Michael Engelhard

Author bio

Michael Engelhard is the author of the essay collection American Wild: Explorations from the Grand Canyon to the Arctic Ocean and Ice Bear: The Cultural History of an Arctic Icon. Trained as an anthropologist, he lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, and works as a wilderness guide in the Arctic.

Michael Engelhard’s Contributions:

An image from a brochure for the Halkett boat cloak

Row, Row, Row Your Coat

In Victorian England, re-engineered rain cloaks, umbrellas, and walking sticks floated adventurers down the Thames and, eventually, into the Arctic.

May 15, 2018 | 1,400 words, about 7 minutes

This celestial chart from 1687 is one of many illustrations from books, charts, and maps showing artists’ imaginings of polar bears.

Here Be White Bears

While dragons and other mythical beasts marked the charts of early mariners, Renaissance maps were illustrated with images—part fantasy and part fact—of polar bears.

May 30, 2017 | 1,600 words, about 8 minutes

Polar bears summering near Kaktovik, Alaska, scavenge on the bone pile, the remains of bowhead whales hunted by indigenous whalers. Photo by Doug Allan/Minden Pictures

The Bounty of the Bone Pile

Butchered whales lure polar bears and tourists to a coastal Alaskan town. So far, so good. Sort of.

Feb 27, 2017 | 2,400 words, about 12 minutes

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