The Arctic is warming on average twice as rapidly as the rest of the planet, which is leading to significant changes in sea ice to which local communities must respond. Beringia, a region of the Arctic encompassing US and Russian territory, is expected to experience some of the highest variability in sea ice conditions in the coming century. The ARC NAV project brings together communities and Indigenous and non-Indigenous scientists to better understand sea ice change and how we might design better and more flexible governance to adapt. In this podcast, the featured guests are Assistant Professor at University of Victoria, Tatiana Degai, Iñupiaq graduate student at Arizona State University, Priscilla Frankson who is originally from Point Hope, and St. Lawrence Island Yupik community research lead, Travis Kaningok from Gambell, with host Abigail York, a social scientist, and Professor at Arizona State University. The guests will talk about their ongoing work, impacts of sea ice change in their home communities and across the Arctic region, and the importance of Indigenous voices, Indigenous scholarship and community-driven research in Arctic science and knowledge creation.

The Grebmeier 1917469 team, as part of the Distributed Biological Observatory annual cruise, hosted an open house aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, off the coast of Utqiaġvik on July 26th. The open house included members of the Utqiaġvik community and representatives of the North Slope Borough, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, and Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. The Canadian and US cruise participants disembarked the vessel via helicopter on July 27th. Five US participants, PI Jackie Grebmeier, co-PI Lee Cooper, Mark Rauzon, Brian Marx, and Nicholas Silverson stayed in Utqiaġvik and recorded an Arctic Science Session podcast with Battelle ARO Science Liaison, Lloyd Pikok Jr., before departing on July 28th.

HABs (Harmful Algal Blooms) are the topic of discussion for this episode and the project described here investigates the population dynamics of HAB species in the Arctic. Don Anderson, Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, studies species of toxic algae that are responsible for disrupting human and ecosystem health. Please join us in this episode to learn how HAB’s move through the food web in the Arctic, how they distribute, and how they impact living organisms. Where are the blooms, when do they happen, how long do they last, what kind of exposure occurs to the food web and toxins that are produced from the toxic algae? Tune into this episode to learn about the current HAB’s work in the Arctic and how these complicated questions are answered by academic researchers.

The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) is a network of researchers examining the impacts of warming on the tundra ecosystems. Bob Hollister leads the Arctic Ecology Program with Grand Valley State University has been traveling to Atqasuk, Alaska since the 1990s. The O&E Team works with the Hollister team to host an annual BBQ event in June in the village, feeding 200+ residents. Bob is no stranger to the Meade River school, learning from the students and developing activities for them to learn about environmental science through plant identification. The ITEX project uses greenhouses, plots, and other studies to monitor tundra vegetation and flowers to observe how the warming climate has an affected the north slope. These sites are now among the longest continually monitored vegetation studies in the Arctic. In this episode, we are live from Atqasuk to learn about Arctic botany, how the north slope has evolved, and how unique Atqasuk is.

This podcast recording occurred during the Permafrost & Infrastructure Symposium in Northern Alaska, July 28 – August 5, 2023. Lorene Lynn, “Earth’s Janitor,” works in the field of Ecological Restoration studying soil science and permafrost, and Howard Epstein studies the recent dynamics of arctic tundra vegetation in response to changing climate and disturbances. The Symposium gave participants the opportunity to see the issues firsthand and to learn from those who design, build, repair, and live with infrastructure on thaw-susceptible soils. The concept for the event is based on a convergence research model used in Canada to pair scientific and engineering research practices with local knowledge and priorities to develop better strategies for improving Arctic infrastructure. The symposium will result in a roadmap document that addresses the permafrost-related challenges prioritized by local and regional residents and planners. Key findings will be presented to local policy makers and at Arctic science and policy forums.

Making sense of the complex interplay between the air, ocean and sea ice is a challenging puzzle that motivates Rigor’s research. In this episode, we get an update on the Arctic Buoys project and their outreach efforts. Float Your Boat is an international program connecting people to the arctic ocean. 1,000-2,000 wooden boats are deployed annually during an Arctic Ocean expedition on the sea ice next to an Arctic weather buoy that is actively transmitting data to the International Arctic Buoy Programme. The wooden boat is assumed to be in the same position as the buoy as long as the buoy batteries last and the sea ice lasts. Learners can then follow the buoy data as a method to follow their wooden boat in the Arctic Ocean currents. The episode ends with Ignatius and Sarah sharing their experiences working with the locals and continually building relationships.

The Beaufort Lagoons Ecosystem (BLE) long term ecological research team travels to the North Slope from six universities across the US to study five coastal lagoons across the region. The lagoons provide food and habitat for the large populations of migratory fish and waterfowl in the region and are the gateway between dozens of rivers and the Arctic Ocean. Tune into this episode as Brian and Alina describe the biological makeup of organisms in the lagoon, from tiny bacteria to fish, and investigate ecological processes such as nutrient cycling and food web dynamics that impact these lagoons. The BLE uses a wide array of approaches and methods to understand how long-term changes like warming or climate change may impact these unique ecosystems on the North Slope.

Coastal oceanographer and geologist Dr. Emily Eidam and her team work closely with communities around the North Slope of Alaska to monitor coastal continental shelf change in the Arctic. Her team includes: Polar Oceanographer and Sea Ice physicist Maddie Smith, Jim Thompson who studies the waves and the surface of the ocean and her graduate student Adrian Heath whom studies the coastal sediment deposition on Alaska Beaufort shelf. In this episode, we learn how the team uses historical data, satellite imagery, drones, and boots-on-the-ground science to study the arctic coast, and her team’s outreach experiences in the village of Kaktovik, Alaska. Emily visits the middle and high schoolers at Harold Kaveolook School annually to learn from the students and teach coastal change while coordinating a field trip for the students to collect data in their own back yard!