UAF Department of Science and Environmental Journalism Contact Information

Mason has a joint appointment between the Department and Communication and Journalism, and the Department of Art, where he heads the BFA and MFA sequences in Photography.

Professor Charles Mason has taught photography and photojournalism at UAF since 1990. He actively and passionately pursues all kinds of photography. His work has garnered numerous awards including the Oskar Barnack Award at World Press Photo, POY awards, and others. He's also had a number of solo shows in and out of Alaska. His prints are in the collection of many individuals and museums.

Mason's photographs have been published widely, including in the New York Times, Outside Magazine, Time, LIFE and even The Weekly Reader. The cover of the bestselling book "Water for Elements" features a photograph he took here at a small circus here in Fairbanks. He's been in Pictures of the Year issues of Time, LIFE, Stern, and the Photography Annuals of PDN and Communication Arts.

Mason now mostly photographs his family, travels, and assignment and commercial work. He covers Alaska stories for the New York Times and is represented by Getty Images and the Well Street Art Company. When not taking pictures, Mason enjoys tending to his vast collection of carnivorous plants, practicing solo synchronized swimming routines, and spending time with his many Siamese cats.

M.A. '85, Broadcast Journalism, New York University
B.A. '77, History, University of California, Santa Cruz

Professor Brian Patrick O’Donoghue recently received Alaska Press Club’s highest honor, the 2016 First Amendment Award, for “dogged persistence in pursuit of the truth.” The recognition follows more than a decade of student-assisted reporting that helped exonerate the Fairbanks Four, a group including three Native Alaskans, wrongfully incarcerated 18 years for a white teen’s 1997 murder.

O’Donoghue’s 35-year career spans print, broadcast and mobile journalism. He’s taken readers with him pulling 7Gs in a F-16, accompanying Stryker Brigade soldiers sweeping palm groves for weapons in Iraq, observing pipeline construction on Arctic Ocean’s ice in 70-below conditions.

His news photos document Mid East peace talks, political campaigns, disasters, tribal gatherings and jazz greats. His books, My lead Dog was a Lesbian, and Honest Dogs, recount his misadventures mushing the distance in both Iditarod and the Yukon Quest.

O’Donoghue spent 2012-13 teaching and researching digital media trends in India as Fulbright-Nehru Scholar in residence at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication.

He is past president of Alaska Press Club and a dedicated member of Investigative Reporters and Editors. He joined UAF Journalism’s faculty in 2001.

He and his wife, UAF Development and Alumni Relations Director Kate Ripley, have three kids, Rory, Robin and Rachel.