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HAPPENING TODAY: Zoom interviews available with student researchers in Alaska

Radford, VA (02/27/2026) — A small group of Radford University undergraduate students are in Utqiagvik, Alaska, over the next two weeks, conducting important research braving bone-rattling temperatures and shivery Arctic winds in the northernmost city in the United States.

"This is an incredibly intense but rewarding experience," said Professor of Physics Rhett Herman, who organizes the research trip every two years. "My students are conducting research on the geophysical properties of the sea ice including seismic activity, the crystalline structure of the sea ice, the thermal properties of the sea ice and tundra, characteristics of the atmosphere near the ice surface and even the near-space environment by studying Earth's ionosphere."

Months before the research trip, students designed and built their own equipment for data collection.

Professor Herman and his students are available to speak with media via Zoom on Friday, Feb 27, after 3 p.m. Eastern time.

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