Social Science Program Director, Kawerak Incorporated
Julie is an anthropologist and the Social Science Program Director at Kawerak Incorporated in Nome, Alaska. Some of her interests include the circumpolar north, research ethics, applied anthropology methods, identity studies, place and space, visual anthropology and human-animal-environment relationships. Julie has an M.A. in Anthropology and an M.A. in Northern Studies from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Julie has spent the past eight years collaborating with tribes in the Bering Strait region of Alaska on traditional knowledge documentation projects and advocacy efforts. Some recent collaborations include documentation of ice seal and walrus habitat, hunting areas, and traditional knowledge; salmon and non-salmon fish traditional knowledge and mapping; traditional knowledge and use of ocean currents. Julie is currently collaborating with 16 Bering Strait tribes to document and examine residents’ “knowledge, beliefs and experiences of the supernatural environment.”
The Social Science program strives to do collaborative work that will be beneficial to local tribes, produce products that will be of interest and use to local tribes and others, contribute to cultural heritage preservation, and address ongoing issues in the region.
