We are Tasha Boyer, Tamara Douglas, Vanessa Hiratsuka, and Nathan Rabang, research and evaluation staff at the Center for Human Development at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Our center’s mission is to improve the quality of lives for people who experience disabilities and their families, across the lifespan, through interdisciplinary training, technical assistance, exemplary service …

AKEN Affiliate Week: on Inclusion of Individuals with Disabilities in Disabilities Research, Evaluation and Surveillance Teams by Tasha Boyer, Tamara Douglas, Vanessa Hiratsuka, and Nathan Rabang Read More »

I’m Rebecca Braun, a consultant with Alaska-based McKinley Research Group (formerly McDowell Group). My background includes journalism, writing, policy work, and teaching, and I am a relative newcomer to evaluation.  Indigenous voices are reclaiming power across Alaska, but the imprint of colonialism remains painful and ubiquitous. A friend recently asked, “Why do we have to …

AKEN Affiliate Week: Approaching Cross-Cultural Evaluation with Humility by Rebecca Braun Read More »

Hello, I’m Cassie Pinkel, Research Integrity Administrator in the Office of Research Integrity at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. AKEN webmaster Alda Norris is an evaluator who has sought advice from our office, and she invited me to share some resources about the advantages of connecting with your local Institutional Review Board (IRB). Is there …

AKEN Affiliate Week: Is This More Than an Evaluation? Ask Your IRB by Cassie Pinkel Read More »

I’m Patricia Moore Shaffer of the Shaffer Evaluation Group, a small, woman-owned evaluation firm that works with education partners — school districts, colleges and universities, government agencies, and nonprofits — to develop programs that address and correct long-standing inequities in education. I’ve been leading external evaluations of educational initiatives in the beautiful State of Alaska …

AKEN Affiliate Week: Evaluation in Alaska’s Rural, Remote Communities by Patricia Moore Shaffer Read More »

Greetings! I’m Alda Norris, Ph.D, evaluation specialist with the Institute of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Extension (IANRE) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.I serve as webmaster for the Alaska Evaluation Network (AKEN). As we spend this week highlighting the innovative work of our Alaskan affiliate members, I’d like to offer some tips related to science …

AKEN Affiliate Week: Science Writing Skills by Alda Norris Read More »

My name is Diane Hirshberg. I am the director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage. I am writing today from my home on the ancestral and unceded traditional lands of the Eklutna Dena’ina people. In Alaska, as in many places, there is a robust discussion among researchers …

AKEN Affiliate Week: Transforming Local and Indigenous Community Engaged Research and Evaluation Practices in Alaska by Diane Hirshberg Read More »

Hello! I’m Corrie Whitmore, a working evaluator and academic. I teach evaluation and other health sciences courses at the University of Alaska Anchorage. I was part of the group that helped bring the Alaska Evaluation Network (AKEN) into being and completed the process to become an AEA affiliate. As a local affiliate, AKEN functions as …

AKEN Affiliate Week: Enhancing AEA Connections Through Affiliates by Corrie Whitmore Read More »