Bering Sea Sub Network: A Distributed Human Sensor Array to Detect Arctic Environmental Change

University Of Alaska Anchorage Campus, Anchorage AK

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This award will support the continued implementation of the Bering Sea Sub-Network (BSSN), a regional initiative of community-based organizations in Western Alaska and Northeast Russia. The "Intellectual Merit" of BSSN lies in its operation as a distributed network which employs people as individual, coordinated sensors for local environmental observations of socio-ecological change. BSSN will address the following questions: (1) how have economically significant species changed over the past century and what strategies have residents used to cope with these changes; (2) what key biophysical variables and indicators may be correlated to changes in distribution and properties of ecologically significant species; (3) how well do indigenous and traditional knowledge and Western science show spatial/temporal convergence and statistical correlation at local and regional scales; and (4) what are the major trends, patterns and constraints in individual and community adaptation to changes? The "Broader Impacts" of this award include a better understanding of Arctic environmental system change and resilience, and how to develop appropriate adaptation strategies to change for Arctic communities. BSSN will leave a legacy for a broad community of arctic residents striving to organize an observing system that is a valid partner in pan-Arctic environmental system observations. A key product will be a widely disseminated and highly accessible publication entitled The State of the Bering Sea Bioresources: Perspectives of Local Residents, an assessment based on observations of local and indigenous observers. Other products will include a tool kit for communities to develop their own observing programs based on the framework of BSSN, and an annual illustrated magazine aimed at the village and regional levels.