Department Staff
Angela has been the collections manager of Ethnology and History since 1999, after spending three years in the department working as a Graduate Student and Curatorial Assistant. She holds a from the University of Iowa, an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Fairbanks, and a Distance Delivery Pilot Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies from George Washington University. In 2023, Angela earned her Ph.D. in Museology and Northern History: Interdisciplinary Studies through ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ's department of Arctic and Northern Studies. focused on the past, present, and future of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ's museums.
Angela strives to facilitate access to the museum's collections, through the online database , and through direct physical access to the collections the museum cares for on behalf of the residents of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ. She welcomes questions from the public and seeks out opportunities for supporting cultural heritage projects across ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ and the circumpolar north.
Angela is a member of several museum, historical, and anthropological professional organizations and currently serves as the ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ state representative for the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries ().
Department Employees
Spring 2026
Eduard Zdor, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow (co-sponsored with UAMN Archaeology),
Micki Sievers - ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Anthropology graduate student curatorial assistant
Volunteers
volunteer opportunities available by contacting department staff
Research Associates & Affiliates (2025-26)
Ellen Carrlee, Ph.D. - Conservator, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ State Museum; care and preservation of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ objects; Yup'ik relationships of qiluliuryaraq (processing intestine); Juneau, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ
Ross Coen, Ph.D. - ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ historian; editor of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ History (peer-reviewed journal of the ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Historical Society); Seattle, Washington
Holly Cusack-McVeigh, Ph.D. - Associate Professor of Anthropology & Museum Studies, Public Scholar of Collections and Community Curation, Adjunct Associate Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies, Indiana University Indianapolis; Indianapolis, Indiana
Dixie Dayo, M.A. - Dixie Dayo Consulting, Good Grief: Good Medicine for Behavioral Health Therapists; Community Health and Wellness; Fairbanks, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ
Allan Hayton, M.A. - Language Revitalization Advocate; Fairbanks, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ
Michael Koskey, Ph.D. - Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, Indigenous Studies Graduate Programs, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ; Fairbanks, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ
Jason Rogers, Ph.D. - Archaeologist, Lake Clark National Park, NPS; archaeological investigation, wooden boats; maritime history; Anchorage, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ
Nadia Sethi, Ph.D. - Independent Curator & Scholar, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Native Arts Foundation, Program Manager; ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Native art and culture; Anchorage / Homer, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ
Amelia (Amy) Ahnaughuq Topkok, M.A. - Ph.D. graduate student Indigenous Studies (CIS), ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ; "ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Sewing Traditions: Connecting Cultural Identity to Community Health and Wellbeing;" Fairbanks, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ
Christopher B. Wooley, M.A. - Chumis Cultural Resource Services; ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ history, cultural resources, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ archaeology, oil spill response, NAGPRA and repatriation; Big Lake, ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ
Department History
Former Staff
The Ethnology & History collections have been a key part of the University of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Museum of the North from its inception in 1926. With Otto Geist's first field collecting efforts on St. Lawrence Island and beyond, the material culture of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ's Indigenous peoples and non-Native settlers has been of interest to scholars and locals alike. The curation of the ethnology & history objects was originally overseen by people like Froelich Rainey, Ivar Skarland, and .
Years of Service: 1966-1994
Dinah Larsen, M.A.
Coordinator / Curator
Dinah (Wolfe) Larsen was the longest-term employee of the ethnology and history department at the UA Museum of the North. She received her M.A. at the University of California Los Angeles and used that training to develop many innovative programs at UAMN in collaboration with ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Native people across the state. She contributed to the increased professionalization of the museum, authored many articles and curated exhibits.
Molly Lee, Ph.D.
Curator Emerita
Molly Lee completed her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, under Nelson Graburn. She has spent much of her academic career investigating the basketry of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵn Native groups. Her interest is in reconstructing the history of basket traditions and in how cultural change can be inferred from changes in material objects including baskets rather than in construction techniques. She has conducted over 30 years of research, and published extensively on the baleen baskets of the Iñupiaq people of Northern ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ, the grass baskets of the Yup'ik people of Southwestern ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ, as well as the basketry of the Tlingit and Alutiiq people of coastal ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ. Dr. Lee retired from ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ and UAMN in May 2008.