Russia and Alaska face similar challenges, and Thursday’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon will look at some of them.

Alexander Dolitsky, the director of the Alaska-Siberia Research Center, will speak to the Chamber of Commerce as part of its weekly luncheon to provide an update on what the nonprofit is up to. The talk will take place at noon Thursday at the Moose Lodge near the Juneau International Airport.

Admission is $20 for Chamber members and $25 for non-members and an RSVP is required. If an attendee doesn’t want to eat, he or she can pay $12 for just the presentation. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.

People will have the opportunity to purchase Dolitsky’s book, “Old Russia in Modern America: Living Traditions of the Russian Old Believers.” Half of the book sales will be donated to the Chamber.

The Alaska-Siberia Research Center is an independent nonprofit educational and research institution for Alaska-Siberia affairs and cultures. It seeks to inform, not to take political positions or attempt to influence policy. The center focuses on social economics, as well as archaeological, ecological, environmental, ethnographic and literary studies of the people of Alaska and Siberia.