BLOG, 20210928
I’m returning to academia from being mobilized for the past year and half. I’m no longer with the School of Education but now with the Center for Alaska Native Health Research as a faculty researcher. While on active duty, I was able to support Alaskan Command meets its responsibilities with federally recognized tribes.
Returning to UAF but in this new role, I’m eager to understand out veterans and active duty service members who may be struggling with suicide. In particular, those Alaska Native veterans in rural Alaska and our service members stationed here in our state.
Currently, I am working on a special operations forces baseline study to capture what the current literature states about SOF in the Arctic. The aim is to identify what we know and highlight those gaps in the scholarship that could be direction for other scholars for research.
Also, I’m working with some folks in Fairbanks to put on several discussion groups on the readings of the Odyssey as a means to assist connection and meaning with our veterans in the Interior.
Any day I should hear about at a grant to engage our local Alaska Native veterans to learn about their lived experiences that assists them to thrive despite some of the systemic barriers to their wellness.
Just as it was a process to return to active duty demands during my mobilization, I’m in the process returning to academia, particularly moving from teaching to researching.