Research
LARS has pioneered research into many aspects of qiviut
production since the mid 1990’s:
• Masters project (1995 - Maximizing underwool production in muskoxen. R.G.
White & J.E. Rowell. Alaska Science and Technology Foundation. $91,000).
• Exploring options for milling into yarn (1997 - Qiviut: Quality Standards and
Commercial Processing. J.E. Rowell. UA Foundation - Natural Resources Fund.
$11,317)
• Providing the first commercial description of qiviut technical properties (Rowell,
J.E., C.J. Lupton, M.A. Robertson, F.A. Pfeiffer, J.A. Nagy, and R.G. White. 2001.
Fiber characteristics of qiviut and guard hair from wild muskoxen (Ovibos
moschatus). J. Anim. Sci. 79:1670-1674.
• Differences in qiviut quality between wild and domestic muskoxen and variation
among shoulder, side, and rump samples of qiviut from domestic muskoxen.
2005. Jennifer Hack, Undergraduate student study, School of Natural Resources,
Agriculture, and Extension (Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and
Extension).
• Incorporated qiviut farming into the northern sustainable agriculture paradigm
(2010 - Sustainable Livestock Production in Alaska, JE Rowell, MP Shipka, J
Greenberg, SG Gerlach, Tom Paragi. USDA/NIFA, $50,000)
• Masters project looking at the economics of qiviut production (2014 - Sustainable
livestock production on the frontier: Plant and soil responses to simulated
managed grazing in sub-arctic Alaska. Graduate student Laura Starr awarded
USDA-SARE Graduate Student Grant in Sustainable Agriculture. GW15-005
$24,329).
• Marketing and small custom milling of qiviut (Developing an Alaskan Fiber
Industry. J Rowell and Avril Weirs. Federal State Marketing Improvement
Program, USDA, 15-FSMIP-AK-0012. $60,739). Produced a workshop in
Anchorage. Worked with Arctic Qiviut, a new custom mill in Alaska and
established Fiber fests in ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø, Soldotna, and Palmer (I believe ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø is
the only one still running).
• PhD project with the University of Calgary validating the use of qiviut for
measuring cortisol. The graduate student from U of C was Juliette Di Francesco.
(Di Francesco J., G.F. Mastromonaco, S.L. Checkley, J. Blake , J.E. Rowell, S. Kutz.
• 2021. Qiviut cortisol reflects hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in
muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). Gen Comp Endo. 306:113737. (DOI:
10.1016/j.ygcen.2021.113737 ).