A network of Arctic observers spanning nearly all of Alaska\u2019s northern coast is helping to center Indigenous knowledge in climate change research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub is comprised of local I\u00f1upiaq observers from Kotzebue to Kaktovik who work with University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers to document how the Arctic is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cObservers have seen some really big environmental changes, but they\u2019re also documenting what that means for the community in terms of traditional activities,\u201d said Donna Hauser, lead scientist for the network. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That can be everything from climate change\u2019s impacts on berry picking to hunting seals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a daily or weekly basis, observers send in their notes on sea ice and wind conditions, air and water temperatures, animals and community activities. Researchers then compile the information in a database. Since 2006, AAOKH and its predecessor, the Seasonal Ice Zone Observing Network, has collected 10,000 observations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
AAOKH observers also co-authored a paper on their contributions to Arctic climate science that was included in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s Arctic Report Card, released last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roberta Glenn-Borade, AAOKH project coordinator, said the network has helped center the needs and perspectives of communities on the frontlines of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRather than having these narratives framed by outside researchers who have kind of <\/em>an understanding about Alaska or Indigenous people, but don\u2019t quite hit the mark in telling the story, \u201c Glenn-Borade said. \u201cWhat we do is allow the observers, their observations, knowledge and expertise to tell the story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Glenn-Borade said by collecting year-round data on the ground, AAOKH has been able to track the impacts of climate change that current climate research isn\u2019t focusing on. One example is how changing winds are making travel in the Arctic more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf it\u2019s blowing all the snow off the tundra, then you\u2019re not able to ride your snow machine out to go hunting. Or it\u2019s affecting the sea ice and traveling on the sea ice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Glenn-Borade said she\u2019d like to see more funding dedicated to promoting Indigenous knowledge within Western science. AOK is currently looking at ways to expand and make its data more accessible to Arctic communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" That can be everything from climate change\u2019s impacts on berry picking to hunting seals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1231"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1688,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions\/1688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}