Partners
ELOKA is being developed in partnership with several projects that
are representative of the types of communities and projects ELOKA expects
to serve. They include international projects, projects with diverse
data and data needs, and data with varying accessibility. These projects
are similar in that they all involve working with Arctic communities
and residents in order to collect local observations and knowledge
(LTK or community-based monitoring). The projects differ in the regions
and cultures they represent, the data with which they are working,
and their interests, needs, and goals for their data. The list below
provides brief descriptions of each partner project.
ELOKA is also collaborating with a number of organizations including
the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Greenland), UNEP-GRID: Arendal (Norway),
and the World Data Center (U.S.). We also look forward to linking with
a number of other proposed International Polar Year (IPY) projects. A
list of these collaborators is available on our full
IPY proposal, section 1.6.
Community of Sanikiluaq and Hudson Bay Bioregion (HUBB) Community-Based
Monitoring Network and System
The community of Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, has long been
involved in collecting local and traditional knowledge of the environment
and environmental change. In 1997, much of this work was published
in the seminal book Voices from the Bay. ELOKA will be
helping the community rework some of the material presented in Voices
from the Bay in order to update it and link it to other research.
HUBB is a regional network that will manage and catalogue
a combination of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), community-based
monitoring data, and other western scientific data sets that
are relevant to the Hudson Bay Bioregion. HUBB will manage
and catalogue data sets locally and assist communities and
sub-regional groups to manage their own data sets, whilst providing
mechanisms to share data between groups and with national and
international organizations. Individual monitoring programs
designed to monitor changes in the Bioregion will be incorporated
into the system to facilitate data standardization and sharing
of data. |
Leads: |
Lucassie Arragutainaq
Miriam Fleming |
Organization: |
Municipality of Sanikiluaq; Nunavuummi Tasiujarjuamiuguqatigiit
Katutjiqatigiingit (NTK): Nunavut Hudson Bay Inter-Agency Working
Group |
Country: |
Canada |
Geographic
Coverage: |
Hudson/James Bay |
Communities: |
Inuit and Cree |
Related
Organizations: |
• Government of Nunavut
• Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
• Qikiqtani Inuit Association |
Muohta ja Jiekna-Snow and Ice: Traditional Reindeer Herding Knowledge
and Geophysical Measurement; Snow and Ice: Mutual Understanding of
Local and Scientific Expertise (SIMULATE)
This is an umbrella project with representatives
from Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Sápmi whom represent expertise
on Sami culture, language, ecology, remote sensing, snow physics,
and reindeer herding. SIMULATE is a proposed module of the project
with a focus on the following: exchanging knowledge between scientists
and Sami reindeer herders; adoption of scientific monitoring relevant
to Sami reindeer herders; development of appropriate monitoring
methods for local Sami to deploy; and communication for dissemination
of results, recommendations, experience, and best practices. |
Leads: |
Terry Callaghan
Audhild Schanche |
Organization: |
Abisko Naturvetenskapliga Station (Callaghan);
Nordic Sami Institute (Schanche) |
Country: |
Sweden |
Geographic
Coverage: |
Norway, Finland, Sweden, Sápmi |
Communities: |
Sami |
Related
Organizations: |
• Consortium for Coordination of Observation and Monitoring
of the Arctic for Assessment and Research (COMAAR) |
Flux and Transformation of Organic Carbon Across the Eroding Coastline
of Northern Alaska
This project is designed to characterize the nature
and abundance of soil Organic Carbon (OC) and ground ice in relation
to geomorphic environments; estimate the total OC flux along entire
coast and develop models to assess vulnerability of the coast to
increased erosion due to decreasing summer sea-ice; establish a
village-based monitoring network to document coastal changes at
three major villages along the Alaskan Beaufort Sea Coast; and
integrate the results to the pan-Arctic scale through collaboration
with the Arctic Coastal Dynamics program. |
Lead: |
Torre Jorgensen |
Organization: |
ABR Inc. Environmental Research Services |
Country: |
United States |
Geographic
Coverage: |
Alaskan Beaufort Sea Coast |
Communities: |
Iñupiat |
Related
Organizations: |
• NSF Study of Northern Alaska Coastal
Systems
• Barrow Arctic Science Consortium
• North Slope Borough School District
• North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.
• Study of the Northern Alaskan Coastal System |
URL: |
http://www.arcus.org/arcss/snacs/index.php |
Alaska Traditional Knowledge and Native Foods Database; Indigenous
Monitoring of the Bering Sea Ecosystem Status (IMBEST)
1) Alaska Traditional Knowledge and Native
Foods Database: Existing database containing information
for more than 300 communities including contaminants, harvest
data, consumption data, and native concerns that have been expressed
in meetings and workshops. Subcategories allow contaminants data
to be further refined based on persistent organic pollutants,
heavy metals, and radioactivity.
2) Indigenous Monitoring of the Bering Sea Ecosystem Status
(IMBEST): A proposed systematic monitoring network comprised
of Alaska Natives and other local residents from different geographic
regions of the Bering Sea to collect and interpret observations of
ecosystem change utilizing traditional ways of knowing and observation
skills. |
Lead: |
Patricia Cochran |
Organization: |
Alaska Native Science Commission (ANSC) |
Country: |
United States |
Geographic
Coverage: |
Bering Sea, and cities and villages throughout
Alaska |
Communities: |
All Native Alaskans |
Related
Organizations: |
• Environmental Protection Agency
• National Science Foundation
• University of Alaska Institute of Social and Economic Research
• North Pacific Research Board |
URL: |
http://www.nativeknowledge.org/ |
Bering Sea Sub-Network (BSSN): International Community-Based Observation
Alliance for Arctic Observing Network
BSSN creates an infrastructure for monitoring and
observation by indigenous and other Arctic residents’ organizations
based in the coastal communities of the Bering Sea region (BSR).
It increases capacity and effectiveness of circum-Arctic monitoring
through responding to the need of the long-term collection of data
in remote Arctic locations. In particular, the BSR was identified
as a priority monitoring area by many scientists, such as the Circumpolar
Biodiversity Monitoring Programme of the Arctic Council. BSSN works
specifically with community-based or place-based research and will
attempt to integrate these efforts with broader scientific activities
both in the region and globally. |
Lead: |
Victoria Gofman |
Organization: |
Aleut International Association |
Country: |
United States |
Geographic
Coverage: |
Bering Sea and Bering Strait |
Communities: |
Alaska: Gambell, Togiak, and Sand Point, Russia:
Kanchalan, Tymlat, and Nikolskoye |
Related
Organizations: |
• Aleut International Association (AIA,
US/Russia)
• Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna working group of
the Arctic Council (CAFF)
• Alaska Native Science Commission
• United Nations Environment Programme - Global Resource
Information Database (UNEP-GRID: Arendal)
• University of Alaska, Anchorage
• Westat, Inc.
|
Arctic Understandings and Adaptation to Climate Change: A Comparative
Study of an Iñupiat and Inuit Community
This comparative research explores how two indigenous
communities of the Arctic understand and adapt to climate change
by answering the following questions: what are indigenous observations
and understandings of environmental changes on the community level?
What are indigenous perspectives on risk and uncertainty associated
with environmental changes? How do these understandings shape local
processes of adaptation, both to climate change and current scientific
and policy discourses? |
Lead: |
A. Nicole Stuckenberger |
Organization: |
Dartmouth College |
Country: |
United States |
Geographic
Coverage: |
Quebec and Alaska |
Communities: |
Inuit and Iñupiat |
Related
Organizations: |
• Municipality of Quaqtaq
• IRA government of Shaktooliks
• Smithsonian: Sea Ice Knowledge and Use (SIKU)
• Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL)
|
Narwhal Tusk Research
Narwhal Tusk Research was initiated in 2000 in search
of answers to one of nature's most intriguing mysteries. Research
efforts combine leading investigators in the fields of marine mammal
science, dental medicine, engineering, mathematics, evolutionary
biology, genetics, anatomy, and histology with the traditional
knowledge of Inuit elders and hunters to investigate the narwhal
tusk and its functions. |
Lead: |
Martin Nweeia, DMD, DDS |
Organization: |
Harvard University |
Country: |
United States |
Geographic
Coverage: |
Greenland and Canada |
Communities: |
Inuit and Inughuit |
Related
Organizations: |
• Marine Mammal Program, Smithsonian Institution
• Paffenbarger Research Center, National Institute of Standards
and Technology
• Hauschka Bone Laboratory, Enders Research Facility, Children’s
Hospital Boston
• The Laboratory for Innovative Translational Technologies,
Harvard School of Dental Medicine
• Biocore Structure Laboratory, Forsyth Dental Institute
• Optimal CAE, Inc. Engineering Metrology Group
• Astromed, Grass Techology
• Nunavut Research Institute
• Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology
• Department of Mammals, Transvaal Museum, South Africa
• Canadian Museum of Nature
• Zoological Museum of Copenhagen
• Johns Hopkins, School of Art as Applied to Medicine
• The National Institutes of Health, Imaging Center
• The National Geographic Society
• Nunavut Wildlife Management Board
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
• SeaWorld, San Diego
• Arctic Research Division, Fisheries and Oceans, Canada
• Explorers Club, World Center for Exploration
• Graduate Studies in Evolutionary Biology, San Jose State
University
• Webb Research
• American Museum of Natural History
• Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian Institution
|
URL: |
http://www.narwhal.org/ |
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