Collaborative Research: Conference: Sikumiut: An Utqiagvik Sea Ice Field School

University Corporation For Atmospheric Res, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

The Arctic is profoundly changing as the Earth warms. The Arctic sea-ice cover is smaller, thinner, weaker, and younger than it used to be. These changes affect the marine ecosystem, economy, and society. Understanding Arctic sea-ice change is limited by the way different types of sea-ice knowledge are practiced separately from one another. When combined, these knowledges can give a more complete picture of sea ice as an essential part of the Arctic system. But, there are few opportunities for different knowledge practitioners to come together. This project creates an opportunity through the Sikumiut Field School: a field-based experience designed to bring together Indigenous Knowledge holders, numerical modelers, remote sensing experts, and field observers to learn and share sea-ice knowledge in Utqiaġvik, Alaska. The school will create a collaborative environment to learn different perspectives of sea-ice knowledge. All participants will have the opportunity to be students and gain exposure to different interpretations of sea ice. The project aims to build and strengthen relationships across diverse communities. The outcome will be a better informed community that is in a stronger position to identify stakeholders’ broad and evolving needs in the changing Arctic and help inform future directions for sea-ice modeling and observations. The Sikumiut Field School will begin with a virtual seminar series leading up to a one-week field school in Utqiaġvik in the summer of 2025, during which a group of 24 participants will learn about sea ice from Indigenous Knowledge, modeling, remote sensing, and field observations. Before traveling to Utqiaġvik, participants will discuss sea-ice conditions using local observations, weather reports, and satellite data in virtual seminars. Seminars will give participants opportunities to build relationships before meeting in person and learn about the Utqiaġvik sea-ice lifecycle. This will help their understanding of the sea-ice features they observe while in the field. Five days of on-ice activities include all four knowledge practices: collecting field data with different methods; sharing and applying Indigenous Knowledge; running models to make predictions and explore physical processes; and analyzing remote sensing products. There will be a participant-led “challenge activity” in which teams will do a small research project drawing on all four knowledge practices. The organizing committee will meet with Utqiaġvik whaling community and broader Utqiaġvik community members before and during the field school, and broadly share field school outcomes with scientific and Indigenous communities afterwards. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.