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Sample Preparation — the First Step of Successful Research
Yan Miao
The overall goal of our research project is to study the unfrozen water mass and mobility in frozen soils. Frozen samples of standard clays with different adsorbed cations will be analyzed to determine their surface potential, micro-fabric, and how they interact with unfrozen water. To be successful, our first step was to develop standard procedures for sample preparation. During the past six months, we have developed and tested a set of methods for preparing clay samples, which included crushing source rocks into clay- sized samples with a suitable grain size distribution and exchanging cations for each type of clay. We experimented with different crushing methods, including using a ball mill, and mortar and pestle. Repeatable hydrometer test results indicated that our final combination of methods will produce clay samples with grain size distributions that are acceptable for future testing. Next, we exchanged the adsorbed cations with Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, and Na+ using chloride salt solutions, and flushed the excess chloride from the soil. Each cation-saturated clay required a different number of flushes due to the changes in surface chemistry. Sample preparation may seem simple, but all great research begins with a sound scientific foundation.
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Unmanned Aerial vehicle with state a novel methane sensor
Eyal Saiet
Minuscule volumes of methane are emitted to the local air shed by energy facilities and melting permafrost, both a great concern to Alaskan stake holders. Long oil and gas pipes extend over hundreds to thousands of miles, they may seldom leak at early stage through minuscule holes. Therefore it is vital to detect these holes early on. In addition, the melting permafrost in the sub arctic and arctic is releasing trapped subterranean methane. Here we propose to use a UAV as mean of transport towards methane leaks, coupled with novel instrument to measure methane. In this work we will to introduce the Aeryon Scout Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), with a new state of the art cavity ring spectrometer. The spectrometer is a one of a kind because of its small power consumption, dwarfish dimensions and weight, and sensitivity of parts per-billion. Just recently one of the major energy corporations gave approval to purchase this instrument. It is planed this summer to perform its first test flights. The instrument is expected to provide an upper hand in finding minuscule leaks in oil and gas pipes as well to assist in measurements of the methane flux due to melting permafrost.
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Sport Specific Drinking Motives Among Male Collegiate Hockey Players
Steve Thompson
Research shows that student athletes are consuming more alcohol than any other population on college campuses. Many studies have suggested that the culture of sport combined with the social setting and pressures of playing on a team put these athletes at a high risk for drinking heavily and suffering multiple alcohol related consequences. One area of research that has not been studied is the concept of sport specific drinking motives. Each individual sport has a unique culture and with it very diverse personalities. For this reason, we hypothesize that individual sports will likewise have unique drinking motives and expectations with regard to alcohol use. In particular, hockey players at UAF may drink for different reasons than the general UAF population.
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Preparation and Characterization of Sterically Hindered Dipyridil Pyrazine Derivatives 
Matthew Vanagel
With the intention of ultimately making a transition metal-‐‑ containing helicene, the di-‐‑N-‐‑oxide of 2,3-‐‑bis(3-‐‑methylpyridin-‐‑2-‐‑yl) pyrazine was produced from 2,3-‐‑lutidiene over a series of eight reactions. 1HNMR of intermediate products confirmed the expected structures and showed that each was sufficiently purified.
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