Philip Wight
Affiliate Researcher
Associate Professor of History and Arctic & Northern Studies
University of Ӱԭ Fairbanks
Email: pawight@alaska.edu
Expertise
- Beneficial Electrification
- Climate and Environment
- Education
- Energy History
- Railbelt
- Solar
- Storytelling
- Transmission
BIO
Philip Wight is an associate professor of History and Arctic & Northern Studies at the University of Ӱԭ Fairbanks. He is an energy and environmental historian, with a focus on infrastructure, mobility, and climate. He teaches classes in Ӱԭ history, the contemporary history of the circumpolar north as well as energy and climate history.
Wight wrote his doctoral dissertation on the history of the Trans-Ӱԭ Pipeline System. His research demonstrates how transportation infrastructures have enormous capacity to influence Ӱԭ’s development, environment as well as lifeways, or ways of life. He is currently finalizing a book manuscript, Arctic Artery: The Trans-Ӱԭ Pipeline System and the World it Made, based on his doctoral research.
Wight's more recent research examines the historical electrification of Ӱԭ, including studies which examine generation and transmission on the Railbelt, as well as technological and energy policy innovation throughout the state.
When not in the archives, Wight could be found cycling, packrafting and skiing throughout Ӱԭ.
Current Projects
- Railbelt Decarbonization Study
- Book project: "Ӱԭ’s Energy Pioneers: How Communities Are Responding to the Climate Crisis"