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Volume 10, Number 1: November 27, 2002

Where in the World is
M. Kayt Sunwood?
Kayt Sunwood in her UW-Superior office

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For more than four years, M. Kayt Sunwood served as director of UW-Superior's Faculty Development Center, a job which also required her participation on UW System's Learning Technology Development Center. This past summer, she left Superior for a position in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States. TTT recently caught up with Kayt at her new address, and we asked her to update our readers on her Alaskan adventures. Her response follows:

When my partner Sine was hired at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, I started looking for a job in Fairbanks because a 4,000 mile commute seemed a bit much -- we'd already had 4+ years of a 400 mile commute! Fortunately, I found the perfect job for me as Education Project Manager with the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS).

ARCUS is a non-profit consortium that provides leadership in advancing knowledge and understanding of the Arctic by: serving as a forum for planning, facilitating, coordinating, and implementing disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies of the Arctic; acting as a synthesizer and disseminator of scientific information relevant to state, national, and international programs of arctic research; and encouraging and facilitating the education of scientists and the public in the needs and opportunities of research in the Arctic. ARCUS collates and showcases arctic data and interpretative materials and resources. Check out what ARCUS has to offer at http://www.arcus.org/.

My job with ARCUS is to manage some of our exciting educational ventures, including Arctic Alive and Witness the Arctic, as well as to develop new educational venues and ventures. An Arctic Learning Object Repository is but one aspect of a new "Weaving the Arctic" program we are developing. My dissertation work, and my work with UW-Superior and UW System, have prepared me well for the challenge of reaching and engaging worldwide audiences in understanding and appreciating the Arctic. I sure will miss all of the great people I worked with in the UW System. I feel as if my world has expanded, though, as I am finding ways to connect with UWers in all kinds of exciting "Arctic Connections."

Kayt Sunwood in AlaskaFor a quick recap of our adventures on the way to the "Last Frontier", I joined ARCUS in August 2003, after an exciting trip up the Alaska Highway from Iowa/Wisconsin/ Minnesota with my partner Sine Anahita, seven cats, one dog, a malfunctioning U-Haul (packed with all the worldly belongings we hadn't given away), and our 1968 Forester trailer named "Stella" in tow. The trip up was only the beginning of our adventures, as now our Sunwood-Anahita menagerie is acclimatizing to the weather, hauling water, and figuring out life in close quarters necessitated by ten beings sharing a 14'x16' cabin. I am thrilled to be in Alaska and to get the chance to actualize my dissertation research on web-based community, web-based learning, and virtual mentoring, along with my pedagogy/technology experience at UW-Superior, in my work developing and managing education programs at ARCUS.

Since we got here in August, we've had many days when the majestic mountains of Denali are so clear it seems we could reach out and touch them. Recently I flew to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for an Aboriginal Science and Technology conference, and my plane flew right between the highest peaks in Denali, with Mount McKinley towering over us. Incredible experience! Sine and I actually got to drive in to Denali during the first snow of the season -- in the lower altitudes, as the mountaintops are usually snow-covered. We saw three mother grizzlies with a cub each, lots of caribou, moose, Dahl sheep, ptarmigans, and the most incredible scenery I've ever experienced.

Our tiny cabin is located off of Chena Ridge overlooking Fairbanks. We are hoping to add a new room before winter makes building impossible. And next year we hope to build a nice big place to live so that this little cabin can become our guest house. Let us know when you are headed "North to Alaska" so we can show you the sights. Really is another world up here!


Kayt asked us to pass along her contact information so that friends and former colleagues can remain in touch:

M. Kayt Sunwood, Ph.D.
Education Project Manager
Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS)
3535 College Rd., Suite 101
Fairbanks, AK 99709-3710
Phone: 907/450-1626
Fax: 907/474-1604
sunwood@arcus.org
http://www.arcus.org

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