Arctic Visiting Speakers
Recent News
We just had two tours that took place in late April and early May.
Leonard Kamerling from the University of Alaska Fairbanks traveled to Monmouth, Oregon. The feature event of this tour was a screening of the documentary film “Drums of Winter”, followed by a question-and-answer session with director Kamerling. “Drums of Winter” explores the role of dance and music in the culture of the Yupik Eskimo people as they face pressure from the outside world to abandon their traditional lifestyle. The film was shown at the Jensen Arctic Museum on the campus of Western Oregon University and was open to the public. Following the viewing, a question-and-answer session was filmed and archived. You can learn more and see photos from this tour on Len Kammerling's tour summary page.
Our second tour had Dr. Jennifer Burns from University of Alaska Anchorage joining Alex Eilers in Memphis, Tennessee. Alex had a very full week of activities set up for Dr. Burns. Many activities took place at the Pink Palace Museum and focused around a program which they created together called “Passport to Antarctica – Where Adventure Meets Seal Science”. This program uses actual artifacts, specimens, photographs, videos and a life-sized stuffed Weddell seal to transform the classroom into an Antarctic field experience to provide students with a glimpse of what it is like to be in the field. They visited many local schools as well as a retirement community to present this program. Check out Dr. Burns tour summary page to find out more about the tour.
Photo Gallery
AVS Tours
There are currently no tours scheduled. You might want to check out:
Dr. Jennifer Burns, University of Alaska-Anchorage Professor of Biology, will travel from Anchorage, Alaska to Memphis, Tennessee, to participate in a week’s worth of education and public outreach activities with Alex Eilers of the Pink Palace Museum. Alex and Dr. Burns have just returned from an Antarctic expedition studying Weddell seals in the Ross Sea through the PolarTREC Program. You can read more about their expedition here:...
Read moreThe feature event of this tour was a screening of the documentary film “Drums of Winter”, followed by a question-and-answer session with director Leonard Kamerling. “Drums of Winter” explores the role of dance and music in the culture of the Yupik Eskimo people as they face pressure from the outside world to abandon their traditional lifestyle. The film was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2006. The film was shown on the campus of Western Oregon University in...
Read moreDr. Osgood had a full schedule of events (Dr. Osgood's Tour Schedule) planned for her time in Yakutsk. She delivered a series of lectures and activities intended for students at North-Eastern Federal University that focused on oral traditions, how stories live on, and evaluating how stories have been recorded and shared. As part of this...
Read moreOn this tour, Karsten stopped to give a presentation entitled "Necessary Journeys" at Dartmouth College. Karsten highlighted his travels with his wife, Leanne Allison, and shared stories and wisdom from his trips. Once at Sterling College, he joined students in Sterling's Vertebrate Natural History on a tracking field trip to Babcock Preserve. Later Karsten gave a public presentation entitled "Canoe Exploration of the Canadian North" in which he discussed his latest...
Read moreAuthor Charles Wohlforth traveled to Everett, Washington to present and discuss his book "The Fate of Nature" with seventy-five high school students enrolled in the Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA). All ORCA students had prepared for his visit by reading and discussing his book prior to his coming. His discussion focused on the impact of human activity on the arctic and marine environments, and how culture affects our creation of personal and social intensions for use of natural...
Read moreAbout the Program
The Arctic Visiting Speakers Program funds researchers and other arctic experts to travel and share their knowledge in communities where they might not otherwise connect. Speakers cover a wide range of arctic research topics and can address a variety of audiences including the general public, academics, students, community leaders, and organization members.
This year AVS is making small changes. We would like to encourage new applicants from small museums, environmental education centers, small colleges and urban schools to apply to host a speaker. Though all submitted applications will be considered, we will be looking for applications that bring speakers out of Alaska and the Arctic and into under-served populations which normally may not have exposure to arctic education from an arctic expert.
We are also interested in having AVS serve a wide variety of audiences including the general public, students, school-aged children, organizations, and community leaders. Individual tours that serve to integrate many different audiences are encouraged.
The review process is now beginning to fund tours to be held during the middle and latter part of 2012. If you are interested in applying for a tour, please submit an application today!
Contact
All inquiries regarding the Arctic Visiting Speakers Series should be directed to:
Judy Fahnestock
3535 College Road, Suite 101
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709-3710
Phone: 907-474-1600, Fax: 907-474-1604
Email: avs [at] arcus [dot] org
From AVS Participants
"Regardless of all the communication technologies we currently have at our fingertips, person-to-person contact is indispensable and by far the most powerful and lasting mode of communication. Thank you for honoring and facilitating it." - K. Heuer (speaker)
"It was so positive. Thank you for the opportunity. You were so easy to work with." - L. Herwald (host)
"I again thank ARCUS and NSF for support in carrying my work to these students. It is among the most meaningful and effective exchanges of my year and would not occur without AVS funding." - C. Wohlforth (speaker)
"More people need to know about this opportunity - I'm talking it up widely!" - D. Hirshberg (host)
"I am very thankful for the opportunity for this sharing. We have created good cooperation for the future." A. Lynge (speaker)
"... thanks for making this happen." T. Cole (speaker)
"This was a fabulous opportunity and I truly believe it will generate ongoing collaborations and efforts that can support real improvement in educational opportunities for students in Alaska and Greenland." - D. Hirshberg (host)
