Members in the NEWS

Members in the NEWS: "The work of Igor Krupnik, an anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History and curator of a new exhibition on global warming's effects on Arctic peoples, was featured in an Around the Mall item in Smithsonian magazine's April 2006 issue, which was released shortly before its issue date. The piece was subsequently picked up by the Associated Press wire service March 20, 2006. Krupnik discussed his research involving Shishmaref, an Eskimo village on an island in northwestern Alaska. Until a few years ago, villagers have relied on the formation of sea ice to buffer their home from fall storms. With the advent of global warming, the ice no longer freezes reliably, allowing giant storm surges to batter the site and wash away land, houses and even a school playground. 'When they lose a piece of their land, they aren't just losing a certain number of square miles. They are losing a part of their history and their memory. They are losing childhood events and grandparents' tales,' Krupnik was quoted as saying. Villagers voted in 2002 to leave their ancestral home for a site on the mainland. William Fitzhugh, an anthropologist and director of the Smithsonian's Arctic Studies Center, also was quoted in that piece. Krupnik subsequently was mentioned in an Associated Press wire story that moved April 11, 2006. In 'Effects of climate change on Arctic observed,' Krupnik was quoted in relation to two new exhibits about the effects of climate change on Arctic peoples. The exhibits are on display in the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History"