Popular award winning author and photographer featured

The public is invited to a free presentation by author, photographer and conservationist Kim Heacox at 6:30 p.m. this evening in KRC’s McLane commons.

Heacox, from Gustavus, Alaska, has written more than a dozen books and his photography has appeared in many venues, including National Geographic, Smithsonian, Audubon, Travel and Leisure, Wilderness, Islands and Orion magazines.

Heacox, a National Book Award nominee, and a recent National Outdoor Book Award winner, has been a contract writer with the National Geographic Society since 1985.

His editorials in the Los Angeles Times have appeared in newspapers across the country. He has won the Lowell Thomas Award for excellence in travel writing twice and was a finalist for the Pen Center USA Western award for his memoir, “The Only Kayak.”

Heacox’s other works include “John Muir and the Ice that Started a Fire,” “Rhythm of the Wild,” “Caribou Crossing,” and his highly acclaimed first novel, “Jimmy Bluefeather.”

“Kim Heacox’s love for the land and people of Southeast Alaska shines forth in this character-driven saga, brimming with craft, humor, and deft turn of phrase. “Jimmy Bluefeather” easily makes the short list for the great Alaska novel,” said Nick Jans, Alaskan author of “A Wolf Called Romeo,” in a review he wrote for Amazon.com.

The event is being sponsored by the KPC Showcase series and River City Books.

For more information, contact Dave Atcheson at 262-0346 or email daatcheson@kpc.alaska.edu.

Laid off from the oil field? Brush up on industry skills

According to Henry Haney, assistant professor of process technology and Business and Industry Division co-chair, more and more unemployed oil industry personnel are turning to KPC to brush up their skills. “We are getting calls from people who have found themselves out of work with the recent downturn in oil prices,” Haney said.

“They are targeting our Petroleum Technology one-year certificate program in order to gain more skills to increase their employability when the industry turns around again.”

Haney reminds potential students that past college-level credits can often be applied to this certificate program, making the one-year program more achievable.

The 33 credit certificate curriculum includes courses in process technology, equipment and operations, instrumentation, oil and gas exploration and basic electronics. View the program requirements at the KPC website at this link: http://bit.ly/1MTaKMd.

For more information about the Petroleum Technology certificate, contact Haney at 262-0341 or by email at hwhaney@kpc.alaska.edu.

Popular history course offered this summer

KPC will be offering History A341: History of Alaska in a 10-week intensive, online format during the summer semester (May 6-13). The class will be taught by Dr. Jane Haigh.

The comprehensive class will provide an introduction to Alaska and its relationship to America and the world.

Haigh will discuss Alaska’s geography, Alaska Native anthropology and a detailed chronological history of the state’s development.

Topics that will covered include Russian exploration, occupation and management; Native-Russian relations; the Alaska Purchase; U.S. military; missionaries; gold rushes; territorial era; statehood; Native land claims and corporations; oil development and the disposition and management of Alaska lands. Registration for this class and other summer courses is available at uaonline.alaska.edu/.