News
New KPC Director Announced
SOLDOTNA, AK - Kenai Peninsula College is pleased to announce that Soldotna High School graduate Karen Davis O’Hara, Ph.D., has been selected as the college’s new director. After more than two decades of leadership roles in California’s higher education systems, Dr. O’Hara is returning to the Kenai Peninsula to assume her new role on Aug. 3, just ahead of the upcoming academic year. Dr. O’Hara brings a wealth of experience in university instruction, leadership, research and community-driven campus growth. Most recently, she served as the executive dean of Sierra College - Nevada County Campus, where she successfully grew enrollment and fostered deep ties connecting the college with the local community. Prior to Sierra College, Dr. O’Hara spent 22 years at California State University, Sacramento, where she was a professor, department chair and associate dean of instruction and student success for the College of Education. Her academic research focuses on teaching and on children’s emotional development and its relations to psychobiology. Dr. O’Hara earned both her bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from the University of California, Davis. KPC extends its appreciation to Interim Director Brian Partridge for his leadership during the transition period. Partridge will continue serving as interim director until Dr. O'Hara assumes her duties in August. Following her arrival, he will return to his role as director of KPC’s Kachemak Bay Campus, where he will continue supporting the college’s mission and students.
KPC students gain ‘hands-on’ experience during whale necropsy
When a 47-foot-long, deceased whale washed up on a beach near Anchorage in November 2024, a team of biologists from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services (AVPS) arrived on the scene the following day to inspect the carcass. The team determined the carcass was from a two-year-old fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). During the necropsy, a group of nine students in Kenai Peninsula College (KPC)’s Semester by the Bay (SBB) program had the opportunity to participate in the necropsy and gain first-hand experience in marine biology.
