Research Speaker Series

A Place for Knowledge Exchange

The College of Indigenous Studies is co-hosting a monthly speaker series with the International Arctic Research Center highlighting collaborative approaches to research, education and real-life community-based practices in rural Alaska.

Upcoming Presentations

Nov.15

A Place For Knowledge Exchange: Working Towards a Community-first Approach to Climate Resilience

Speakers: Chris Maio, Associate Professor, Geoscience Department and Director Alaska Coastal Cooperative ||| Angela Johnson, President and IGAP Coordinator, Native Village of Nelson Lagoon and Co-I on ACTION Project ||| Casey Ferguson, Community Engagement Manager, Alaska Coastal Cooperative and Co-I on ACTION Project
10:00 a.m.-Noon

The College of Indigenous Studies and International Arctic Research Center present a new research speaker series: A Place for Knowledge Exchange

The College of Indigenous Studies and the are excited to co-host a new virtual seminar series called A Place for Knowledge Exchange. These monthly conversations will cover collaborative approaches to research, education, and real-life community-based practices in rural Alaska.

Future seminar topics include co-stewardship, co-production of knowledge, climate impacts on traditional ways of life, food and water security, fisheries, and much more.

As part of A Place for Knowledge Exchange, CIS and will hold two collaboration brunches for those interested in connecting with the two organizations and other members of the �� community. The location of these connection brunches will rotate between CIS and IARC facilities, one in February and one in April.

The seminar and brunches will be facilitated by:

Josie Sam, Assistant Professor, Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development and International Arctic Research Center
Jessica Black, Associate Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education
Sonta Roach, Assistant Professor, Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development
Margaret Rudolf, Postdoctoral Fellow, International Arctic Research Center

Past seminars

Oct. 16, 2024 - A Place for Knowledge Exchange: Traditional Wellness in a Modern Context

Speakers:

Arlo Davis, Diversity and Inclusivity Coordinator, International Arctic Research Center
Teisha Simmons, Interim Dean, College of Indigenous Studies

Apr. 18, 2024 A Place for Knowledge Exchange: Intersection of well-being and fisheries

Speakers:

Dr. Rachel Donkersloot: Owner, Coastal Cultures Research
Harmony Jade Wayner: Indigenous Liaison, International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Freddie Christiansen: Board Member, Old Harbor Native Corporation

Mar. 21, 2024 - Uplifting Indigenous Knowledge through the Tamamta Program

Our fourth seminar highlighted the Tamamta Program, and uplifting Indigenous knowledge. It occured virtually on Mar. 21 at noon with speakers:

Sonia Natalie Ibarra | Tamamta co-Program Coordinator, Postdoctoral Fellow
Craig Chythlook | Tamamta Research Fellow, IARC Indigenous Liaison

Stream the fourth presentation in our collaborative series on

Feb. 15, 2024 - Co-Stewardship: From Concept to Actions

Our third seminar highlighted co-stewardship, from concept to actions. It occured virtually on Feb. 15, 2024 at noon with speakers including Carrie Stevens, Mary Hostetter, and Ralph (Góos’k’) Wolfe.

Stream the third presentation in our collaborative series on

Jan. 25, 2024 - Food security/insecurity and local implications

Our second seminar highlighted food security/insecurity and local implications. It occured virtually on Jan.25, 2024 at noon, with speakers inlcuding Eva Dawn Burk, IARC, Carrie Stevens, CIS and Vernae Angnaboogok, ICC Alaska.

Stream the second presentation in our collaborative series on

Dec. 7, 2023 - Community-engaged and community-driven research

Our first seminar focused on processes and protocols for community-engaged and community-driven research. It occurred virtually on Dec. 7 at noon, with speakers including Jessica Black, Ph.D., Associate Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education, Stacey Lucason, Tribal Research Coordinator, Kawerak and Margaret Rudolf, Postdoctoral fellow, International Arctic Research Center.

Stream the first presentation in our new series on the

Save the date

The facilitators of the seminar series A Place for Knowledge Exchange invite you to a collaboration brunch hosted by the College of Indigenous Studies (CIS) and the International Arctic Research Center (IARC). IARC and the College of Indigenous Studies hold the brunches and associated seminars to build stronger ties between the two organizations and support collaborative approaches in research, education and real-life community-based practices in rural Alaska.

Brunch /rural/partners-outreach/events/1

Where: �� Troth Yeddha' Campus, BP Design Theatre (401 Engineering Building), 1764 Tanana Loop, Fairbanks, AK 99709

When: Feb. 29, 2024

Time: 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.

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Brunch /rural/partners-outreach/events/2

Where: �� Troth Yeddha' Campus, Akasofu Building, Room /rural/partners-outreach/events/501

When: Apr. 5, 2024

Time: 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

2022-2023 Archive

Dr. Claudia Ihl: Why the muskox crossed the road - investigations into the habitat use of Nome's urban muskoxen

Date: April 12, 2023
Time: 12 pm - 1 pm AKST

Dr. Claudia Ihl grew up in Germany and first came to Alaska when she rode a bicycle from San Francisco to Fairbanks. She went on to receive a Master of Science and a PhD in Biology from ��. Claudia has studied muskoxen in NW Alaska for both her degrees and in her current position as Associate Professor of Biology at the NW campus in Nome. Claudia also worked with captive muskoxen at the Large Animal Research Station while she was a graduate student. In Nome, Claudia teaches a variety of classes and involves rural students in her research on muskoxen. Claudia's current project focuses on the increasing problem of muskoxen which invade the city limits of Nome. The exact reasons for this strange behavior are elusive, but Claudia believes that habitat created by human activities such as mining plays a deciding role.

Claudia enjoys all outdoor activities such as backpacking, kayaking, skiing and fishing. She also paints watercolors and makes big, bad wire sculptures of bugs in her spare time.

Dr. Mike Koskey: Community-Based and Community-Initiated Research, Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Date: Feb. 8, 2023
Time: 12 pm - 1 pm AKST

Michael Koskey is an associate professor with the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, which offers a Master's of Arts and a Ph.D. in Indigenous Studies. While serving in the Marine Corps he received a BS in Anthropology and a BA in Political Science from the University of Central Florida, and afterward received an MS in Anthropology from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from ��.

Mike's research focuses on oral history, traditional knowledge, ethnohistory, culture change, decolonization, resource use and allocation, food security and sovereignty, and indigenous cosmology/mythology. He is married and has two grown sons, lives in Goldstream Valley, and enjoys hiking and hunting with family and friends.

Dr. Diane McEachern: Social work education with Indigenous adult learners

Date: Jan. 18, 2023
Time: 12pm - 1pm

Dr. Diane McEachern is a professor of rural human services (RHS) and Human Services (HUMS) at CIS’s Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel. She has taught there for 19 years and previous to that was the lead social worker for the Lower Kuskokwim School District.

She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychology/Philosophy from Missouri State University, her master’s degree in social work from Arizona State University, and her doctorate from Lesley University in Cambridge MA.

Dr. McEachern’s research and doctoral work was the study of social work education with Indigenous adult learners. She is program head for an innovative cohort model of education (RHS) that has as its foundation, Indigenous ways of learning and understanding. This has made the program, taught out of the Kuskokwim and Interior Alaska Campus (IAC) popular among Indigenous adult learners from many rural communities.

She was the recipient of the Emil Usibelli Award for distinguished teaching among other awards. She enjoys roaming the tundra, photography, and hiking.

Dr. Charleen Fisher, Co-Create Initiative: Collaborative research in the circumpolar North

Date: Nov. 9, 2022
Time: Noon AKT

Dr. Charleen Fisher is a member of the Gwich’in, Koyukon, and Dena'ina community from Beaver, Alaska. She currently teaches at �� as an Assistant Professor.

Charleen has many years of experience as a K-12 certified teacher and principal in the Yukon Flats and Fairbanks North Star Borough School Districts. She has held the positions of Executive Director, Native American Career and Technical Education Program Director, and Education Director with the Council of Athabascan Tribal Government, and has served as the Chief of Beaver Village Council.

She has a B.A. in Political Science, M.Ed. in Language and Literacy, a Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership from the University of Alaska Anchorage, and a Ph.D. in Indigenous Studies from ��.

Dr. Fisher presented on the Co-Create Initiative: Collaborative research in the circumpolar North. Read the paper here:

Copy of presentation

Michelle Demmert, VAWA 2022 and the Alaska Provisions

Date: Oct. 14, 2022
Time: Noon AKT

Tribal Governance faculty Michelle Demmert will presented on the 2022 Violence Against Women Act and the Alaska Provisions.

Michelle (Jaaghal.aat) Demmert, Tlingit, Eagle, Ḵaax̱ʼoos.hittaan (Man’s Foot) clan is an Assistant Professor in the Tribal Governance Department of the College of Indigenous Studies College. In the recent past, she was the Law and Policy Director at
the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, served as the appointed Chief Judge for the Tulalip Tribes and the elected Chief Justice for the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

While the Chief Justice for her tribe, she served as the co-chair of the National Congress of American Indians’ Violence Against Women Task Force. Professor Demmert has devoted her legal career to advancing improvements and practices in tribal courts and has also worked in various capacities of advancing domestic violence protections for women and children.

Dr. Walkie Charles: Dynamic Assessment in a Yugtun L2 Intermediate Adult Classroom

Date: Sept. 14, 2022
Time: Noon AKST

Dr. Walkie Charles, Director of the �� Alaska Native Language Center, presented on his research "Dynamic Assessment in a Yugtun L2 Intermediate Adult Classroom."

Walkie Charles (Yup’ik) is an Associate Professor of Yup’ik in the Alaska Native Language Program at �� (��). He also became the first Alaska Native director for the Alaska Native Language Center (ANLC) at �� in 2021. He received his Ph.D. in applied linguistics in 2011.

His interests include dynamic assessment, sociocultural theory, and Yugtun (Yup’ik) language teaching and learning. His dissertation was titled Dynamic Assessment in a Yugtun L2 Intermediate Adult Classroom. He has extensive experience in public school teaching and bilingual education for over thirty years both in rural and urban Alaskan communities.

2022-2023 Recording Archive

"Dynamic Assessment in a Yugtun L2 Intermediate Adult Classroom"
Dr. Walkie Charles

"VAWA 2022: The Alaska Tribal Empowerment Subtitle"
Michelle Demmert, J.D.

"Improving the relationships between Indigenous rights holders and researchers in the Arctic: an invitation for change in funding and collaboration"
Dr. Charleen Fisher

" Social work education with Indigenous adult learners"
Dr. Diane McEachern

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Events