Climate change creates challenges in so many ways. The Fairbanks region in Interior Alaska is no exception. In this episode, Savannah Venetis Fletcher joins Alex to discuss the unintended impacts of changing weather extremes and how people and communities in Alaska are adapting to these changes. As a civil rights attorney, Presiding Officer of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly, mayoral candidate for the Fairbanks North Star Borough, SEARCH researcher, and active member of the Fairbanks community, Savannah shares a wealth of knowledge on getting things done at a local level in the far n ..read more

Nature and people are connected in myriad different ways. In the western Arctic, one of those connections is between sea ice, marine mammals, and communities’ persistence. Join us for this special episode of Out of the Arctic where we play the role of a fly on the wall for a conversation between SEARCH researchers. We will hear from Bryan Rookok, Jr. (Native Village of Savoonga), Brendan Kelly (Science Director), George Kling (Chief Editor), and Athena Copenhaver (Executive Director) as we learn why access to walrus is of vital importance to the people of St. Lawrence Island and others through ..read more

Join us in the sixth episode of Out of the Arctic as we hear from Kotzebue resident and lifelong Alaskan, Cyrus Harris. A member of the Native Village of Kotzebue Tribal Council, Cyrus also serves as a Natural Resource Advocate for Maniilaq Association and as a manager of a Hunter Support Program. By collaborating with different governing bodies and health and safety authorities, Cyrus plays a vital role in his community providing traditional subsistence foods to Indigenous Elders ..read more

Land, ice, and sea are not the only rapidly shifting elements of the Arctic. With increased political tensions rippling throughout the Arctic, international relations, governance, and decision making at all levels are all being forced to adapt. Here to share a fascinating and necessary perspective in the fifth episode of the SEARCH podcast is Betsy Baker, a SEARCH team member and former professor of law, who dedicated her career to understanding the intricacies of Arctic decision making and its impact on people and the environment. Mentioned in this episode: United Nations Convention on the L ..read more

What's it like to move between the digital world of climate modeling and the vast land, ice, and seascapes of the Arctic? In the fourth episode of the SEARCH podcast, we speak with Marika Holland, a SEARCH team co-chair and a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. Marika has thought a lot about what it means to see the world from multiple perspectives—through computer screens filled with code, through scientists' eyes in the field, and now, through a lens of co-production: where diverse ways of knowing come together to create new understanding about the Arctic ..read more

In the third episode of Out of the Arctic we hear from two experts—Twila Moon (National Snow and Ice Data Center) and Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer (Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium)—about how the science of sea level rise, ice loss, and climate change intersects with human health, well being, and community in the Arctic and beyond ..read more

How do we know when and if we are saying the same thing? Across cultures? Knowledge systems? Values? Even vocabulary? Digging into this concept, we talk with SEARCH co-chair and co-Principal Investigator Vera Kingeekuk Metcalf to hear about her experiences with translation. Vera's expertise then harmonizes with a conversation with Gifford Wong, Research Staff Member at IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute. Gifford shares insights about the values of effective communication inspired by his research as a glaciologist and an improv theatre performer. Learn more about Vera Kingeekuk Metcalf ..read more