Understanding Alaska and Alaskans is fundamental to shaping the state’s future. In 1961, Alaska’s Second State Legislature acknowledged the importance of this research mission and understood how it would inform policy and critical decisions facing the new state. This led to the creation of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER). Since then, ISER research has contributed to just about every public policy topic in the state, including the Arctic, natural resources, education, telecommunications, the Permanent Fund, fisheries, health care and – of course – Alaska’s economy.
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ISER presents a webinar event, "Permanent Fund Dividend: Past, Present and Future," on Wednesday, December 1 from 5:30-7 pm. Please join us for a look at the origins of the PFD program, how it has evolved over time, how it affects Alaskans today and how it may evolve in the future—and how ISER has studied these questions over the past 40 years. Panelists include former ISER directors Scott Goldsmith, Gunnar Knapp and Fran Ulmer, and current ISER researchers Matt Berman, Brett Watson and Mary Kopriva. UA President Pat Pitney will moderate.
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Panelists for ISER's webinar on the Permanent Fund: Past, Present and Future
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Two emeriti ISER directors, Scott Goldsmith and Gunnar Knapp, debated how best to manage the Permanent Fund at a Commonwealth North lunch at the Petroleum Club on November 8, 2019. The specific resolution for the debate was: “Resolved: The Alaska Constitution should be amended to specify that the Permanent Fund should be managed as an endowment, with a limited and sustainable annual distribution.” Under the format of the debate, a coin was flipped at the beginning of the debate to determine which side each debater would defend.
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ISER’s former director, Gunnar Knapp, Professor Emeritus of Economics, gave a presentation on “Long-Term Trends in the Pacific Salmon Industry” at the Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Reno, Nevada on October 1st, 2019. Knapp was an invited speaker at a symposium on “The Science of Pacific Salmon Conservation: Foundations, Myths, and Emerging Insights.”
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ISER’s Kevin Berry and former ISER Director and Professor Emeritus Gunnar Knapp gave presentations at the annual University of Washington-Fisheries Research Institute meeting with Bristol Bay salmon processors in Seattle, Washington, January 18.
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On June 13, 1988, after decades of Cold War tensions in the Bering Strait, Alaska Airlines’ “Friendship Flight” flew from Nome to Provideniya, in what was then the USSR. That historic flight reunited long-separated Native peoples of Alaska and Russia and helped end the Cold War. David Ramseur, a former visiting scholar of public policy at ISER and author of the book, Melting the Ice Curtain, was on that flight. At a free lecture at the Anchorage Museum, he will talk about the flight and lead a panel discussion among others who were also aboard, including Gunnar Knapp, a former ISER director. The panelists will recall that day, and discuss how it prescribes a course for U.S.-Russia relations today.
Where: Anchorage Museum, 625 C St
When: Thursday, May 31, 6:30 p.m.
Note: Use the museum’s 7th Avenue entrance.
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Gunnar Knapp, professor emeritus of economics at ISER, and Michelle Bartlett, director of UAF's Summer Sessions and Lifelong Learning program, have been awarded the 2017 Edith R. Bullock Prize for Excellence. The UA Foundation awards the prize annually to recognize excellence in support of the University of Alaska. Gunnar Knapp was a faculty economist at ISER from 1981 to June 2016, and also directed ISER from 2013 until he retired in June 2016. He is internationally recognized for his research on fisheries markets and management, but in recent years he focused on helping Alaskans understand the gravity of the fiscal crisis the state government faces.
Describing the prize as "a most pleasant surprise," Gunnar Knapp said, "I'm deeply gratified, and humbled, to be recognized in this way. I was privileged, throughout my career, to work with outstanding colleagues at ISER on ever-fascinating and important Alaska policy issues. I thank them for everything they taught me and all the ways they helped me—and for their continuing service to Alaska. It has been wonderful to be a part of UAA's growth into a thriving and vibrant university serving Alaskans in so many ways."
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A new book on Alaska politics and public policy, edited by Clive Thomas and published by the University of Alaska Press, includes chapters by five current and former ISER faculty members. The book, Alaska Politics and Public Policy: The Dynamics of Beliefs, Institutions, Personalities, and Power, has chapters written by former ISER directors Fran Ulmer, Gunnar Knapp, and Scott Goldsmith, as well as Diane Hirshberg, director of the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research at ISER, and Alexandra Hill, ISER's associate director for finance and administration. Learn more.
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Two of ISER’s long-time economists, Steve Colt and Gunnar Knapp, are retiring this June. Gunnar Knapp is also currently ISER’s director, and Steve Colt was the director from 2007 to 2009. ISER is honoring them with a reception on Friday, June 24, from 3 to 5, in Room 307 of the Consortium Library. Please join us in celebrating two of Alaska’s most-respected economists. Light refreshments will be provided, and parking on the UAA campus is free on Fridays.
Gunnar Knapp joined ISER in 1981, and has over time become internationally known for his research on fisheries markets and fisheries management, in Alaska and elsewhere. Much of his work has focused on the Alaska salmon industry.
Steve Colt started work at ISER in 1984, and he is now considered one of Alaska’s leading authorities on energy issues—especially rural energy—as well as in the valuation of natural resources. He was also instrumental in creating UAA's environmental studies program, and chaired that program from 1998 to 2006.
When: Friday, June 24, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: UAA/APU Consortium Library, Room 307