Our Team
Our teams at the Alaska Native Language Center and Alaska Native Langugage Archive are dedicated to the revitalization of Alaska Native languages.
Our supportive faculty and staff, expert emeritus and affiliate faculty, and community of language champions are committed to supporting language learners and sharing our collective knowledge. Reach out today to learn more.
Faculty
Samuel Alexander
Department Chair and Associate Professor of Gwich'in
Brooks 107B
Anna Berge
Professor of Linguistics and Alaska Native Language Archive Director
Alaska Native Language Center
Brooks 421
Anna Berge received her PhD in Linguistics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1997. She has specialized in West Greenlandic and Unangam Tunuu (Aleut) and does theoretical and descriptive work in syntax and discourse. She is currently working on comparative Eskimo-Aleut linguistics, Aleut language documentation, and Aleut language learning materials.
Walkie Charles
Associate Professor of Yup’ik and Faculty Fellow
Alaska Native Language Center
Brooks 107D
Walkie Charles received his PhD in Applied Linguistics in 2011. His interests include Dynamic Assessment, Sociocultural Theory, and Yugtun (Yup'ik Eskimo) Language teaching and learning. Since Walkie began teaching Yugtun at UAF, he has been involved in the Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education (SLATE) Program, through which he earned his doctorate. His dissertation was titled Dynamic Assessment in a Yugtun L2 Intermediate Adult Classroom.
Qaġġun Chelsey Zibell
Assistant Professor of Iñupiaq Language
Alaska Native Language Center
Brooks 107C
Qaġġun Chelsey Zibell received an M. Ed. from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a focus on Secondary Education in 2017. Her interests include Iñupiaq grammar, Iñupiaq language literature development, and online curriculum development. She is also the faculty advisor for the Iñu-Yupiaq Dance Group, a UAF student organization that practices traditional Iñupiaq and Yup'ik dances.
Bruce Ervin
Assistant Professor of Language and Culture
Interior Alaska Campus, Tok Center
David Engles
Adjunct Faculty
David Engles grew up in Minto, Alaska. He learned his language from his elders, and has many fond memories of speaking his language and listening to it every day growing up.
Sally Samson
Associate Professor of Yup'ik and Culture
Kuskokwim Campus
Staff
John DiCandeloro
Collections Manager
Alaska Native Language Archive
John DiCandeloro is the Collections Manager at the Alaska Native Language Archive. Originally from Oklahoma, John has a background in library science and less commonly taught languages. His interests include historical sociolinguistics, book history, and cultural heritage conservation.
Jason Harris
Emeritus
Hishinlai' Peter
Professor Emeritus
Alaska Native Language Center
Hishinlai’ 2019 Ph.D. eenjit tr’agwah’yà’ diiginjik hàa tr’agwarah’in hàa. Jìi kwaii geenjit gineech’ałtthat -- nats’ahts’à’ diiginjìk geech’oorahtan, nats’ahts’à’ diiginjìk gooraa’ee, ginjik ch’izhii gooraa’ee, jùu tr’inlįį, ts’à’ nats’à’ diilak nąįį dèegee’yà’. Hishinlai’ Dinjii Zhuh nąįį Alaska ts’à’ Canada nahkat gwats’an goovàa tr’agwah’yà’.
Read thesisAffiliates
André Bourcier
Affiliate Faculty
Linguistics
Yukon Native Language Centre
Perry Gilmore
Affiliate Faculty
Alaska Native Language Center
University of Arizona
Gary Holton
Affiliate Faculty
Alaska Native Language Center
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
John Ritter
Affiliate Faculty
Alaska Native Language Center
Yukon Native Language Centre