A University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student was recently honored by the Explorers Club.
The Explorers Club, a New York-based organization that supports scientific research and exploration, included UAF graduate student Kimberly Kivvaq Pikok in its annual list, “Fifty People Changing the World that the World Needs to Know About.”
According to a release from UAF, “Pikok is researching seasonal changes in Utqiagvik’s spring whaling season by uplifting Indigenous knowledge gathered from hunters and whalers through interviews, a film project and the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub database.”
“I can’t imagine that anyone embarks on a career in wildlife biology or any conservation-focused field for recognition and awards, because it’s the results we achieve and the difference that we make that matter most,” Pikok said. “Everyone in the community are stewards because we do this work for our people, communities, the next generations, the animals, the land and our culture.”
Pikok is a 2021 UAF graduate and is now a fellow in the Tamamta Fellowship program, a program that bridges Indigenous and Western sciences in the study of fisheries and marine sciences.
Contact Haley Lehman at 907-459-7575 or by email at hlehman@newsminer.com
