FOLLOW-UP WORKSHOP Partnership Proposal: Expanding Climate Change Research Through a Multidisciplinary Multi-agency Approach

Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, Anchorage AK

Investigators

Abstract

This project is to support a workshop to bring together Alaska Native delegates from Yukon River communities, students, and interdisciplinary research scientists from the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council (YRITWC) and Colorado State University (CSU) to build a creative approach for researching how climate change is affecting people of the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions. As stated in the proposal the "objective of the workshop is to clearly assess and define synergistic relationships between Western science an Indigenous Knowledge paradigms..." and to implement the project plan through "identification of community-driven science questions, data collection and engagement between scientists and community members to facilitate the development of adaptive strategies for communities within the Yukon River Basin". The three-day workshop will be held in Colorado in September 2010. The purpose of the workshop is to design a science research project built to assess the sustainability of Yukon River Basin communities under the conditions of climate change, current and anticipated, while fully incorporating the Indigenous communities of the Yukon watershed. The potential proposal includes scientific training for participants in qualitative and quantitative data collection; mixed methodologies, including focus groups, target surveys, and interviews; geospatial database construction, and quantitative methods for gathering data on the river system - including snow, ice, water quality, ecosystem assessments, etc. The participant list includes the YRITWC Members, National Weather Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, RMRS, USGS, CSU, U.S. Forest Service, and special guest include Henry Huntington (Pew Charitable Trust Foundation) and Shari Gearheard (National Snow & Ice Data Center). The wide experience, locally and internationally, make for a dynamic team with rich history in the field.