Museum director candidate Greg McDonald to visit next week

Submitted by Kerynn Fisher
Phone: 907-474-6941
04/23/09

The second of four finalists for the director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North will visit Fairbanks next week for on-site interviews.

Gregory McDonald is the senior curator of natural history for the National Park Service’s Museum Management Program, a position based in Fort Collins, Colo. He previously served as the paleontology program coordinator for the Geologic Resources Division of the National Park Service. He was also the paleontologist and chief of research for Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in Idaho. He holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Idaho State University, a master’s degree in zoology from the University of Florida Gainesville and a doctorate in geology from the University of Toronto.

As part of his visit, McDonald will present a free public seminar, "Sloth on the Beach: An unusual lineage of aquatically adapted ground sloths from Peru," Tuesday, April 28 at 6 p.m. in the museum auditorium. McDonald will discuss some of the museum projects he has worked on over the years as well as his research on the first group of extinct ground sloths that evolved aquatic adaptations.

Members of the community are encouraged to attend these free presentations to meet the candidates. The presentations will also be available via a live web stream online at http://www.uaf.edu/museum/educate/aea/.

McDonald is one of four finalists to replace Aldona Jonaitis, who has served as the museum’s director since 1993. Jonaitis will continue working part-time until the transition to the new director is complete.

CONTACT: Kerynn Fisher, University of Alaska Museum of the North communications coordinator, at 907-474-6941 or 907-378-2559.