Winter in Unalaska by Sam Zmolek
Your voice in the Aleutians.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The KUCB Newsroom provides newscasts Monday through Thursday at noon and 5 PM on KUCB Radio. You can find many of our local news stories here.

Pribilof Student Reporters Interview Visiting Scientists

KUCB

Since 2008, the Pribilof School District has devoted a week of classes to scientific and environmental issues unfolding in its own region. Reasearchers from across North America visit St. Paul Island to teach students about the world around them.

This year, KUCB's Zoë Sobel and former KDLG reporter Mitch Borden also taught middle and high school students the basics of reporting — and by the end of class, they had written questions and conducted interviews with the visiting presenters.

You can find those conversations below. They also aired on KUHB in St. Paul and KUCB in Unalaska.

Credit Amos/KUCB
Josh Lynch is a PhD student interested in how the first Americans interacted with their environments.

Josh Lynch  

"I spent a lot of time as a young person in science classes and studying for science-related fields. It really allowed me to do what I wanted in my career. Now, I get the opportunity to travel. I get the opportunity to conduct my own research and come to classes like this. I think science opens a lot of doors for people."

Credit KUCB
Hillary Burgess is a science coordinator of the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team.

Hillary Burgess

"I like St. Paul. It's very beautiful and everybody is very friendly. I had a secret hope of seeing fur seals and arctic fox, and I've seen both already. Two foxes this morning were eating a Giant Pacific octopus!"

 

hillary_burgess_mixdown.mp3

Credit KUCB
Dave Rosen is a marine mammal scientist at the University of British Columbia.

Dave Rosen

"I work with sea lions, fur seals, sea otters, walruses — and all of their populations are going down. I study physiology — how their bodies work and how much food they need — to figure out what might have changed in the environment that would cause populations to drop."

dave_rosen_interview.mp3

Credit KUCB
Jasmine Shaw is researching the effects of climate change on berry species in Alaska.

Jasmine Shaw

"I'm interested in what happens to berries due to climate change — what's happening to berries as the falls get warmer, the winters come later, or perhaps there's no frost or snow at all. How does that affect the berries, abundence, timing, and harvesting for both humans and wildlife?"

jasmine_shaw.mp3

These interviews were produced by 6th-12th grade students from the Pribilof School District, including Aiden, Amos, Alexia, Antonio, Arianna, Brittney, Brynn, Chauncey, Cordell, Diamond, Diamond, Ethan, Gavin, Ian, Janelle, Jaylene, Jaylynn, Justin, Katrina, Khalia, Leslie, Marjorie, Maurice, Maxim, Miles, Miron, Nova, Presten, Riley, Shaun, Sonia, Thomas, Vincent, and Xavier.

Zoë Sobel reported for KUCB from 2016 until 2019. She returned to KUCB after a year living in Nepal and Malaysia as a Luce Scholar. She then returned to KUCB as a ProPublica reporter August of 2020 through August of 2021.
Related Content