UAF Northwest Campus to host IPY speaker series in Nome

Submitted by Doug Schneider
Phone: 907-474-7449
01/09/08

Nome, Alaska--As part of International Polar Year, the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program and University of Alaska Fairbanks, Northwest Campus, have launched a speaker series in Nome, Alaska. This series is meant to facilitate discussions of current polar issues between local residents and academic experts.

Topics include the effects of climate change on fisheries and the sea ice pack, storm systems and coastal erosion, and preservation of Native languages and art. Despite the importance of many of these topics to the northwest Alaska region, experts rarely have the opportunity to interact with local residents because of the remote location of these communities and limited communication systems.

The series is being videoconferenced to reach rural communities and schools of northwest Alaska through the Bering Strait School District. It is part of the university’s contribution to the International Polar Year, a two-year event, which began in March 2007, that is focusing research efforts and public attention on the Earth’s polar regions.

Each lecture will take place at 7 p.m. at the Nome Elementary School. Upcoming series speakers include:

Jan. 15, 2008
Amber Lincoln, "Bering Strait Artifacts, European Museums, and World History,"

Jan. 29, 2008
David Atkinson, "Bering Sea Storms: Not Just Leftover Typhoons,"

February (day to be announced)
Igor Krupnik, "The Changing Arctic: IPY and Northern Residents,"

Feb. 29, 2008
Terrence Cole, "Mutiny, Murder and Cannibalism: The Tragic Tale of A.W. Greely,"

March 1, 2008
Gay Salisbury, "Inspiration for the Iditarod: Leonhard Seppala, Nome and the 1925 Serum Run,"

April 15, 2008
Larry Kaplan, "Eskimo Languages of the Bering Strait and Beyond,"

April 29, 2008
Jean Carlo, "Arctic Voices: Contemporary Art from the Circumpolar North,"

For more information, contact Heidi Herter, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 907-443-2201.

Watch video clips of MAP-IPY Nome Speaker Series on the Bering Strait School District Web site: blog.bssd.org/2008/01/16/international-polar-year-speaker-series/