Arctic Visiting Speakers Series | 2008 Visiting Speaker Tours

Host:
Kristina Bielenberg
krisbiel3@yahoo.com

Host Institution:
EarthWalk Vermont

Visiting Speaker:
Angaangaq Lyberth
icewisdom@gmail.com

Presentations: In September, Angaangaq Lyberth visited Montpelier, VT. Angaangaq was hosted by the non-profit organization EarthWalk Vermont. Lyberth gave workshops at various public venues and a special presentation at EarthWalk, a nonprofit community promoting nature education.

Angaangaq Lyberth visited Montpelier in 2007, and spoke to the Montpelier Community Justice Center on the "Use of Circles" in conflict resolution. Since his last visit, many people have asked for his return especially those who were not able to attend his previous workshops. Thus, Lyberth is visiting Montpelier again to sew into the lives of the families in the EarthWalk community, with traditional teachings, songs and stories from the Arctic region.

Angaangaq Lyberth is a Native of Greenland and a resident of Canada, and is fondly known as "Uncle" to his acquaintances and friends, clearly understands the effects of climate change and globalization on the northern regions. In this time, when our lives are divided between the global community and our traditional ties with nature, Lyberth provides a wealth of valuable insight that has been passed through the generations of elders in his community. He aims to help young people and their families become effective members of our contemporary society and maintain traditional unity the environment around us. Uncle has addressed audiences in more than 40 countries on a wide range of issues, including the impact of climate change on the indigenous peoples of the arctic region.

Host:
Pavel Cenkl
pcenkl@sterlingcolleeg.edu

Host Institution:
The Center for Northern Studies
at Sterling College
http://sterlingcollege.edu/CNS/

Visiting Speaker:
Jonathan Waterman
jon@sopris.net

Presentations: In April 2008 Jonathan Waterman traveled to the Center for Northern Studies at Sterling College in Vermont to share his unique perspective on the North and his views on the environment, politics, and preservation. 

Jonathan spoke to members of Sterling College faculty, students, and the general public.  During his time at Sterling College, he ate with the students, joined classes and met with students who have read his writing as part of their coursework.  He also presented a free public lecture entitled "Oil Versus Wilderness & Climate Change in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge" at Sterling College. Jonathan also spoke at the Craftsbury Academy – a local public junior/senior high school – located next door to Sterling College. He discussed issues related to environmental preservation and natural resource exploration in Alaska.

Jonathan Waterman is an author, filmmaker, and lecturer specializing in northern issues. He brings a unique perspective on the North and is an experienced mountaineer and explorer as well as a professional photographer and passionate advocate for the environment. He has told stories in many of his books that effectively bring the landscape and experience of the North to diverse audiences (he has authored 9 books on the North and many articles for various publications including National Geographic Adventure). Jonathan is an NEA Literary Fellow and has won numerous literary awards as well as an Emmy for the film, Surviving Denali. Jonathan Waterman lives in Carbondale, Colorado and is internationally renowned for an adventure career that has explored wilderness, culture, and the environment.

Host:
Scott Forrest
scott.forrest@ulapland.fi

Host Institution:
Arctic Centre University of Lapland
www.arcticcentre.org

Visiting Speaker:
Kathleen Osgood Dana
University of the Arctic
kati@cathodemedia.com

Presentations: In March 2008 Dr. Kathleen Osgood Dana traveled to Borgarnes, Iceland and Rovaniemi, Finland to deliver talks on contemporary indigenous literature of the North.

While in Iceland, Kati addressed students at Bifröst University. She also presented a lecture titled, "Saana, Malla, and the Tears of Kilpis" to a local classroom, with the assistance of Dûra Eyland Garéirsdottir.

Kati then traveled to Rovaniemi, Finland to present at the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland. She delivered two separate lectures titled, "The Shaman as poet in a postcolonial northern world" and "The indigenous author as ecologist." While not presenting at the Arctic Centre, Kati spoke at the Steiner School with the assistance of Outi Snellman. While in Rovaniemi, Kati also attended an evening showing of the film "Northern Images."

Dr. Kathleen Osgood Dana is a comparative literature scholar at the University of the Arctic in Vermont. Her primary interests are in contemporary indigenous literature of the North, particularly as a tool of cultural revival and survival.

Kati has extensive experience presenting talks to an array of audiences. Since the 1980s, she has been talking to groups as varied as Girl Scouts and international arctic social scientists, laypeople, and indigenous students. For a week in May 2002 Kati brought her doctoral research about circumpolar native literature to students in the literature department at Sakha State University in Yakutsk, Siberia as part of an Arctic Visiting Speakers Tour. Kati has said she likes "the challenge of adapting materials to a particular audience."

Hosts:
Professor Nina Witoszek (Norway)
Francisco Castro Rego (Portugal)

Host Institutions:
Center for Development and the Environment
University of Oslo
And
Instituto Superior Agronomia/Centre for Applied Ecology
Technical University of Lisbon
http://www.isa.utl.pt/ceabn

Visiting Speaker:
Professor Emeritus Dave Klein
University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF)
ffdrk@uaf.edu

Presentations: In February and early March of 2008, Professor Emeritus Dave Klein traveled to, both Oslo, Norway, and Lisbon, Portugal to present about and discuss with participants the hot button topic of climate change. Dr. Klein gained insight into how Europeans are responding to the climate change issue to contrast with his Alaskan and North American perspective. He delivered talks to university students, faculty, and staff members, as well as presenting at primary and secondary schools and community events.

• The developing human ethos in a changing global environment - a North American perspective
• Climate change in the North - natural and human system responses
• Wildlife conservation and management in a changing climate

During his trip to Norway from 1-29 February, Dave delivered guest lectures to international students attending a master's course on "Cultural Approaches to the Environment". Then during his visit to Portugal from 1-7 March 2008, Dr. Klein presented to faculty, and students (post doctoral, graduate and undergraduate), and general public, high school and possibly elementary school students.

Dr. Klein retired as Senior Scientist and Professor Emeritus at the Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). He had been with the Coop Unit and a faculty member in the Biology and Wildlife program at UAF since 1962. He is now Professor Emeritus with the Institute of Arctic Biology, UAF. His research interests are in arctic ecology, plant-animal interactions, adaptations of arctic terrestrial mammals, arctic grazing systems (reindeer and caribou habitat relations, indigenous people relationships), northern development and associated environmental impacts and their mitigation, and winter ecology in the Arctic and sub-arctic. Professor Klein is a leading authority on the topics of climate change and its relation to wildlife and on the topic of environmental philosophy.

Hosts:
Michael Moynihan
moynihan@german.umass.edu

Host Institutions:
University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Visiting Speaker:
Hrafn Gunnlaugsson
Film director, writer, composer
hrafng@isholf.is

Presentations: The German & Scandinavian Studies division of the Languages, Literatures and Cultures department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst were pleased to host the United States debut screening of the Viking film Embla (2007) with the film’s award-winning Icelandic director Hrafn Gunnlaugsson present to introduce the film and discuss his work. The film is an Icelandic-Swedish co- production. The screening, which was open to the public, took place on February 15, 2008.

The film screening was the opening event of the third biennial graduate student conference, MYTH: A Graduate Conference in German and Scandinavian Studies, which took place February 15-17, 2008. There was also be a reception along with the screening. While in Amherst, Hrafn also presented to drama students at Amherst Regional High School, including screening film clips and engaging in an interactive discussion.

Born in 1948, Hrafn Gunnlaugsson received his training in theater and film at the University of Stockholm and the Swedish Dramatic Institute. A multifaceted artist, Gunnlaugsson has served as director, scriptwriter, and musical soundtrack composer for all of his films. Among his many awards, he was named Best Director by the Swedish Film Institute in 1985 for Hrafninn flygur. In 2006 the Icelandic Postal Service created a stamp honoring the film as a seminal work in the history of that nation’s cinema. In addition to his many films, Gunnlaugsson has directed works for television and the theater, and has published poetry, short stories, a one-act play, and a novel.

Hosts:
Martha Levensaler
martha@akmarine.org

Host Institutions:
Alaska Marine Conservation Council
www.akmarine.org

Visiting Speaker:
Richard A. Feely, Ph.D.
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Richard.A.Feely@noaa.gov

Presentations:The release of CO2 emissions through the burning of fossil fuels is well known as impacting of global warming. Less well known is that through absorbing atmospheric CO2, the world's oceans and, in particular, the Arctic’s oceans are becoming more acidic. In February 2008, Dr. Richard Feely traveled to Anchorage, AK and presented at the, “Climate Change: Oceans, Fisheries & Marine Mammals” Workshop at the Alaska Forum on the Environment. The Forum attracted a very diverse audience, including students, scientists, tribal leaders, government representatives, community members, representatives from Native and environmental organizations, and industry. In addition to presenting to adult participants at the Alaska Forum on the Environment, Dr. Feely gave a presentation to 6-8th grade students from Pacific Northern Academy at the Forum.

Dr. Feely also traveled to Homer, AK where he presented at an assembly at the Homer High School, and at a public event at the Pratt Museum. Richard then traveled to Kodiak, AK and presented at Kodiak High School as well as meeting with NOAA personal working in Kodiak. In the evening there was a presentation open to community members.

Dr. Richard A. Feely is a Supervisory Oceanographer at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. He also holds an affiliate full professor faculty position at the University of Washington School of Oceanography. His major research areas are carbon cycling in the oceans and ocean acidification processes. He is the country's leading scientist on ocean acidification. He clearly explains the chemistry behind this phenomenon and the impacts it has on marine organisms.

Hosts:
Libby Palmer
info@ptmsc.org

Host Institutions:
Port Townsend Marine Science Center
http://www.ptmsc.org

Visiting Speaker:
Charles Wohlforth
http://www.wohlforth.net

Presentations: During February 2008, writer Charles Wohlforth delivered illustrated presentations on arctic marine habitats and conservation, and the role of native peoples and global warming. Mr. Wohlforth lectured at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) to a group of approximately 50-100 people, consisting of PTMSC members and volunteers, local students and teachers, residents, and visitors to Fort Worden State Park.

While in Port Townsend, Charles met with Americorps young people. He also presented a talk titled “Writing About Eskimos and Climate Change," to students from Blue Heron Middle School and Port Townsend High School.

Charles Wohlforth is a lifelong Alaska resident and was lead reporter on the Exxon Valdez oil spill for the Anchorage Daily News. In 1993 he became a full-time freelance writer. Mr. Wohlforth has a unique perspective on arctic science, combining extensive experience with scientists, local native peoples and a journalist's understanding of how best to communicate with the general public. Charles authored the book, The Whale and the Supercomputer: On the Northern Front of Climate Change. This book, written for a general audience, explores arctic climate change from the perspective of Eskimo whalers and scientific researchers in Barrow, Alaska. Charles illustrates the challenges and rewards resulting from the knowledge exchange between these two cultures, and delves into broader social issues concerning global warming.