Advertise on podcast: Northern Soundings: Alaska in Conversation

You are what you eat. Just ask Dr. Matthew Wooller, a paleoecologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The eating habits of a mammoth some 14 millennia ago allowed Wooller and his colleagues to map the animal’s journey across Alaska. Wooller also shares how his concerns for student mental and emotional health stirred him to … Continue reading Matthew Wooller: A Life’s Subtle Path

I continue my conversation with Jon Holmgren. Besides being an inventor, machinist, geophysicist and mountaineer, Jon is something of a philosopher. So says his friend and colleague Matthew Sturm in his book Finding the Arctic. Jon’s shop is the site for great discussions. To stimulate the conversations, one of the books Jon often hands out to … Continue reading Jon Holmgren Pt.2

My guest in the next two shows is Jon Holmgren. I’ve known about Jon ever since I first talked with snow scientist Matthew Sturm years ago. Matthew in his book Finding the Arctic describes Jon as a machinist, miner, geophysicist, traveler and arctic philosopher. As you’ll discover, that’s a pretty fair description

As part of this past UAF Summer Session’s Tall Timber series, I spoke with Tom Bundtzen. Many know him as a research geologist as well as an avid mining historian. After retiring as Senior Economic Geologist for the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Survey (ADGGS), Tom formed Pacific Rim Geological Consulting, Inc. The state … Continue reading Mining History: Tom Bundtzen

Each summer I talk with fascinating Fairbanksans through UAF Summer Sessions‘ “Tall Timber” series. One of those figures this past summer was Wendell Shiffler. Wendy, as he is known, has spent a lifetime relishing life and the outdoors. He’s also spent a good deal of time communicating those passions to young people. In 1981 he … Continue reading Sharing Resilience: Wendell Shiffler

Banning books has a disturbing history in our country. Greg Hill is probably best known locally through his weekly columns in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Parents may know of Greg’s work starting the Guys and Gals Read program in the elementary schools, which engages young readers with books that combine vivid images with exciting plots, … Continue reading The Right to Read: Greg Hill

On this show I talk with psychologist Stephen Parker. Parker has been a practicing therapist in Fairbanks for decades. More than twenty years ago, in response to a series of coronary troubles including a massive heart attack, he built a series of stone structures on his property as therapy. Perhaps the most striking of these is … Continue reading Finding One’s Way: Stephen Parker

In the summers University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Summer Sessions hosts a series of conversations. It’s called “Tall Timbers” and salutes Fairbanks residents who have made an indelible mark on the community. One of the people tapped this past summer is Terry Reichardt. Over the years she has contributed to Fairbanks in a number of ways. … Continue reading Cultivating Community: Terry Reichardt

Dr. Gary Laursen was one of the guest speakers at last month’s Fairbanks Fungi Fest. Laursen taught biology and mycology for decades at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He’s traveled the world studying fungi and leads the High Latitude Mycological Research Institute. He has also authored a number of books, including Alaska’s Mushrooms: a Wide … Continue reading Dr. Gary Laursen: Elevating a Kingdom’s Standing

I first met Avis Wanda McClinton on-line. Three times a week a small group of people gather via Zoom and sit in silence and then share concerns and thoughts. For anyone familiar with the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, that practice will sound familiar. Avis, who is an African-American Quaker, lives near Philadelphia, PA. … Continue reading Avis Wanda McClinton: Unearthing Disquieting Truths