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 91ÊÓƵ 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 UAF's department of Arctic and Northern Studies. focused on the past, present, and future of 91ÊÓƵ'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 91ÊÓƵ. She welcomes questions from the public and seeks out opportunities for supporting cultural heritage projects across 91ÊÓƵ and the circumpolar north.
Angela is a member of several museum, historical, and anthropological professional organizations and currently serves as the 91ÊÓƵ 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 - UAF Anthropology graduate student curatorial assistant
Volunteers
volunteer opportunities available by contacting department staff
Research Associates & Affiliates (2025-26)
Ellen Carrlee, Ph.D. - Conservator, 91ÊÓƵ State Museum; care and preservation of 91ÊÓƵ objects; Yup'ik relationships of qiluliuryaraq (processing intestine); Juneau, 91ÊÓƵ
Ross Coen, Ph.D. - 91ÊÓƵ historian; editor of 91ÊÓƵ History (peer-reviewed journal of the 91ÊÓƵ 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, 91ÊÓƵ
Allan Hayton, M.A. - Language Revitalization Advocate; Fairbanks, 91ÊÓƵ
Michael Koskey, Ph.D. - Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, Indigenous Studies Graduate Programs, UAF; Fairbanks, 91ÊÓƵ
Jason Rogers, Ph.D. - Archaeologist, Lake Clark National Park, NPS; archaeological investigation, wooden boats; maritime history; Anchorage, 91ÊÓƵ
Nadia Sethi, Ph.D. - Independent Curator & Scholar, 91ÊÓƵ Native Arts Foundation, Program Manager; 91ÊÓƵ Native art and culture; Anchorage / Homer, 91ÊÓƵ
Amelia (Amy) Ahnaughuq Topkok, M.A. - Ph.D. graduate student Indigenous Studies (CIS), UAF; "91ÊÓƵ Sewing Traditions: Connecting Cultural Identity to Community Health and Wellbeing;" Fairbanks, 91ÊÓƵ
Christopher B. Wooley, M.A. - Chumis Cultural Resource Services; 91ÊÓƵ history, cultural resources, 91ÊÓƵ archaeology, oil spill response, NAGPRA and repatriation; Big Lake, 91ÊÓƵ
Department History
Former Staff
The Ethnology & History collections have been a key part of the University of 91ÊÓƵ 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 91ÊÓƵ'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 91ÊÓƵ 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 91ÊÓƵn 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 91ÊÓƵ, the grass baskets of the Yup'ik people of Southwestern 91ÊÓƵ, as well as the basketry of the Tlingit and Alutiiq people of coastal 91ÊÓƵ. Dr. Lee retired from UAF and UAMN in May 2008.