Comments:
I went west to The Evergreen State College for wildlife biology BS, then M.S. in Journalism from the University of Oregon. Over 30 years ago took first job in Alaska to study fish at Denali National Park. Next I worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 8 years, six of them in Fairbanks, Alaska. As wildlife biologist for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, I studied bird habitats on the coastal plain and was a field monitor of seismic oil exploration. Next, I reviewed the impacts of oil development projects in Prudhoe Bay for the Fairbanks FWS field office; after that I bailed out of government so I could speak my mind freely. After a stint with the Alaska Coalition and National Wildlife Federation in DC, including testifying to Congress after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, I worked for The Wilderness Society as Assistant Regional Director in Anchorage and Alaska Program Director in Washington, D.C. and chaired the Alaska Coalition working nationwide to protect the Arctic Refuge. In 1996, I opened Arctic Connections, a small business focused on Arctic oil impact research and wilderness guiding for non-profit organizations and media from CBS Sunday Morning to Fox News, Living on Earth, Chicago Tribune, BBC, and Irish Times. I moved back to Fairbanks in 2006 to work as Arctic Program Director at the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and because its a great communtiy. I was honored by the Conservation Leadership Award from the Wilburforce Foundation and as an "Arctic Hero" by Alaska Wilderness League, and inducted in the CHHS Hall of Fame in 2012! (who would have imagined). My essay, Broken Promises, is featured in the book Arctic Voices, ed. by S. Banerjee.
