Topic

Environment US

Backpack wins Fat Bear Week

Backpack won Alaska’s Fat Bear Week competition at Katmai National Park, narrowly defeating Dancing Queen in an online vote celebrating the bears’ pre-hibernation weight gain.

Reposted by Sarah Roberts, Jesse M. Shapiro, Fred , and 3 more Sarah Roberts, Jesse M. Shapiro, Fred, Lisa W. Fazio, Anna O. Law, Ann Bartow

Scholar power: 5.3%

Story's scientific field profile

Biology 60%, Environmental science 25%, Communication & Media Studies 15%

Name	Field match	H-index	Scholar power
🎓 Sarah Roberts	9%	21	4.1%
🎓 Jesse M. Shapiro	1%	52	0.7%
🎓 Fred	1%	5	0.2%
🎓 Lisa W. Fazio	0%	29	0.0%
🎓 Anna O. Law	1%	4	0.2%
🎓 Ann Bartow	0%	10	0.0%
Total			5.3%

Formula for scholar power: sum of each reposter's field match × √reposter's h-index

Ranking score inputs

Relevance

Recency

Reposts

Scholar power

63.0%

3.2 h

731

5.3%

Ranking score

0.789

Formula for ranking score (post): scholar_power × max((total_reposts)^(1/3), 1) × (1 / max(hours_since_posted, 1)) × (raw_relevance)^3

c0nc0rdance

@c0nc0rdance.bsky.social

Omigod, this is the most heartwarming story possible!

Backpack (bear 89) is the son of the 2019 winner of Fat Bear Week, Holly (bear 435).

In 2007, he injured his foot & a practice of riding on momma's Holly's back had a new meaning: he was mobility-restricted while it healed.

So Holly moved him.

From DISCVR blog's Facebook page, a momma bear & a yearling cub on her back in the shallow water. I think the background has been swapped out, and I can't rule out some AI use there? God, Facebook has become the social media for AI slop : (

The title of the article, which I link below, is "How Bear 89 earned the name Backpack"

September 30, 2026 at 11:57 AM

by David L. Roberts

26%

Scholar power: 26.6%

Story's scientific field profile

Biology 60%, Environmental science 25%, Communication & Media Studies 15%

Name	Field match	H-index	Scholar power
🎓 David L. Roberts	11%	65	26.6%

Formula for scholar power: 3 × author's field match × √author's h-index

Ranking score inputs

Relevance

Recency

Reposts

Scholar power

79.0%

3.0 h

26.6%

Ranking score

0.315

Formula for ranking score (post): scholar_power × max((total_reposts)^(1/3), 1) × (1 / max(hours_since_posted, 1)) × (raw_relevance)^3

David Roberts

@drdavidlroberts.bsky.social

BBC News - 'Backpack' declared Alaska's Fat Bear Week winner
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'Backpack' declared Alaska's Fat Bear Week winner

"Backpack" defeated a bear known only as "910" in the final round of the annual competition.

www.bbc.co.uk

September 30, 2026 at 12:07 PM

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich

Scholar power: 4.3%

Story's scientific field profile

Biology 60%, Environmental science 25%, Communication & Media Studies 15%

Name	Field match	H-index	Scholar power
🎓 Brigitte Nerlich	6%	51	4.3%

Formula for scholar power: sum of each reposter's field match × √reposter's h-index

Ranking score inputs

Relevance

Recency

Reposts

Scholar power

66.0%

14.0 h

348

4.3%

Ranking score

0.057

Formula for ranking score (post): scholar_power × max((total_reposts)^(1/3), 1) × (1 / max(hours_since_posted, 1)) × (raw_relevance)^3

Alaska Public Media

@alaskapublic.org

Meet Backpack, your 2026 Fat Bear Week champion.

Backpack is 20 years old, weighs about 1,000 pounds and got his nickname because, as a cub, he loved riding on his mom's back across the Brooks River.