Current Doctoral Students

Arctic logoACNS Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program

 

 AlecBennett

Alec Bennett

Entered program: 2020

Primary interest: Future Climate Based Risk

Adviser: Brandon Boylan

Hometown: Palmer, Alaska

Education:
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Master of Security & Disaster Management, 2018

University of Alaska Southeast
B.S. Information Systems, 2005

Email: apbennett@alaska.edu

Research interests: Climate Change, Scenario Planning, Computational Modeling, Natural Disasters, Human Security, Resilient Infrastructure, Science Communication, Science Informed Policy & Decision Making

 

angela-linn

Angela Linn

Entered program: 2014

Primary interest: Museology

Adviser: Mary Ehrlander 

Hometown: Solon, Iowa

Education:
George Washington University 
Distance Delivery Pilot Graduate Certificate Museum Studies, 2006

University of Alaska Fairbanks
M.A. Anthropology, 1999

University of Iowa
B.A. Anthropology 1994

Email: ajlinn@alaska.edu

Research interests: Museology, Decolonization of Museums, Democratization of Museums, Ethnography, Alaska History, Material Culture, Historical Archeology, Ethnohistory

My research examines the historical context from which Alaska's three largest museums (the Alaska State Museums, the University of Alaska Museum of the North, and the Anchorage Museum) were established and how this history helped to shape contemporary museums in Alaska today. I will use an interdisciplinary framework of museology, ethnohistory, and oral history to better reveal the past, present, and future of Alaska's museums.

maureen-long

Maureen Long

Entered program: 2018

Primary interest: Literature of the Canadian North and Alaska

Adviser: Eric Heyne

Hometown: Whitehorse, Yukon

Education:
University of Alaska Fairbanks
M.A. Northern Studies, 2003

University of Saskatchewan
Bachelor of Education, 1992

University of Saskatchewan
B.A. Honors English, 1991

Email: mlong9@alaska.edu  

Research interests: Margaret Atwood and the Canadian North, North and Canadian Identity, Animal Studies and Ecocriticism, Literature of Alaska and the Yukon, Environmental History of Northern North America

nick-parlato

Nick Parlato

Entered program: 2020

Primary interest: Political Geography

Adviser: Amy Lovecraft

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Education:
University of Northern British Columbia
M.A. Interdisciplinary Studies, 2019  

Oberlin College
B.A. Russian and East European Studies, 2012   

Email: njparlato@alaska.edu

Research interests: Peace and conflict studies, decolonial theory, post-Soviet Russia, Indigenous legal orders, Arctic politics, centre-periphery relations

 

jody-simpson

Jody Simpson

Entered program: INDS Program, Spring 2019; ACNS Program, Fall, 2020

Primary interest: Social Capital in Alaska

Adviser: Amy Lovecraft

Hometown: Big Lake, Alaska

Education:
University od Alaska Anchorage
B.A. English Literature,1985

University of Alaska Southeast
Masters of Public Administration, 2016

Email: jesimpson@alaska.edu

Research interests: Social capital, economic and community development; subjective well-being; circumpolar issues; Alaskan policy issues.

My dissertation involves an exploratory study of Alaska's social capacity.

My research examines how Alaska might move beyond a needs-based approach to community development to a framework that also considers social capacity  ̶  the collective strengths, skills, assets, leadership structure, and relationships of individuals, citizens’ associations, and institutions.  Dwindling financial support for communities, due to changes in the state's financial and political environments, will require civic organizations, non-profit organizations, institutions, and local governments to adapt to better meet the needs of residents. 

Much of the peer-reviewed data on Circumpolar social capital pertains predominantly to health, climate change, and environmental sustainability.  Beyond a discussion of the social milieu in Kodiak, Alaska, and a pair of papers examining collective trauma in Cordova, Alaska, following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, I was not able to locate asset-based assessments or analyses of associational life in Alaska. Through a bounded case study of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and social network analysis, my research will help fill that gap.

 kristine-swain

Kristine Swain

Entered Program: 2021

Primary Interest: History of Canadian-American military cooperation in Alaska through the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) 

Adviser: Dr. Philip Wight

Hometown: Eagle River, Alaska

Education: 

University of Kansas

M.A. Soviet and East European Studies, 1992

United States Air Force Academy

B.S. Russian History, 1991

Email: kswain@alaska.edu

Research Interests: History of Canadian-American military relations in Alaska, US and Canadian Arctic security strategy and policy, environmental, economic, societal and political impact of military operations in Alaska, Cold War History, Russian and Soviet History

 alex-taitt

Alex Taitt

Entered program: 2021

Primary interest:  Digital Heritage Preservation

Advisers: Brandon Boylan & Medeia Csoba DeHass

Hometown: Anchorage, AK | Dena’ina Ełnena

Education:

University of Alaska Anchorage
M.A. Anthropology, 2017

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
B.A. Anthropology, 2015

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
B.A. Computer Science, 2015

Email: antaitt@alaska.edu

Research interests:
Digital heritage preservation, 3D cultural heritage preservation, 3D modeling of Arctic and sub-Arctic cultural heritage, ethics and practice of 3D modeling, co-production of knowledge with Indigenous communities, decolonizing museums, STEAM education

 forest-wagner

Forest Wagner

Entered program: 2019

Primary interest: Place Identity

Advisers: David Koester, Mary Ehrlander

Hometown: Fairbanks, AK

Education:

University of Alaska Southeast
B.L.A. Interdisciplinary Studies, 2005

University of Alaska Fairbanks
M.A. Arctic and Northern Studies,  2017

Email: fjwagner@alaska.edu

Research interests: Affective and narrative dimensions of climate change on the lived experience of high latitude peoples

 Leanna Williams

Leanna Williams

Entered program: 2020

Primary interest: Northern History

Advisers: Brandon Boylan & Mary Ehrlander

Hometown: Fairbanks, Alaska

Education:
University of Alaska Fairbanks
M.A. Northern Studies/Northern History, 
2019

Linfield College
B.A. Mass Communication, 2004

Email: lprax1@alaska.edu

Research Interests: Arctic & Polar Aviation History, Infrastructure Development, Soviet Aviation, Alaska History, Northern Identity and Literature, Museum Studies