The More You Look

In the museum’s latest special exhibition, Thinking Made Visible, perception, communication, and invention are explored through nature journals and cartoons, maps and scientific fieldnotes, architectural, art, and exhibit design. Memory and sensory experience are given form by the humble sketchbook. In the course of developing the exhibit, museum staff conducted more than three dozen interviews and delighted in following those branching conversations, the cross-cutting themes and stories for a museum exhibit as conversation across conversations. In this episode, we hear from a few of the contributing artists and scientists about intergenerational influence and encouragement, the planting of the seeds for the practice of observation and the visualization of what we see, what we feel. The exhibit, Thinking Made Visible, runs through January 5, 2025, in the museum’s special exhibits gallery. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

The stampede trail bus, or Bus 142, saw more than 70 years of use in Fairbanks and then the mining trail west of Healy, Alaska before being flown back across the Teklanika and eventually becoming an object in a museum collection. Before it became a pilgrimage and a touchstone for memory, and well after its life in the military and the Fairbanks transit system, it was a well-used bunkhouse, a hunting camp for those who knew how to get off the beaten path. In the fall of 2022 and the spring of 23, Jerry Freel made three visits to the museum and bus to talk with UAMN Senior Collections Manager for Ethnology and History, Angela Linn about his family’s use of the vehicle. Moose hunting was his dad’s passion. Three visits. Three conversations with Jerry Freel and family. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

In this bonus Up Close episode, we continue our Episode 16 ("The Silences") conversation with UAMN Film Curator emeritus, Leonard Kamerling. We talk about the increasing need to curate our personal photos, the value in being an outsider as a storyteller, and what projects Kamerling envisions on the horizon. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

In this episode, we talk about how UAMN Film Curator Emeritus, Leonard Kamerling came to filmmaking. What’s changed in the last quarter-century? What is very much the same? And what should we all, as individuals, as families, think about when it comes to the documentation of our own lives. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

In this episode of the podcast, a conversation with UAMN Curator of Birds, Kevin Winker, and Ornithology Collection Manager, Jack Withrow about the growth of this museum collection, the vastness of North and how little has been studied in detail, the time-tested value of room temperature preservation, the difference between live mounts and study skins…and so much more. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

In this episode, we continue our Episode 14, "Always Getting Ready" conversation with members of the Friends of the UA Museum of the North. The friends are a group of engaged community members whose purpose is to build a bridge of understanding and knowledge about the museum's collections and research. We pick up the discussion with Ron Inouye, Dave Norton, and Tim Doran. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

Enjoy this illuminating conversation with several members of the Friends of the UA Museum of the North: Ron Inouye, Tim Doran, and Dave Norton. The Friends are a group of engaged community members whose purpose is to build a bridge of understanding and knowledge about the museum's collections—and the research and other work the collections support. They do this through spending time with the staff and the curators, engaging with exhibits, and taking on special projects. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

The UAMN audio guide, Sounds of Place was conceived and first recorded in the year 2000 by UAMN Film Curator emeritus, Leonard Kamerling and sound-recordist Kathy Turco. Twenty-something years later, it has grown into a mobile app with 6 tours and nearly 200 stops encompassing all of the museum galleries. The UA Museum of the North mobile app is free and available on a smartphone near you. This week on the podcast, “A Taste of Sounds of Place,” 20-something eclectic clips for 20-something years. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

On September 21st and 22nd, 2023, staff and students from four UAMN research collections excavated a humpback whale skeleton on the UAF campus. This, of course, is not its usual habitat. This was not an ancient, fossilized animal. The skeleton, salvaged from the beach at Kincaid Park, Cook Inlet, in southcentral Alaska, was brought by museum staff to Fairbanks and buried in sand for more than six years in order to allow for the continued natural decomposition of the remaining soft tissues. Maybe not all the remaining soft tissues. More on that in this episode. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

This week , we interrupt UAMN Ornithology Collection Manager, Jack Withrow, as he installs a small exhibit on the Birds of Beringia. This is the latest edition of Changing Alaska, Changing Collections, a temporary exhibit case near the entrance of the main gallery that highlights recent work from the museum’s collections. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

Today we visit two conversations with UAMN Fine Arts Collection Manager Della Hall, both recorded in the last year -- Della’s first year in this position. We talk about the collection, about storage space and how books should be organized on a shelf, about the life of objects, about exhibits and how all museums have art – all of them – bar none. We talk about how art is made to be engaged with – and responded to – this week on the podcast. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

Today, we catch up with Elisabeth Padilla, Education and Public Programs Outreach Specialist and School Tours Coordinator as she prepares the museum’s Creativity Lab for the latest Friday morning installment of the Early Explorers program. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

It’s easy to forget, with how much we think we know about the world, that new species of animals are being discovered and studied, all of the time. Sometimes, the animal lives where few people are present to observe it. Other times, we just haven’t yet looked close enough. And other times, once in a while, an animal might exhibit an uncommon behavior, perhaps something we can’t fail to notice, and we pay attention, and lo and behold, the animal is new to science. In this episode, Derek Sikes, UAMN curator of insects talks about one such new species, Sciara serpens and its astounding behavior, first brought to his attention by museum docent Maggie Billington. The research paper can be found here. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

Today, Jonah Wright, exhibits Chief Preparator and Roger Topp, Director of Exhibits take a moment to talk about exhibition rotation during this period of often orderly, and often chaotic, rapid change in the museum special exhibits gallery. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

Planning. Safety. Back-up planning. This episode continues our conversation on museum fieldwork, where host Roger Topp sat down with a half-dozen of the museum’s curators to talk about getting out of the lab and into the world, into adventure, if that’s the right word. How do we plan and how do we learn when things don’t go according to plan? Fieldwork can be hard, and if it’s not hard, are we doing it right? 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

In this Up-Close episode of the podcast, Angela Linn, Senior Collections Manager for Ethnology and History introduces us to the always-unique process of considering and accepting a new donation of objects. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

As of late November 2023, UAMN has more than two dozen university graduate and undergraduate students working with and within the museum collections. That’s two dozen not including all the students that work for the exhibits, operations, visitor services, and education departments. This week, we highlight a discussion with Maggie Harings, master's student in fisheries, and Andres Lopez, museum Curator of Fishes and UAF Associate Professor at the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. They sat with Roger Topp, Director of Exhibits, Design, and Digital Media to talk about Maggie’s research into Chinook Salmon environmental DNA. Salmon eDNA Project Website https://sites.google.com/alaska.edu/salmon-edna-yukon-river-basin/home 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

In this special spotlight episode, exhibits staff Tamara Martz, Jonah Wright, and exhibits student Cindy Hickman install a new display of archaeology objects at the entrance to the museum’s Gallery of Alaska. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

As an official repository for the State of Alaska, the UA Museum of the North took possession of the Stampede Trail Bus, or Bus 142 in fall of 2020. In 2022 the museum contracted with the team at B.R. Howard Conservators to assess and conserve Bus 142. That conservation was begun and completed in spring of 2023 within the UAF Engineering Department’s high bay. During the work, the museum spoke with members of the B.R. Howard team about the complicated process of balancing the preservation of existing bus elements while repairing and restoring lost components—in aid of both the safety of future visitors to the bus and the long-term care of the bus and associated collections. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.

In this special spotlight episode, we catch up with Angela Linn, UAMN Senior Collections Manager for Ethnology and History as she led the decoration of the museum’s holiday tree with ornaments donated to the museum by Grace Berg Schaible. 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 the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.