Students

Caitlynn Hanna
Caitlynn Hanna

A sawed-off 6-foot bow section of a concrete canoe stands upright in a Duckering Building hall, part of a display about engineering at UAF. Look closely, and you’ll see a subtle image of a harpoon pressed into the boat’s floor.

 

James Isabell
James Isabell

James Isabell had to rethink his life after an all-terrain vehicle crash crushed his leg. He couldn’t walk for nine months.

 

Jenessa Oviok
Jenessa Oviok

Jenessa Oviok’s nephew was born with a hole in his heart. Watching him face that challenge, while she wasn’t able to help, helped her decide on a career. “That’s why I want to be a doctor,” she said.

 

Joe Bifelt
Joe Bifelt

Joe Bifelt saw firsthand how a cultural connection could transform school for young people in his home village of Huslia. A dog mushing program started by his late grandfather, legendary racer George Attla, changed his relationship with the high school teachers in his senior year.

 

Ruth Nashookpuk
Profile: Ruth Nashookpuk

Like other painters, Ruth Nashookpuk uses canvas as a foundation. But when she’s done, Nashookpuk can lace up her work and apply it to her other passion: basketball.

 

Bax Bond performing with the Inu-Yupiaq Dance Group during the 2013 Festival of Native Arts
There's no place like a dance group to help Bax Bond feel at home

When it came to choose where to go to college, Bax Bond followed in his mother's footsteps.

 

John Oulton
Profile: John Oulton

John Oulton bought a car last summer. The 2008 Chevy Cobalt isn’t big or fancy. Car and Driver magazine described it that year as “an acceptable choice as a transportation appliance.”

 

Cory LePore
Cory LePore

Bachelor's in economics
Hometown: Bethel

 

Larissa Strunk
Larissa Strunk

Bachelor’s in secondary education
Hometown: Quinhagak

 

Esther Berlin
Esther Berlin

Bachelor’s in digital journalism
Hometown: Kasigluk

 

Kaitlin Tom
Kaitlin Tom

Bachelor’s in Yup’ik Eskimo
Hometown: Newtok

 

Extraordinary Energy

Andrew Akelkok, a high school student in Dillingham, studies energy at UAF's Bristol Bay Campus in hopes of finding better sources for rural villages.

 

 

 

Extraordinary Art

UAF graduate, Erin Gingrich, and assistant professor of native arts, Da-Ka-Xeen Mehner