaska and the implications of that downslide. Understanding these trends and the causes contributing to them is critical for managing and avoiding consequences to economic growth and development, tax revenues, and government services. He also weighs the use of unemployment rate as an indicator of economic health within a region and [...]
Dr. Guettabi to Participate on Upcoming Alaska Common Ground Panel
Institute of Social and Economic Research Associate Professor of Economics, Dr. Mouhcine Guettabi, is to participate on an upcoming panel to follow up on the forum earlier this year, The Costs of Alaska’s Economic Roller Coaster, which examined and discussed the costs of a start-and-stop economy and the benefits of a stable source of state income. The Alaska Common Ground event, What kind of Alaska do we want?, will be moderated by Thea Agnew Bemben, principal and founding partner of Agnew::Beck Consulting, and take place on Tuesday, December 10, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the 49th State [...]
Dr. Schwoerer Discusses Elodea on SeafoodSource.com
The Institute for Social and Economic Research’s Dr. Tobias Schwoerer was recently featured on SeafoodSource.com to discuss elodea and its risk to Alaska’s sockeye salmon fisheries. […]
CBHRS researchers present about Alaska opioid evaluation at AEA
Researchers from ISER's Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services (CBHRS) shared work evaluating Alaska's response to the opioid crisis at the recent meeting of the American Evaluation Association held in Minneapolis, MN. Bridget Hanson presented about the methodology used for recent key informant interviews with individuals who had administered naloxone in a talk titled "'Please tell us about a time you administered naloxone': Maximizing data collection opportunities with challenging informants." She also presented "Policy evaluation during the opioid epidemic," highlighting the challenges of such efforts. Jodi Barnett presented a poster titled "Promoting a coordinated multi-site evaluation for community-based opioid prevention [...]