The More You Look

In planning to exhibit Bus 142 at the UA Museum of the North, we’ve spoken with many people about their experiences with the bus, their perspectives on the story of Chris McCandless, their connections to the bus that go back into the 70s and 80s. In 2022, writer, reporter, and NOLS instructor, Diana Saverin visited the museum and shared some of her stories. She talked about her crazy, what-are-odds-visit in 2011, and her extended s...

As the UA Museum of the North approaches its centennial anniversary, we thought we might talk to each collection about that collection, the collection’s history, and what objects might be in a top ten list to include in a celebratory exhibit. This is the Earth Sciences Collection, and here are museum Director and Curator of Earth Sciences, Patrick Druckenmiller, and UAF professor and paleoecologist, Matt Wooller, recorded in the mu...

The museum’s latest exhibit in the Rose Berry Alaska Art Gallery, Threshold 32 Fahrenheit, is a collaboration between visual Artist Klara Maisch, writer Debbie Moderow, and ecologist Rebecca Hewitt. The exhibit is a multidisciplinary narrative about change in the boreal forest. It is as much about the process of collaboration and the development of community as it is the observance of the world and creation of art. Klara, Debbie, a...

The museum’s latest special exhibit, Observing Our Dynamic Planet, showcases how synthetic aperture radar data allow us to study earth from space. To follow our last episode, which looked at the Alaska Satellite Facility’s Ground Station, this episode comes from the 20 or so interviews we conducted with ASF scientists and engineers in the process of developing the exhibition. Joining us from various points in 2024, are Heidi Kriste...

The museum has opened a new special exhibit in partnership with the Alaska Satellite Facility. The exhibit, Observing Our Dynamic Planet, showcases how synthetic aperture radar data is acquired and how it allows us to study global agriculture, forestry, permafrost, flooding events, volcanoes, earthquakes, sea ice, and glaciers. Joining us in this episode are Wade Albright, Director of the Alaska Satellite Facility and Paul Austin, ...

Mary Beth Leigh is UAF professor of microbiology and Arts-Humanities-science integration, and Director of the In a Time of Change (ITOC) program. Dr. Leigh's work has influenced exhibits at UAMN and found their way into shows and programming for much of the program's 18 years. The episode covers Leigh's influences, some of the history of ITOC, and its past and present influences on UAMN exhibits.

The More You Look is ...

From the very beginning, we knew we wanted to produce an episode where we could hear some of the stories as told by the museum’s attendants, those employees who work the front desk, the store, who open the galleries and see to the needs of solo travelers, families, and large tours. This time, Director of Exhibits, Design, and Digital Media, Roger Topp sits with three of our attendants and UAF students, Sophie Zhang, Grace Hopkins, ...

In this episode, we continue the conversation with UAMN Curator of Insects, Derek Sikes and UAMN Entomology Collections Manager, Jess Rykken, from the full episode, Of the Ants and the Bees. And we cover so many topics including some of the research efforts at UAF, student work, entomology in exhibits, plans for the summer, and posting in iNaturalist.

The More You Look is a production of the UA Museum of the North, on the campus of ...

The last time The More You Look sat down with museum entomologist, Derek Sikes, he hinted that perhaps at our next conversation, he could share some results on his work on the ants of Alaska. That was more than a year ago – and in pretty much that same span of time, the museum gained a second entomologist – Jess Rykken, UAMN’s new Entomology Collections Manager, and a specialist in pollinators. So, some catching up to do, and the c...

UAMN Education & Public Programs offers a wide array of activities and resources for teachers, students, families, community members, and visitors of all ages and backgrounds. Opportunities to learn from, inspiration through museum collections and related research. Through collaboration with UAF departments and the community, this museum department connects the public with Alaska's science, arts, history, and cultures whet...

In the Fall of 2024, the museum opened the Northwoods Set Book Project, the first special exhibit presented within the museum’s Rose Berry Alaska Art Gallery, bringing closer together newer community work and the work within the museum’s permanent collections. It’s the first of a growing line-up of temporary shows housed within the museum’s principal art gallery. UAMN Director of Exhibits, Design and Digital Media, Roger Topp met w...

In September of 2024, Nathan Jackson’s totem pole, “Everyone’s Grandfather,” on the grounds of the museum, was removed from its site of 36 years and brought inside the museum for conservation and future installation within the building. UAF professor of Native Art, Da-ka-xeen Mehner, and UAMN Senior Collections Manager for Ethnology and History, Angela Linn talk about the lowering of the pole and the in-progress work to get it back...

Christina parks, the UAMN's Director of Visitor Services somehow finds time for an afternoon chat on September 4th, 2024, what happened to be the busiest non-event day at the museum in years.  Not all days at the museum are the same. Like anywhere, some days are down-right rough, and no more so than for the staff in museum visitor services.

The More You Look is a production of the UA Museum of the North, on the campus of the Un...

Today, a conversation with UAF masters student Sydney Almgren and postdoctoral researcher Laura Timm. We talk about their current research, Sydney updating us on her work following on a prior episode of the show – but they also talk about their varied histories within the fields of fish, the jobs they’ve done, opportunities and advice for students, and the jobs they might do in the future.

The More You Look is a production...

A conversation with Audra Darcy and Haley McCaig, UAMN research archaeologists, and recorded on the cusp of the 2024 summer field season. It's less about science and data analysis and more about logistics, planning, and manual labor in really cool places.

The More You Look is a production of the UA Museum of the North, on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the ancestral lands of the Dena people of th...

In July 2023, the museum recorded a trailer for The More You Look Podcast, and we think, now more than a year later, we got the direction, the goals about right. Over the years, museum outreach has considered the museum from many angles. What does, not any museum, but this museum look like in terms of a gallery, in terms of a website, a book, a card game? What does this museum sound like when it takes on the form of a podcast. And ...

Museum galleries and programs are brought to life by museum educators and members of the Fairbanks community, who volunteer to teach school children, guide tours, and help during special events. And the UA Museum docent program has been around for more than 40 years, almost as long as the museum has been located on the west ridge of the UAF campus.

Museum docents Tim Doran, Judy Ferri, Avalon Wappett, and David Weissman, speak about...

Arctic lands today are important breeding grounds for more than 200 species of birds, some of which migrate great distances to take advantage of the abundant summer resources. But this episode is not about them, but birds that lived in Alaska a long-long time ago.

The Prince Creek formation of northern Alaska is the northernmost fossil-bearing Late Cretaceous ecosystem in the world. It possesses a remarkable collection of fossils, i...

Welcome to season II, where we’ll continue to explore the stories and community of the museum. More from the students, more from the field, more memories of where we’ve been and how we get to tomorrow. 

And how appropriate to kick off the season with today’s conversation with museum Manager for Administrative Affairs, Emilie Nelson, a.k.a. H.R.

Part of this discussion appeared in the last episode of the first season of the ...