Our Office

Dr. Michael Castellini earned his PhD from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1981 and has been a faculty member at the University of Alaska Fairbanks since 1989.

 

He was the founding Science Director for the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, the Director of the Institute of Marine Science, Associate Dean and then Dean for the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Dr. Castellini is now the Interim Dean for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Graduate School and a member of the UAF Center for Arctic Policy Studies team.

 

His research focuses on how marine mammals have adapted to life in the sea and he has participated in many public outreach programs discussing climate change, the Arctic and Antarctic, including how animals at those locations are critically dependent on sea ice.

After completing an MSc in Responsible Tourism Management at Greenwich University in England, Marie went on to work in Churchill, Manitoba as Program Coordinator for all tourism products at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. This is where she got her first taste of dog mushing. She volunteered for a sled dog race that traveled all the way to Arviat, Nunavut.

 

Later that interest brought her to the Yukon where she worked for the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race for 5 years, the last two as Executive Director.

Now freshly immigrated to Alaska, Marie continues to volunteer for the Yukon Quest every year, as well as other local events and fundraisers. Our Canadian colleagues will be pleased to know that Marie is from Quebec and her first language is French.