History/Heritage

Mary Stapleton is currently Cultural Liaison at the Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary.   She represents the Arctic Institute of North America as a Permanent Non-state Observer of Arctic Council. Her special interest is the advocacy of preserving circumpolar indigenous cultures.  She promotes involving indigenous people directly in communication about indigenous cultures in all media.

Dr. Robert MacDonald has been associated with AINA since its move to the University of Calgary in 1976. He has coordinated and taught senior citizens’ courses at the Institute for twenty years on a variety of themes, including biology, exploration (Arctic and Antarctic), whaling, fur trade, petroleum, arts, northern issues, peoples, and Russia. He has also continued to teach undergraduate courses at the University of Calgary, including a course on Northern Development in the Faculty of Communication and Culture.

Ken holds B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from the University of Durham, England and has worked for more than 40 years in the international oil and gas exploration industry. He has long held an interest in the Arctic and Far North since he worked on geological field parties in the Canadian High Arctic and in Alaska in the 1970s.