Lynda Akpik McGilvary is a lifelong Alaskan whose grandparents immigrated to Montana in the 1920s, and whose parents came to Alaska in 1950. She directs the science education outreach team at the UAF Geophysical Institute. For the past decade, she has led a series of community-centered programs to co-produce K–12 science curricula and videos with rural Alaska tribes and communities. Her work in rural Alaska outreach has spanned nearly three decades in total. Currently, she directs the Cultural Connections to Alaska Science project. McGilvary has directed two live-action planetarium films: Kiuguyat: The Northern Lights (2018), and Listening to Alaska (2026). A third planetarium film is in production. All film productions have a goal to authentically represent Alaska and Alaskans.McGilvary leverages her position within UAF’s largest science unit and federal funding to channel place-based and culturally inclusive science teaching tools into rural Alaska classrooms, and to help scientists share the latest findings from their research grants.
