Welcome

This site documents two student-led undergraduate research projects at the University of Alaska Fairbanks:

• PULSE — Powering and Unifying Long-range Sensor Ecosystems
• STARTRAM — Sensor Technology for Alaska Rural communities Targeting Remote Atmospheric Monitoring

Both projects were supported by [UAF’s Undergraduate Research & Scholarly Activity (URSA) program](https://www.uaf.edu/ursa/ and developed in collaboration with Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) and the Alaska Teaching Through Technology (T3) program.

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Overview

PULSE and STARTRAM are focused on creating rugged, deployable weather and environmental monitoring systems that work in Alaska’s most remote locations. These systems are designed to be:

• Low cost and open source
• Non-cellular, using mesh radios like the Heltec v3 Board (LoRa)
• Solar powered and winter-ready
• Simple enough for high school students to deploy with guidance

We’ve worked directly with students, teachers, and field researchers to figure out what works and what doesn’t, when it comes to remote data collection in cold, low-connectivity environments.

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Why It Matters

This work matters because it brings together research and education in a practical, impactful way.
Students don’t just learn about sensors, they build real systems that solve real problems. These projects:

• Equip rural communities with the tools to monitor their own environments
• Support STEM learning through hands-on workshops and field testing
• Contribute to citizen science by generating usable environmental data
• Help educators and researchers evaluate and deploy resilient sensing systems

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Quick Links

• PULSEtastic Tool
• Documentation Page

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Maintained by undergraduate researchers with support from URSA, ACEP, and the T3 Program.