New faces at the GI: Holly Dean

Holly Dean joined UAF Oct. 10 as science librarian at Rasmuson Library. She will be spending part of her time in Mather Library in the Akasofu building, initially on Tuesdays, in 202B. She can be reached at hmdean@alaska.edu or 907-474-6458.

What made you want to come to work for UAF?

The Geophysical Institute and UAF have always been a part of my life. I grew up visiting my dad (Ken Dean, Research Professor Emeritus in the remote sensing group, and AVO north) in his office in the GI, and later as an undergraduate student I worked in the Mather Library next door to the map office in IARC where my mom worked. My husband and many of our friends did their graduate work through the GI as well, so these places all feel like home to me.

The breadth and depth of research conducted here is as fascinating as it is important, and I am excited to be able to support that work as the Science Librarian, and ensure our library resources support the needs of our science community. I'm actually the only non-geoscientist in my family, but I'm excited to be connected to it all through my own profession.

I also grew up skiing on the trails right outside the GI, and I still get out and ski on the trails whenever I can. I hope to use that as informal meeting opportunities with those who are interested in joining me.

My office in the Mather Library is room 202B, which happens to be the same office I used in my very first job 20 years ago. As Robin Nicholson said to me, I can tap my ruby red slippers and say, "there's no place like home." While my primary office is located down at the Rasmuson Library, I'll be in my office in Mather at least once a week; this will be Tuesdays to start, but may be subject to change as I make connections with the science community up on West Ridge.

What are your main research interests?

I have a background in Anthropology and Archaeology, and spent a summer conducting archaeological surveys for the proposed natural gas pipeline near Livengood and up on the North Slope based out of Galbraith Lake. That place is very special to me, I don't think there's anywhere more beautiful than the Brooks Range by Atigun pass and the Atigun River. We try to get up there every August just to enjoy the fall colors and hopefully see caribou.

As an academic librarian, my research in Tennessee focused on food security and using campus gardens and seed libraries to create experiential learning opportunities for students, connecting them to local community needs and global concepts of food security, social and environmental sustainability. As the Science Librarian at UAF, we'll see where the community leads my research interests. I've always been connected to stories and using them as a way to communicate and create connections to greater issues, perhaps this will be something I'll explore a bit more.

What projects will you primarily be working on?

As the Science Librarian my primary goal is to establish relationships with the UAF science community, including faculty, technical staff, post docs, graduate students, and undergraduate students studying the sciences, and collaboratively working on projects as they arise. I'll also be managing the science collection for the Rasmuson Library and the bioscience collection, which is mostly housed in storage but also in the Mather Library. As Assistant Professor of Library Science I'll be teaching LS 101 classes throughout the year.

Tell us a little about your background, academic and career as well as personal interests.

I have a Bachelor of Science in anthropology from Portland State University, and a Master of Science in library science from Clarion University in Pennsylvania. My first job was as a student assistant in the Mather Library, then later as staff in the Rasmuson Library's Interlibrary Loan office and Government Documents office. In 2014, my husband and I moved to Tennessee where I was an Instructor and Reference Librarian at Pellissippi State Community College, and then later an Assistant Professor and Experiential Learning Librarian at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.

I grew up here in Fairbanks, and no matter where else I've lived this has always been home. I love cross-country skiing, hiking, biking, camping, canoeing, fishing, berry picking, and gardening. In 2013, my now-husband and I canoed about 700 miles of the Yukon River from Eagle to Ruby, Alaska; we hope to complete the entire river someday. We're always scheming about backcountry paddling trips we can do, on rivers like the Noatak, the Canning, Colville, the Sag, and the Porcupine. For us these types of trips are about enjoying the wilderness at a slow and steady pace, and really getting to know the area. Paddling is a great way to do this. More recently we're working on balancing adventure with having a preschooler and an overly enthusiastic two-year-old chocolate Labrador Retriever.