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Spring break beach trip, Alaska style

Twenty-six students at the 51�������� put a twist on the traditional spring break trip to the beach this year.

The students, who were enrolled in 51��������’s Scientific Diving course, traveled to the remote Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, a cluster of buildings and a pier near the scenic southwest tip of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. There, the students used scuba diving skills practiced earlier at the 51�������� pool, conducted a mock rescue and assisted with research on subtidal plants and animals.

The annual class certifies students to dive on university and government research projects. Brenda Konar, a professor with the 51�������� School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, oversees the course. The lab is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and operated in partnership with 51��������.

While Kasitsna Bay in March is no Fort Lauderdale, the trip south to the temperate coast does offer 51�������� students a break from Interior Alaska’s winter; thermometers in Fairbanks on the second day of spring break 2015 registered 37 degrees below zero.

Photos by Alexandra Ravelo