Published May 23, 2023

A University of Alaska Fairbanks coastal organization has received a $590,000 philanthropic grant to map rapidly changing watersheds of the Chignik region on the Alaska Peninsula.

The project is in part a response to the region’s repeated salmon fishery collapses, which researchers say are partly due to alterations to fish habitat by shoreline changes and other geomorphic factors. 

The region has seen extreme high water levels related to more frequent storm flooding, causing increased erosion that has affected subsistence fishing areas and community infrastructure.

The grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation will also support local workforce development, provide student research opportunities and contribute to expansion of the Chignik Intertribal Coalition, which is co-leading the project. The coalition includes Chignik Lake, Chignik Lagoon, Chignik Bay, Ivanof Bay and Perryville.

Published May 22, 2023 by David Bernknopf

University of Alaska Anchorage associate economics professor Kevin Berry agrees that focusing on higher education as well as physical infrastructure will lead to economic growth, even if it’s impossible to know exactly what jobs might sprout.

“One of the benefits of investing broadly in things like education and infrastructure is that we leave it to the market and individuals to figure out what works, and the reward is, if you’re the person who figures it out, you get to make the money,” Berry said. “That is a leap of faith. Basically, you have to invest in these things without knowing exactly how things are going to turn out in the long run.”

Berry concedes it’s a challenge to convince policymakers to take those chances.

Published May 22, 2023 by agnieszka.gautier@colorado.edu

When Roberta Tuurraq Glenn recalls speaking with Alaskan Native Elders, she lights up. “I feel lucky,” she says. “To be involved in an organization that is seeking guidance from Indigenous Elders really sits well with me.” Glenn works as a Project Coordinator and Community Liaison for the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub (AAOKH), which has partnered with the Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) to support an online community-led observational data hub. Glenn is from Utqiaġvik, Alaska, and grew up knowing the Elders she now turns to for guidance.

In the time of a rapidly changing Arctic, working with local communities who have ancestorial ties and knowledge to the land may benefit global understanding of climate change, its impacts, and how to best mitigate for a different environmental future. “The more we collectively know and understand, the better we are able to make informed decisions,” Glenn said. Working with communities takes time, resources, and patience, as the AAOKH project demonstrates, but a shift is needed in science to include community voices and observations to widen and deepen our collective breadth of knowledge.

The Local Observation hub that hosts observations from AAOKH is one of ELOKA’s oldest data products. It bears witness to Arctic change, is a resource for communities, and provides data for scientists, resource managers, and policymakers. Beginning in 2006, Indigenous Iñupiaq and Yup'ik sea ice experts along the northern and western coasts of Alaska began recording their observations of sea ice, wildlife, and weather, sending them to researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, who would add them to the online platform. The project grew from its first stage as the Seasonal Ice Zone Observing Network (SIZONet) to later become a component of AAOKH.