A Publication of
the University
of New Mexico
Foundation, Inc.
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A Publication of the University of New Mexico Foundation, Inc. |
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By Ellen K. Ashcraft
Dr. Fae Korsmo considers the University of New Mexico a place that stimulated and satisfied her desire to learn. So after receiving Mirage magazine and other alumni mailings, she decided to help others satisfy the same desire through the UNM Presidential Scholarship Program (PSP). "I thought the scholarship route was the way to go because enabling and working with individuals is very rewarding," reasons Korsmo, the program director of arctic social sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF), Washington, D.C. Sponsoring one student for a Presidential Scholarship currently requires a $1,500 gift, which UNM matches and increases for each recipient's $3,500 yearly award. Donors also can participate in the "share-a-scholar" program by making a gift of any size to the PSP. UNM matches gifts dollar-for-dollar and pools the donations with other gifts to fund a full scholarship. Korsmo, a Tacoma, Wash. native, credits serendipity for her choice of UNM for her doctoral work in political science. After earning a master of arts degree in international affairs from George Washington University in 1984, Korsmo was an editor and writer of abstracts for InterAmerica Research Associates in Washington, D.C. Her contract was ending, she was growing tired of the D.C. area, and she knew people in New Mexico. She inquired about copy editor positions and, while still in D.C., began freelancing for UNM Press in spring 1986. Encouraged about job prospects in Albuquerque, Korsmo moved. "I was enchanted with the campus. I audited an anthropology course on Navajo belief systems and it was quite interesting," she remembers. "I had no firm intention of going for a Ph.D., but it happened to appeal to me at the time. I applied and was offered a teaching assistant position in political science and off I went." Korsmo says it was well worth it because of the personal contact with the professors, the respect with which they treated graduate students, and the teaching assistantship. "I think you reach an age when you begin to learn much better if you have to teach a subject," reflects Korsmo. "The combination of graduate seminars and the teaching of the introductory political science class was the best education I have ever had." Several political science professors influenced Korsmo. She names Dr. Neil Mitchell, department chair, who was a new professor at UNM in 1986, Dr. Fred Harris, Dr. Frobert Sickels and Dr. Christine Sierra. Korsmo is disappointed at UNM's loss of Dr. Karen Remmer, her dissertation adviser, to Duke University and Dr. Hank Jenkins-Smith to Texas A&M. "Universities like UNM have wonderful people and it's hard to compete with more richly endowed universities," she comments. "Once a faculty member makes a name for him or herself, inevitably, states like New Mexico can experience heartbreaking brain drain." Korsmo's dissertation, Empowerment or Termination: Native Rights and Resource Regimes in Alaska and Swedish Lapland, compared government responses to native claims. With the funding from several grants, including an American Scandinavian Fellowship, she lived in Norway, Sweden and Alaska to do her field work. "I was interested in the Saami, or Lapland people, and their use of government to reclaim their lands." Korsmo points out that Sweden and Norway had not confronted how to resolve age-old land disputes. Visiting reindeer-herding Saami families, she says, "I watched a reindeer roundup. They thought I should know how to use a lasso--but I was terrible at it," she laughs. "It became quickly apparent I was an academic." Visiting Alaska, Korsmo compared how natives settled claims with the U.S. Congress. Unlike the tribal sovereignty or reservation model common in the mainland U.S., the aboriginal Alaskans ultimately established for-profit corporations that own the land. Curiously, Korsmo's grandfather and father were once Alaska residents, but Korsmo's first visit was for her research. "My grandfather was from Norway and went there, panned for gold and did the turn-of-the-century thing," she explains. Her father worked on the Alaska railroad, did commercial fishing and was stationed there during World War II. Korsmo was on the faculty at University of Alaska Fairbanks from 1992 to 2000. The Associated Students gave her an Outstanding Faculty Member Award after her first year. Former student Jeri Hunter of Abilene, Texas, says that Korsmo "went out of her way to make sure I understood what I was doing. She showed up at the law library and helped me find what I needed to be a success in her class." Another former student, Erik Schultz, San Francisco, comments, "She is definitely one of the best teachers that I have had." After putting her all into the teaching, research and service that academia demands, Korsmo was ready for a break. In 1997, she took a temporary position at the National Science Foundation. She was invited to stay, and did "because it enables you to work with graduate students who are trying to get dissertation money, with young faculty writing their first grants, groups of interdisciplinary researchers. It enables you to see such a wide range of science that's going on." Korsmo is program director for an area that covers archeology, anthropology, sociology and social behavioral sciences in the North. "We are supporting research on Inuit perceptions of climate and weather in Canada's North," she says, "Lately there's a lot of interest in on-the-ice weather observations-the environmental change happening with thickness and coverage of sea ice decreasing, and we don't know if it's cyclical or a global warming trend." Korsmo is excited about transitioning to NSF's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), to assist the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and states that historically have received less federal research support than others. The program strengthens scientific infrastructure-hiring faculty, setting up labs, attracting students and developing cutting-edge research-so the states can become more competitive in the federal grants process. "New Mexico recently became an EPSCoR state, so I look forward to working with New Mexico's higher education, including UNM." Ultimately, Korsmo believes she will return to academia. When she's not working, the self-described "exercise nut" walks, bicycles, and uses the "lovely machines of torture in the gym." She enjoys hiking anywhere from beaches to mountains. She also reads mystery novels and literature. Meanwhile, UNM is still offering stimulus and satisfaction to Korsmo-most recently to her taste buds. "I just attended the Washington, D.C. area alumni picnic in September and picked up my green chiles." UNM
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© 2006 The University of New Mexico. |
Winter 2002
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