{"id":3674,"date":"2025-12-23T00:34:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T22:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/?p=3674"},"modified":"2025-12-28T23:44:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T21:44:39","slug":"arctic-climate-action-award-highlights-collaborative-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/2025\/12\/23\/arctic-climate-action-award-highlights-collaborative-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Arctic climate action award highlights collaborative research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Arctic is warming – nearly four times the\u202frate\u202fof the rest of the planet – altering Indigenous ways of life in the far north. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shorter winters, thinning sea ice,\u202fvegetation change and shifting wildlife\u202fdistributions have been\u202frecorded by\u202fIndigenous hunters and land users across the Arctic.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month,\u202fthe University of Victoria (UVic)\u202fArctic Landscape Ecology Lab\u202fand\u202fthe Gwich\u2019in Tribal Council\u2019s Department\u202fof Culture and Heritage, received the Frederik Paulsen Arctic Academic Action Award\u202fto\u202fsupport their work on climate change impacts on Gwich\u2019in lands and waters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their project,\u202fNan\u202fguk\u2019an\u00e0atii\u202fejuk\u202ft\u2019igwinjik\u202f(The land we are taking care of is changing<\/em>) won\u202fthe prestigious\u202finternational\u202faward worth\u202f100,000 euros.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trevor Lantz leads UVic\u2019s Arctic Landscape Ecology Lab in the School of Environmental Studies, where team members have been working for fifteen years to understand northern landscape change.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

We are extremely honoured to receive the Frederik Paulsen Award for our work with the Gwich\u2019in Tribal Council\u2019s Department of Culture and Heritage to understand how climate change is impacting Gwich\u2019in ways of life. We are excited by the support this honour will provide for collaboration with our research partners in the Northwest Territories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014<\/em>Trevor Lantz<\/em><\/strong>, environmental studies professor<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"A
D\u00e8eddhoo G\u00f2onlii, found along the Teet\u0142\u2019it Gwinjik (Peel River), is an area named after a hill at whose base rocks can be found in the shape of scrapers. This area is host to a few fish camps where during the summer, people often spend time fishing for the running \u0142uk dagaii (whitefish) and shruh (coney). Credit: Aryln Charlie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur lab has produced spatial inventories of disturbances like permafrost thaw and tundra fire and developed novel methods to predict landscape sensitivity to these\u202fdisruptions,\u201d\u202fsays Lantz.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The combined effects of changing disturbance regimes and climate-warming are rapidly transforming landscapes across the Arctic.\u202fThese changes are impacting Gwich\u2019in ways of life by altering the abundance\u202fof\u202fkey foods and impeding access to land-based traditions.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collaborating to find solutions that support adaptation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lantz and\u202fUVic\u202fResearch Associate Tracey Proverbs\u202falong with\u202fGwich\u2019in Tribal Council\u2019s Department of Culture and Heritage\u202fwill\u202fuse\u202fthe\u202fFrederik Paulsen Award\u202fto collaborate with Gwich\u2019in\u202fknowledge holders\u202fon solutions\u202fthat will\u202fsupport community adaptation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u202fexcites me the most about the award is the opportunity to continue working in relationship\u202fwith the Gwich\u2019in Tribal Council\u2019s Department of Culture\u202fand\u202fHeritage,\u201d says Proverbs.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis\u202fnorthern Indigenous nation has had an\u202fintricate, robust\u202fand resilient relationship with\u202ftheir\u202flands,\u202fsince\u202ftime immemorial,\u201d adds Proverbs.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Person
UVic Research Associate, Tracey Proverbs processes fish at a Gwich\u2019in fish camp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGwich\u2019in knowledge, in combination with scientific methods, provides an unparalleled way to understand the rapid, unprecedented changes occurring across multiple\u202fspatial scales, with lessons that can be shared with other\u202fgroups and decision makers across the circumpolar north and even further abroad,\u201d\u202fsays Proverbs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Gwich\u2019in Elder Emma Kaye harvests Jak Zheii (blueberries) at Midway Lake during a traditional berry harvest camp. Credit: Arlyn Charlie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arlyn Charlie is the culture and heritage coordinator with the Gwich\u2019in Tribal Council\u2019s Department of Culture and Heritage and an undergraduate student at UVic. He has collaborated with UVic\u2019s Arctic Landscape Ecology Lab on several projects over the years.  Charlie\u202fis\u202fTeet\u0142\u2019it Gwich\u2019in\u202fand has grown up on the land and\u202fwitnessed\u202fthe rapid changes\u202fand\u202fthe\u202fimpact on his\u202fcommunity.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The Porcupine Caribou\u202fnormally\u202farrive late\u202fin the\u202ffall and overwinter in the area. For\u202ftwo winters\u202fnow,\u202fthe\u202fcaribou\u202fhave not come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014<\/em>Arlyn Charlie<\/em><\/strong>, Gwich\u2019in Tribal Council\u2019s Department\u202fof Culture and Heritage<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Charlie explains that the loss of permafrost\u202fand vegetation change have disrupted the migration of the Porcupine Caribou; his community\u202fmust\u202fadapt to hunting a different food source, such as moose.\u202fFishing is also being impacted says Charlie as conditions in rivers and lakes change.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe land is falling in on itself as the permafrost melts;\u202fa flood in 2023 swept away my grandfather\u2019s camp,\u202fa\u202ffish camp my family used for generations.\u202fPersonally, there was a\u202flot of\u202fanger and frustration after the flood,\u201d says Charlie.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The anger\u202fis\u202ffor losses beyond Gwich\u2019in\u2019s control\u2014their land is\u202fchanging,\u202fand\u202ftheir way of life is being threatened by outside forces and climate change.\u202fDeep spiritual connections to the land have guided Gwich\u2019in\u202fculture\u202ffor generations which\u202fis\u202freflected in the over 800 place names, oral history and knowledge linked to traditional use of their lands.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating a model approach that can be used across the Arctic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lantz, Proverbs and Charlie\u202fare working\u202fwith a larger team to\u202fbring together\u202fGwich\u2019in knowledge and scientific\u202fmodelling\u202fto create maps\u202fthat predict climate change impacts, inform decision-making and adaptation\u202fplanning\u202fand\u202fwill form a model approach which can be applied broadly across the Arctic.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Woman
Gwich\u2019in Elder Joanne Snowshoe making uutsik (dry fish) at D\u00e8eddhoo G\u00f2onlii. This camp was hosted by the Department of Culture and Heritage as part of their project: Confronting Climate Change on the \u201cBig River\u201d Nagwichoonjik. Credit: Arlyn Charlie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur work will bring together Gwich\u2019in knowledge of habitat and land-based traditions, with models predicting the impacts of climate-driven disturbances on the distribution and abundance of culturally important species,\u201d says Lantz. \u201cOur long-term goal is to create a\u202ffluid and multi-layered overlay of the entire Gwich\u2019in Settlement Region\u202fthat can be used by Gwich\u2019in organizations to make decisions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Person
UVic researcher, Trevor Lantz stands with his gear near a river in Gwich\u2019in territory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everything is changing faster\u202fin the Arctic\u2014but the Gwich\u2019in are adapting. By bringing together scientific knowledge with\u202fGwich\u2019in Knowledge of habitat,\u202fharvesting areas, travel\u202froutes\u202fand important places with estimates of landscape change, Gwich\u2019in land users\u202fwill be\u202fable to\u202fmake\u202fvital decisions\u202fabout\u202fadaptation\u202fplanning\u202fchoices.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\u202fCharlie explains, \u201cwe are deeply connected to the land\u2014Gwich\u2019in elders continue to teach youth our traditional\u202fways of fishing, plant harvesting and hunting.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Arlyn
Photo taken of Arlyn Charlie during a moose hide tanning camp hosted in partnership between the Gwich\u2019in Tribal Council and the Western Arctic Youth Collective in August 2021 at Midway Lake, a camp found roughly 40 kilometres outside of Teet\u0142\u2019it Zheh (Fort McPherson, NT).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Gwich\u2019in\u202fare resilient and adaptive,\u201d says Charlie. \u201cOur culture will continue to survive, 50 years to 100 years from now.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Frederik Paulsen Arctic Academic Action Award provides high-level recognition for innovative ideas that aspire to transform knowledge into action to help address the causes and impacts of climate change in the Arctic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source – Arctic climate action award highlights collaborative research – UVic News<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shorter winters, thinning sea ice,\u202fvegetation\u00a0change\u00a0and\u00a0shifting\u00a0wildlife\u202fdistributions\u00a0have been\u202frecorded by\u202fIndigenous\u00a0hunters and land users\u00a0across the\u00a0Arctic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-habitat"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3674","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=3674"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3683,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3674\/revisions\/3683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}