Considering the originality and daring of students in the Northern Studies program, it's not surprising that Northern Studies alumni have been highly successful in finding careers in higher education, government agencies, consulting firms, and industry. And considering the beauty and opportunity of the place they study, it's no wonder that many have chosen to stay here. Some work in the tourist industry or in northern business ventures; others aim for careers in journalism or communications,where they need a broad background in northern issues. Some teach in northern universities.  Some continue their education in Ph.D. programs, such as RAP.

Many Northern Studies students are already employed, and came to Northern Studies to deepen their knowledge of their chosen fields. Some are teachers who want to strengthen their knowledge of Alaska studies or social studies. Some are seeking career advancement in universities or government agencies. Other students are fascinated with the North and are pursuing their own intellectual projects and passions.

The Northern Studies Outcomes Assessment completed in May 2000 gathered the following information on Northern Studies alumni (50 percent of our alumni responded):

• 83% live and work in the North
• 94% report employment in fields related to their course of study
• 33% report working as a teacher at the elementary, secondary, or college level
• 19% went on to doctoral studies (3 other Northern Studies students have also entered doctoral programs at other institutions)
• 28% have continued their education in other avenues
• 56% have published work related to their courses of study
• 67% have participated in community service work in the north As you can see, our students have gone on to interesting careers, further study, and participation in community service, putting to use the knowledge and skills they developed in the Northern Studies Programs

• Student Theses

Hometown:  Juneau, AK

NORS concentration:  Individual Study

Thesis title:  Weekend Wilderness:  The Cultural and Spiritual Necessity of the White Mountains National Recreation Area

Current job:  Public Affairs Director, University of Alaska

Hometown:  North Pole, AK

NORS concentration:  Alaska History and Government

Thesis title: A Comparative Analysis of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement in Alaska From the Passage of the 1902 Alaska Game Law to 2011

Current job:  Alaska Fish and Wildlife Protection Trooper (commissioned retired Sergeant) and private investigator

Hometown:  Oslo, Norway -- Fairbanks, AK

NORS concentration:  Northern Art

Thesis title:  Visualizing the Present: Current Issues Within Contemporary Visual Sami Art - An Analysis of Sami Artists and Their Art in Oslo, Norway

Current job:  Project Coordinator at "BI - Norwegian Business School".

Hometown:  Chishmy, Russia

NORS concentration:  New Media Journalism

Project title:  Website Design for Creating Alaska Website

Current job:  Video conferencing specialist for Online with Libraries (OWL), State of Alaska

Hometown:  Fairbanks, AK

NORS concentration:  Russian-Alaska History and Museology

Thesis title:  Displaying Conflict:  The Visitor's Experience at the Kolmakovskii Blockhouse

Current job:  Data Technician for the Center for Alaska Native Health Research

Hometown:  Edmonton, Alberta

NORS concentration:  Local Food Systems and Northern Wildlife Governance

Thesis project:  "Is Buying Local Better?"  A Literature Review and Comparison of Production Locations and Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Chicken Eggs Consumed in Fairbanks, Alaska

Current job:  Owner of Beanstock, a farm on North Cooking Lake in Strathcona County, Alberta

Hometown:  Calgary, Alberta

NORS concentration:  Individualized Study - Tourism, Culture & Indigenous Issues

Thesis title:  Fishing for Tourists:  Cultural Tourism and its Origins in Teslin, Yukon Territory, Canada

Current job:  Community Development Consultant

Home town:  Fairfield, VT

NORS concentration:  Individualized Study - Cultural Anthropology

Thesis title:  Changes in Traditional Gender Roles Among Alaska Natives: Their Effects on Sense of Purpose, Direction, Identity, and Family and Community Stature

Current job:  Beginning INDS / RAP PhD program fall 2010

Hometown: Fairbanks, AK

NORS concentration:  Historical Geography

Thesis title:  Discovering Alaska's Interior - A Historical Geography of the 1885 Allen Expedition

Current job:  Instructor, International History Division, United States Military Academy at West Point

Hometown:  Milwaukee (now Fairbanks)

NORS concentration:  Northern History

Thesis title:  The Doctor, The Publisher and The Curmudgeon: How Personalities, Politics and the Press Set the Stage for Alaska Statehood

Current Job:  Assistant Professor of Journalism at UAF

Hometown:  Fairbanks, AK

NORS concentration:  Northern History

Thesis title:   “I Wonder When We’ll be in Civilization Again”:  Women, Alaska, and the Diary of Cinthia “Addie” Rieck

Current job:  Assistant Registrar for Graduation and Curriculum at the University of Alaska Fairbanks

Hometown:  Higgins Lake, MI

NORS Concentration:  Cultural Identity and Expression

Thesis Project:  Climate Change and Creative Expression

Current Job:  Dance teacher at Dance Theatre Fairbanks

Hometown:  Colorado Springs, CO

NORS concentration:  Northern History

Thesis title:  Corked: An investigation of Alaska's largest unsolved mass murder

Current employment:  Subsistence Resource Specialist - Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Subsistence Division.

Hometown:  Austin, TX

NORS Concentration:  Global Environmental Policy

Thesis title:  Renewable Energy in Rural Alaska: Two Case Studies and
their Implications

Current Job:  Renewable Energy Project Manager for Kotzebue Electric
Association (KEA).

Hometown:  Austria

NORS Concentration:  Environmental Politics and Policy

Thesis title:  Jay Hammond:  The Conservationist Governor

Current Job:  Ph.D. student in Human Geography at Memorial U in St. John's Newfoundland

Hometown:  Fairbanks, AK

NORS Concentration:   Environmental Policy

Thesis title:  Risk Society on the Last Frontier:  Indigenous Knowledge and the Politics of Risk in Oil Resource Management at Alaska’s North Slope

Current Job:  Research Assistant on a project examining key developments in polar bear policy.

Hometown: Champion, OH

NORS concentration: Oral History

Thesis title:  ChangingCommunities: The Alaska Highway Project Jukebox

Current job:  Assistant Archivist for the Alaska Native Language Archives

Hometown:  Rhinelander, WI

NORS Concentration: Rural Education

Thesis title:  Drifting and Directed: The Aspirations of High School Seniors from Three Communities in Rural Alaska

Hometown:  Los Angeles, CA

NORS Concentration:  Creative Writing

Thesis Project:  Awake Walking: Three One-Act Plays on the Human Condition

Hometown:  Los Angeles, CA

NORS Concentration:  Northern History

Thesis title:  Bob Bartlett and Ernest Gruening: The Relationship That Helped Alaska to Become a State

Hometown:  Cleveland, OH

NORS Concentration:  Oral History

Thesis Project: Friends on the Road: An Oral History of Trucking on the Dalton Highway

Hometown:  mostly Virginia (Navy brat)

NORS Concentration: Higher Education

Thesis Project:  The Ant and the Grasshopper: The Mindsets Behind the College Gender Gap in the Millennial Generation

Hometown:  North Andover, MA

NORS Concentration:  Global Environmental Policy

Thesis Project:  Community Development Quota: Community Sustainability and the Bering Sea

Hometown:  Kotzebue, AK

NORS Concentration:  Environmental Policy

Thesis title:  The Extent to which Traditional Ecological Knowledge is Included in the Alaska Resource Management System

Current job:  Program manager for Dept. of Educational Leadership at UAA

Hometown:  Keweenaw Peninsula, MI

NORS Concentration:  Northern History

Thesis title: The Illusion of Knowledge: Evolution of Early Cartographic Conceptions of Alaska

Hometown:  Fairbanks, AK

NORS Concentration:  Alaska Historical Drama

Thesis Project:  “James Wickersham: A Judge on the Last Frontier” (a play)

Hometown:  Mieslahti, Finland

NORS Concentration:  Global Environmental Policy

Thesis title:  The Kyoto Protocol and the Arctic Region: A Case Study of Finland and Canada

Hometown: originally from Florida; now Fairbanks

NORS Concentration:  Biopsychology

Thesis Project: “Northern Stressors and Alcohol Abuse: Is Serotonin Dysfunction a Factor in Self-Medication” (Annotated Bibliography)

Hometown:  Heilbronn, Germany

NORS Concentration:  Environmental Education

Thesis Project :  An Environmental Education Curriculum for Fairbanks for 7th and 8th Grade Students

Hometown:  Fairbanks, AK

NORS Concentration:  Russian Alaskan History and Anthropology

Thesis Project:  Documentary Film on St. Herman of Alaska

Hometown:  Sparbu, Norway

NORS Concentration:  Northern Psychology

Project Title:  Rocky Raccoon: Sixteen Dogs, One Girl, 1122 Miles from Anchorage to Nome

Hometown:  Palmer, AK

NORS Concentration:  Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Northern Political History and Culture

Dissertation title: M.D. Snodgrass: The Founder of the Alaska State Fair

Current Job:  Director, Matanuska-Susitna Campus, UAA