Pratt Museum: Arts, Science, and Culture of Kachemak Bay, Alaska

Join Donate Volunteer About the Pratt Contact Us Plan Your Visit

Who's Who at the Pratt

Staff

Heather Beggs, Museum Director
director@prattmuseum.org
Heather was first drawn to the Pratt Museum by its innovative approach to interpreting the natural and cultural history of the Kachemak Bay region and its ground-breaking Master Exhibit Plan. The Museum is clearly a local treasure and has accomplished an amazing amount in its history of enriching the Homer community. The Pratt Museum is a visionary place with great potential. In the leadership role, she looks forward to contributing legal, business, and fundraising experience to guide the collaborative effort of the Museum's very dedicated staff. Heather hopes to balance practicality and creativity in a way that allows for the most creative freedom and community participation, which have been driving forces in the Museum's many accomplishments. Homer is exactly what she was looking for in a small town, with extremely friendly and welcoming people, a vibrant arts community, and breath-taking landscape that calls the adventurous. She is very excited to live and work here!

Holly Cusack-McViegh , Exhibits Coordinator
Holly was most recently a Professor of Anthropology at Kenai Peninsula College-UAA. She earned a Master’s degree in Anthropology from Michigan State University, with an emphasis in Cultural and Medical Anthropology, and received a Ph.D. in Social/Cultural Anthropology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her areas of specialization include Native American and Arctic Studies, Folklore, archival research and environmental issues. Her most recent fieldwork involves sense of place and storytelling on the Bering Sea Coast. Holly has spent many years working as a research consultant to Native tribal councils in the United States and Canada and has served as a liaison between museum staff and Native groups under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. She has also worked as a research consultant for the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society. Holly has conducted numerous grant-funded, collaborative oral history projects in villages throughout Alaska.

Gale E. Parsons, Exhibits Director and Cultural Liaison
gparsons@prattmuseum.org
Gale Parsons Gale has been an artist and educator for over 30 years. She has an Alaskan teaching certificate, a Master's degree in art education, and experience teaching all levels, from kindergarten through college, in public and private schools. During her 20 years in Homer, Gale has also produced and shown artwork and written critical reviews for the Homer News. “Education, nature and art have been my passions since childhood. Travel opportunities and choices awakened my interest in the magical diversity of world cultures. After the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, I began directing my focus more strongly toward Alaskan cultures and marine and natural sciences. I am dedicated to education, especially in regard to the preservation of culture and the ecological conservation of planet Earth. The Exhibits Director & Cultural Liaison position at the Pratt Museum is a wonderful opportunity to tie together my diverse training, experience and heartfelt concerns.”

Elizabeth Ann (Betsy) Webb, Curator of Collections
bwebb@prattmuseum.org
Betsy Webb Betsy has an M.A. in Biology and a B.A. in Anthropology and Museum Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She has 30 years of professional experience as a curator, and has been active in state, regional, and national museum organizations. Her areas of interest are ornithology, collections management and conservation, and museology. She was previously Curator of Zoology at the Denver Museum of Natural History for 22 years. She hastens to add that she really enjoys the utter disregard for bureaucracy and more immediate creative gratification of working in a small museum in as vibrant a community as Homer.

Alaskan curators do things differently. Winter is the time for indoor work, summer for outdoors. Between frequent wilderness forays in her boat, gillnetting for salmon to provision the family freezer, eradicating gargantuan cow parsnip in the pasture, and digging drainage trenches to keep the driveway navigable, she works at the museum. She can be found managing cultural and natural science collections and information, collecting oral histories of native people, fishermen and homesteaders, salvaging beached whales, and building an interactive multimedia collections database at the museum.

Ryjil Christianson
rchristianson@prattmuseum.org
Ryjil Christianson was born and raised in the Kachemak Bay area. Most of Ryjil’s early years were spent exploring the wilds of Bear Cove. At a very young age, she showed an interest in art and the natural beauty around her. Later on Ryjil moved with her family across the bay to Homer for school. In the fall of 1998, Ryjil moved to Fairbanks to attend UAF. After graduating in 2003 with a BA in History and a minor in Women’s Studies, Ryjil returned to Homer. Aside from being the Director of Education at the Pratt Museum, Ryjil is also a ceramic artist. During the summer months Ryjil can be found pit firing ceramic vessels on the beaches of Kachemak Bay and playing softball. In the winter Ryjil instructs the Community Schools evening ceramic course.

Miranda Weiss, Development Director
mweiss@prattmuseum.org
Miranda recently returned to Homer from New York City, where she was pursuing her Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing. Her creative work blends her background in natural history and lyrical writing. She became an enthusiastic fan of the Pratt after first moving to Homer in 1999 and is particularly drawn to the way the Museum links art and natural history to interpret and celebrate the Kachemak Bay region. Miranda brings experience in fundraising and administration at nonprofit organizations to her position as Development Director at the Pratt.

Heidi Stage, Bookkeeper
hstage@prattmuseum.org
Heidi is a New York transplant who came to Alaska on her honeymoon in 1985 and never left. She lives in Homer with her husband and their two children, whose extracurricular activities keep her busy outside the Musem. Heidi first started at the Pratt in 2000 as the assistant to the office manager. She hopped around where needed doing stints in the Museum Store, Development and Marketing and Visitor Services before settling into the Bookkeeper position she currently holds. Heidi likes working behind-the-scenes crunching numbers, but she also enjoys interacting with the many visitors, volunteers and community members she comes into contact with on a daily basis. They truly make her job at the Pratt more interesting and rewarding.

Lisa Law, Office Manager
llaw@prattmuseum.org
Lisa Forster Lisa came to the Pratt as the Office Manager in the spring of 2004 after living in Boston, Massachusetts for several years. She grew up in Homer but one of the things that she never fully appreciated as a kid was all of the great things the Pratt Museum offers the Homer community. Lisa is glad to have the opportunity to appreciate them now and to work for an organization that enriches life in Homer and offers a real connection to the Kachemak Bay area.

Neil McArthur, Building Manager
nmcarthur@prattmuseum.org
Born in Scotland in 1941, Neil moved to North America in 1949. After earning a B.S. degree in Forestry (Syracuse 1962) he ran away to Alaska, and but for three years in the army, has remained since. In 1970 Neil “blew off” his career by moving to Homer, where he's been a logger, greenhouseman, building contractor and mayor of Kachemak City. He joined the Pratt in 1998, answering an ad seeking a jack-of-all-trades.

Peter Gnad
Peter has lived in Alaskan since the winter of 1961/62. He moved to Fritz Creek in 1972 and has been a Homer resident since 1982. Since 1982 Peter has been in charge of general maintenance at Pratt Museum and is the chief aquarium critter feeder.

Virginia M. Marks, Receptionist
Virginia Marks Born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1924, Virginia arrived in Homer and at the Pratt in 1979. Those 55 years between Duluth and Homer were spent in Chicago, Illinois and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “I was store manager [at the Pratt] for many years and now wear another hat — that of receptionist. It is so nice to be able to tell people about Homer and the Pratt Museum. Many visitors are surprised to find a museum of this quality in such a small town. Do come and visit us and see for yourselves — and say hello!”

Board of Directors

Please e-mail director@prattmuseum.org to reach our Board of Directors.

Philip Alderfer
Philip Alderfer is a local businessman and owner of The Alderfer Group, a Homer-based real estate, land development and home-design firm. He graduated from Syracuse University and holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Michigan State University. An avid outdoorsman, he can often be found across Kachemak Bay hiking with his wife, Amy, and their dog Piper. Mr. Alderfer was elected to a three-year term in 2004.

Michael Craig, President
Michael Craig had his first experiences in Alaska during a three-year assignment at Elmendorf AFB between 1967 and 1970. After a number of trips to Alaska over the intervening years, he and his wife Peggy permanently relocated to Homer in 2003 from their home in California. Michael is recently retired from a management position with a large California utility. He is an active birder with interests in nature and environmental issues as well the cultural history of this area. He is a regular volunteer at the museum and looks forward to supporting the museum as an integral part of our community. Mr. Craig was elected to a three-year term in 2004.

Oriana (Ori) Badajos, Secretary
Ori Badajos currently works as a Fisheries Technician for the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve. Her background has mainly been studying the behavioral ecology of marine mammals. Ori received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Alaska Southeast. She has a strong interest in science and art and their integration into museum exhibits. Ori has strong ties to the Pratt Museum as her family moved to Homer when she was a teenager so her mother could work for the Pratt.

George Cutting
George Cutting and his wife, Lucy, have lived in Homer as seasonal residents since 1979. In winter they make their home in Oyster Bay, NY, where George serves on the Board of Directors of the Nassau County Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Association. George is also a trustee of the Alaska Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. For almost three decades George has been a Pratt Museum supporter in its service to the local community and its commitment to excellence as a community museum and visitor destination. Mr. Cutting was elected to complete a three-year term in April 2005.

Kristine (Kris) Holderied, Vice President
A physical oceanographer with the National Ocean Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Kris Holderied came to Homer from the Washington, DC area to coordinate research, education and outreach activities at the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, near Seldovia. With NOAA she has focused on developing satellite-based products to solve coastal management problems, including issues such as habitat mapping, harmful algal blooms, eutrophication and the impacts of climate change. Before coming to NOAA Kris worked on environmental compliance issues for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Norfolk, VA and earlier served on active duty with the U.S. Navy as an oceanography officer (more frequently known as a "weather guesser"). Kris holds a B.S., M.S. and is completing doctoral work in physical oceanography.

Mary McBurney
Mary McBurney currently heads the interpretation and subsistence management programs for Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. She started her career as a science interpreter for the Pacific Science Center in Seattle and later worked as director and education coordinator for the Carrie McLain Museum in Nome. Prior to joining the National Park Service, Mary was executive director of Cordova District Fishermen United and the Western Alaska Fisheries Development Association. She has also served as an Affiliate Associate Professor for the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Mary holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Alaska and a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology from the University of Washington.

Elizabeth Petersen
An artist and local business person, Elizabeth Petersen and her husband Jim have lived in Homer since 2003, having relocated from Florida after several visits to the area. She continues to find much inspiration in the Kachemak Bay region, which is reflected in her painting. Elizabeth received her BA from National University in southern California, and holds an MBA in marketing from there as well.

Mel Strydom, Treasurer
Mel Strydom is a local businessman and owner of MSA, Inc. retail liquor sales operating five package stor licenses in the city of Homer. He is also the sole proprietor of Mel Strydom & Associates Accounting Services. Mel serves on the finance committee, ensuring long-term and short-term financial planning that allows the museum to fulfill its mission in an efficient and productive manner. As a parent of young children, Mel holds a strong interest in the development of museum exhibits and educational programs. He enjoys time with his family,outdoor activities, politics and bridge. Mr. Strydom was elected to complete a two-year term in 2006.