Deaf Studies Associate Professor Tawny Holmes Hlibok, ’05 & G-’10, is about to head off for a very cool experience. It will also be very cold, because the Polar STEAM Fellowship is taking her to Utqiagvik, Alaska, one of the northernmost towns in the world. The program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, brings educators to sites in the Arctic and Antarctic to connect with researchers.
Holmes Hlibok, who was a White House Fellow in 2024-2025, got interested in the opportunity thanks to another fellow from her cohort who was assigned to a project in Antarctica. She will be going to the opposite side of the planet to join a research team May 26-June 3 to observe how sea ice interacts with the ocean and atmosphere and the International Buoy Program. Holmes Hlibok will also conduct original research on application of Deaf Gain principles in the arctic environment and collect information on language variants or indigenous sign language as pertaining to STEM vocabulary.
This past semester, Holmes Hlibok taught two new special topics courses, focusing on exploring policy institutes and grassroots level activism. She is excited to expand her knowledge about the Arctic and find ways to pass that on in the classroom.
As part of her preparation for the trip, Holmes Hlibok gave a presentation to students at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School last week. “They learned about global warming and painted boats for me to bring to Alaska to place in a specific location so they can track the boats to see if they move over the years, due to the ice melting,” says Holmes Hlibok, who is working on offering a similar presentation to the Alaska State School for the Deaf.
Deaf Studies at Gallaudet opens doors to all sorts of new experiences and adventures.
