Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
What charity or cause are you passionate about?
Rotary Club of Fairbanks… I really value their focus not only on community needs but the international presence of spreading world peace and public health awareness.
What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
I take my dog Copper for a walk every night with either my husband, neighbors, or girl friends.
What vacation spot is on your bucket list?
Italian Alps or the Andes in Argentina.
If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
I think maybe a fox would be fun to take on walks in the woods.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
What charity or cause are you passionate about?
Rotary Club of Fairbanks… I really value their focus not only on community needs but the international presence of spreading world peace and public health awareness.
What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
I take my dog Copper for a walk every night with either my husband, neighbors, or girl friends.
What vacation spot is on your bucket list?
Italian Alps or the Andes in Argentina.
If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
I think maybe a fox would be fun to take on walks in the woods.
Off the Cuff
good leader is a good learner, says Tracy Vanairsdale. She combined her love of art with what she learned from her father, a general contractor, and her mother, a public health nurse, to design more than thirty clinics and hospitals around Alaska.
“There was no doubt I was going to be an architect by the time I hit junior high,” she recalls, having played with her dad’s cast-off blueprints. Vanairsdale joined Bettisworth North in 1997, and, following founder Charles “CB” Bettisworth’s long-range succession plan, she was elevated to president last summer.
Born and raised in Fairbanks, Vanairsdale calls herself a “river person,” so sailing the ocean on her husband’s boat out of Valdez takes some adjustment. They both enjoy downhill skiing, though, so they explore slopes all over the world.
He’s a structural engineer at another firm in the same office building. “We work on projects together,” Vanairsdale says. “It’s a natural reliance on each other.”
Any chance to collaborate is a great day, she says: “What brings me joy in this profession is being able to create beautiful things, to create solutions that are very specific to our clients.”
Tracy Vanairsdale: It’s just in our nature to be outside as much as we can… I try to be in touch with gardening, harvesting crops, and canning… I make a lot of Swedish traditional foods.
AB: Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn?
Vanairsdale: I would like to learn how to play the guitar.
AB: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
Vanairsdale: I did a summer in Iceland when I was 16 on an exchange program, and I loved it so much that I immediately applied to be a Rotary exchange student for a year.
AB: What are you superstitious about?
Vanairsdale: If karma is a superstition, I think that has some value. Like, I put some weight in having good karma.
AB: What’s your favorite local restaurant?
Vanairsdale: Lavelle’s [Bistro] in downtown Fairbanks. We were part of the design, and it’s lovely, wonderful food.
AB: Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert?
Vanairsdale: ABBA.
AB: What’s your greatest extravagance?
Vanairsdale: When we go on our ski vacations, those are a time for us to treat ourselves with the experience, the travel, the food. We sort of spoil ourselves.
AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute?
Vanairsdale: My best attribute is that I try to always be curious and listen and learn from others. Collaboration is really important to me. One of my worst attributes is that I’m not a super multitasker; I tend to take on a lot, and then that’s a struggle to manage
