Music, lectures highlight IPY for Fairbanks students

Submitted by Jenn Wagaman
Phone: 907-474-5082
01/28/08

In celebration of the International Polar Year, Inuit tribal funk band Pamyua will perform for Fairbanks-area students Friday, Feb. 1 at 10:30 a.m. and noon at the West Valley Performing Arts Center. In addition, Jenny Baeseman, director of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists, will introduce students to IPY through her experiences working with researchers and as a scientist in Antarctica. More than 1,000 students are set to attend the performances.

International Polar Year is a two-year international scientific campaign to focus attention on Earth’s polar regions. This, the fourth IPY, for the first time includes an emphasis on the human dimensions of polar research. Pamyua illustrates this human dimension and the resilience of Alaska Native cultures by combining both traditional and modern music.

The band will also be performing a public concert on the evening of Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at Hering Auditorium to celebrate the unique ways that Alaska’s cultures have and continue to adapt to a changing planet.

CONTACT: Cherie Solie, statewide IPY outreach manager, at 9047-474-6264 or c.solie@uaf.edu. Jenn Wagaman, outreach coordinator, at 907-474-5082 or jenn@alaska.edu.