MSIS Student Travels to Norway to Present Research on Mammoth Ivory Hunting in Siberia
It’s not very common for undergraduate students to travel across the world to present their research at international conferences, but one School of Information Sciences student recently had the unique opportunity to do so. Chris Hastings is a master’s student and a teaching assistant for Assistant Professor Brian Dobreski. Hastings has been researching mammoth ivory hunting in Siberia for the past year. He just presented his research at the Polar Library Colloquy (PLC) in Norway, which he said was an unforgettable experience.
Laurel Kissel at The Ohio State University was the one to tell Hastings about the PLC. He met Kissel when he first started researching Artic or Polar Archives within the United States. After submitting his abstract on mammoth ivory hunting in Siberia, and it being accepted, Hastings applied for and won another award that would pay his registration fees. He also applied for a Travel Award from the University of Tennessee’s Graduate Student Senate and was approved.
“That was a huge help. That paid for my flights, which as you can imagine are pretty extensive to get all the way to the very tip-top of Norway,” he stated.
While preparing for the trip, Hastings worked with Dobreski to perfect his presentation. He presented his research and won first place at the 46th Annual College of Communication and Information Research Symposium during the spring 2024 semester.
The conference itself was a week long. Hastings said a majority of attendees were from Scandinavian countries, Greenland, Germany, and Alaska. He was one of only five Americans to present their work at the PLC.
“It was a lot of fun and I certainly learned a lot,” he said. “It was my first time in Norway, my first time at the PLC, and actually my first time at any kind of professional or academic conference. So, I guess I started big,“ he said.
Hastings said the week was packed with exciting activities, including learning about Norwegian history and hearing about how other countries store their information. Many of the presentations discussed classification schemes and collections assessment.
He said, “I think one of the most interesting ones, especially because it related to what I’m doing with Dr. Dobreski—which we’re looking at AI and cataloging—was from the National Library of Finland.”
Hastings said the conferences ended around 3 p.m. every day and there were always activities planned that allowed them to explore. He dipped his toes in the Arctic Ocean and visited Oslo, the capital of Norway, on his way back to the States.
Hastings is currently taking summer courses and hopes to graduate at the end of the fall semester.
He said he would have never applied for the Colloquy if it wasn’t for the people close to him who also believed in his research.
“My best advice for those who are interested in presenting their research is, you might be a little scared to branch out and try to find those different conferences and opportunities. However, if you’re truly interested in it, just go for it. I expected to be really nervous when I was there in Norway, but I wasn’t because if I thought my research was interesting, surely someone else there would think it was interesting, too. If it wasn’t good or wasn’t interesting to somebody I wouldn’t have gotten accepted to the conference in the first place,” he said.
Hastings added that others will see your passion in your work.
MSIS Student Travels to Norway to Present Research on Mammoth Ivory Hunting in Siberia written by Kristen Gallant and originally published on the College of Communication & Information site.