Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend. Second revised edition

Author Biography

Martin T. Nweeia is a Smithsonian research associate and content curator for the Smithsonian exhibit “Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend.” The Harvard School of Dental Medicine lecturer and Case Western Reserve clinical assistant professor in dental medicine has devoted 18 years to studies of narwhal tusk function. He is an Explorers Club fellow leading and collaborating on 16 High Arctic expeditions, and was a senior research scientist at Harvard’s Laboratory for Informational and Translational Technologies and the Hauschka Bone Laboratory. His integration of science and Inuit traditional knowledge was highlighted by the National Science Foundation in a report to the US Congress as “…a model for future scientists to utilize as they seek to better understand our world.” Dr. Nweeia was selected in 2017 by the US Embassy under a Fulbright Grant to deliver a series of talks on behalf of the US scientific community to help celebrate Canada’s 150 years. Nweeia was honored by an Explorer’s Club Lowell Thomas Award in 2017. William Fitzhugh is Arctic Curator and Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Arctic Studies Center in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He has conducted anthropological and archaeological research throughout the circumpolar region and is visiting professor at Dartmouth College. The narwhal exhibition and book is the latest in a series of Smithsonian exhibitions that include Bering Sea Eskimos, the Ainu of Japan, cultures of Siberia and Alaska, Vikings, Genghis Khan, and ancient Bering Sea Eskimo art. His most recent books are Maine to Greenland: Exploring the Maritime Far Northeast and Bark and Skin Boats of Northern Eurasia, to appear in 2018.