Episode Description
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0cGTz5AVO26mriS8j3ErxK?si=oznbpoCsSxiE1IfAuONYJQ
While some of us spent the long days of the early pandemic cleaning out the refrigerator or adopting a puppy, others – like Dr. M Jackson – spent it searching for a hidden hoard of pirate gold in Alaska. The adventure, filmed in summer 2020 and chronicled in the hit 2022 Netflix series Pirate Gold of Adak Island, is but one of many far-flung locales that this UO grad has traveled in her exciting career in search of what the earth can reveal. Indeed – as a geographer, glaciologist, National Geographic Explorer, Fulbright Ambassador, TED Fellow, Peace Corps volunteer, and author – Dr. Jackson’s life has mostly been about seeing and doing things differently than many of her peers. Earning her doctorate from the UO in 2017, Dr. Jackson explored how climate change transformed people and glacier communities in Iceland. A staunch advocate of communicating science in ways that resonate outside of the Academy, Dr. Jackson worked for more than a decade in the Artic, chronicling climate change, communities, and glacial systems. Her sustained interrogation of “who gets to practice glacial science” still forms the backbone of her professional practice. Dr. Jackson is interviewed on the podcast by Dr. Hollie Smith, Associate Professor of Science and Environmental Communication and Associate Director for the UO Center for Science Communication Research. As two women who have reflected deeply about “what knowledges” are permitted in the scientific realm and how scientific discoveries are shared with the public, their captivating conversation will naturally connect with scientists and non-scientists alike. Dr. Jackson’s 2015 memoir, While Glaciers Slept: Being Human in a Time of Climate Change, knits together stories of climate change in both family and planet. Her 2019 book, The Secret Lives of Glaciers, examines the profound impacts of glacier change on the human and physical geography of Iceland. Her forthcoming (and first) novel, The Ice Sings Back, is set in the Pacific Northwest, where M – in between travels to ice around the world – makes her home with her husband and young son.