The role of permafrost will be the subject of a one-credit summer course for K-12 teachers June 25-27, 2008, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Held in association with the Ninth International Conference on Permafrost, The course will familiarize teachers with how the degradation of the permafrost will impact Alaska’s society, ecology, and hydrology.

Students will take field trips around the Fairbanks area to observe and photograph evidence of permafrost degradation and its original formation during the last glaciation. The emphasis will be upon simple measurements and observations.

Participants may earn one credit by registering with University of Alaska Fairbanks Summer Sessions. The cost is expected to be $60.

The Ninth Annual Permafrost Conference will be held June 29-July 3, 2008, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It is sponsored by the  International Permafrost Association, which was formed in 1983 to foster the dissemination of knowledge concerning permafrost and to promote cooperation among persons and national or international organizations engaged in scientific investigation and engineering work on permafrost.