Alaska is home to numerous cultural and linguistic Indigenous groups and the largest number of Federally Recognized Tribes in the United States. Indigenous Alaskans, often living in rural remote communities, are facing multiple impacts due to climate change. As infrastructure, landscapes, and subsistence resources continue to be impacted by warming temperatures, the safety, well-being, and cultural continuity of communities is at risk.
Return to USGS Alaska Q&A Series
Nicole Herman-Mercer is a Research Social Scientist with the USGS. In addition to her research, she began an assignment with the Office of Tribal Relations in 2022 as the USGS Indigenous Knowledge coordinator. In this role, she is assisting USGS efforts to address the Biden Administration’s commitment to elevating Indigenous Knowledge in federal scientific and policy processes. She is also part of a team of scientists working on the Arctic Rivers Project, an NSF-funded project that involves scientists and an Indigenous Advisory Council to improve our understanding of how Arctic rivers, fish, and communities along the Yukon River might be impacted and adapt to climate change.
In the Q & A below, we learn more about the Arctic Rivers Project and how the Indigenous Advisory Council is guiding the research.
What are some of the climate impacts on communities you are hearing about through your work?
Over the decade that I have been working with Yup’ik and Cup’ik communities in western Alaska, I have heard accounts from community members, Elders, and Knowledge Holders describing shifting and unpredictable weather patterns – including a decrease in snowpack, a decrease in the abundance of some subsistence resources - most notably several species of salmon, and unpredictable abundance of other resources such as berries. Thinner river ice and unpredictable timing of freezing and thawing of ice on rivers has also been observed. These impacts have safety implications as many Indigenous communities throughout Alaska have a limited road system and use the frozen rivers like highways in the winter months. Many of these impacts are also cascading – for example when there is less snow and thinner ice community members have fewer options for travel in the winter months. Travel to subsistence areas or to visit family and friends in nearby villages or just getting around the village itself can no longer be accomplished via snow mobile. This means that people have no choice but to use All Terrain Vehicles to get around which can have damaging impacts on the landscape and some subsistence resources such as berries.
What climate information does USGS provide to communities and how is that information used?
The USGS provides data and information that communities can use to develop climate adaptation and resilience plans. It is important that the data and information provided by the USGS is provided in formats that are usable by Indigenous communities and local decision makers and respond to their needs. As part of the Arctic Rivers Project, USGS scientists are working with climate and hydrologic modelers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado in collaboration with an Indigenous Advisory Council. We are working to develop models of future climate and hydrology based on the interests and needs of local decision-makers (Tribal and City Councils and Regional Indigenous Organizations). To learn what these decision-makers were interested in we co-developed a survey with the Indigenous Advisory Council that was sent to community and tribal decision-makers throughout Alaska. The results of this survey are being used to guide the model development. Later this year, the project will host a summit meeting in Anchorage where we hope to learn more about how communities would like to receive information from the models so that they may best support local decision-making.
What is Indigenous Knowledge and how can Indigenous Knowledge and USGS science complement each other?
Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and western scientific knowledge are both knowledge systems and ways of understanding the world around us. Indigenous Knowledge includes scientific knowledge based on observation and experimentation, but also the cultural and spiritual context in which those observations and experiments are embedded. Unlike some forms of western science, it is place-based as opposed to universal. USGS science and Indigenous Knowledge complement each other in many ways. Often Indigenous Knowledge provides a more holistic understanding of a problem as the cultural and social context of the problem is not removed. Indigenous Knowledge is comprised of a long-term understanding of a specific environment based on interactions with that environment and thus can alert us to changes before scientific monitoring data can. USGS science and Indigenous Knowledge can complement each other through the combination of Indigenous metrics and indicators with USGS data collection in researching a problem and by reminding us that the environment and the people that reside in it are not separate. Environmental issues often cause cascading societal issues that must also be addressed. When working with Indigenous Knowledge is important to weave that knowledge with USGS science as opposed to assimilating IK into USGS science. Both ways of knowing should retain their uniqueness while working together to increase our understanding of the world around us.
How do researchers get started on the co-production process? What opportunities are available?
Working in a co-production of knowledge model requires deep collaboration with the community or stakeholder group in which a research project is proposed, has an interest or stake in a research question, or may be impacted by the research itself. How one gets started on the co-production process depends on whether the scientist has an existing relationship with the community or stakeholder group. If no relationship exists, the researcher will need to begin by developing that relationship. When developing relationships or co-producing science, community boundary spanning organizations and individuals are hugely important. For example, much of our work with communities has been facilitated by the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, an Indigenous organization that represents nearly all the Tribes and First Nations in the Yukon River Basin. Consider starting with an Indigenous organization that represents the communities that you are seeking to work with or the region your research question pertains to and get an understanding of the communities’ science needs or research questions. It is important to act equitably when co-producing knowledge and science with communities. This means that the research question or research proposal should be developed in collaboration with the communities and that community partners and boundary spanners should be compensated for their time. Additionally, decision-making and data sharing guidelines should be established and agreed upon up front.
It’s also important to understand when co-production is the right approach and when it may not be. Sometimes communities want to participate in a more limited way in a research project perhaps as collaborators or partners as opposed to full co-producers. There are many resources that describe best practices for co-production of knowledge. First and foremost, I would recommend reading up on co-production, learning about the history and culture of the community you seek to collaborate with, and building in time for true meaningful collaboration which needs to go at the pace of the community as opposed to the pace of the researcher.
Alaska is home to numerous cultural and linguistic Indigenous groups and the largest number of Federally Recognized Tribes in the United States. Indigenous Alaskans, often living in rural remote communities, are facing multiple impacts due to climate change. As infrastructure, landscapes, and subsistence resources continue to be impacted by warming temperatures, the safety, well-being, and cultural continuity of communities is at risk.
Return to USGS Alaska Q&A Series
Nicole Herman-Mercer is a Research Social Scientist with the USGS. In addition to her research, she began an assignment with the Office of Tribal Relations in 2022 as the USGS Indigenous Knowledge coordinator. In this role, she is assisting USGS efforts to address the Biden Administration’s commitment to elevating Indigenous Knowledge in federal scientific and policy processes. She is also part of a team of scientists working on the Arctic Rivers Project, an NSF-funded project that involves scientists and an Indigenous Advisory Council to improve our understanding of how Arctic rivers, fish, and communities along the Yukon River might be impacted and adapt to climate change.
In the Q & A below, we learn more about the Arctic Rivers Project and how the Indigenous Advisory Council is guiding the research.
What are some of the climate impacts on communities you are hearing about through your work?
Over the decade that I have been working with Yup’ik and Cup’ik communities in western Alaska, I have heard accounts from community members, Elders, and Knowledge Holders describing shifting and unpredictable weather patterns – including a decrease in snowpack, a decrease in the abundance of some subsistence resources - most notably several species of salmon, and unpredictable abundance of other resources such as berries. Thinner river ice and unpredictable timing of freezing and thawing of ice on rivers has also been observed. These impacts have safety implications as many Indigenous communities throughout Alaska have a limited road system and use the frozen rivers like highways in the winter months. Many of these impacts are also cascading – for example when there is less snow and thinner ice community members have fewer options for travel in the winter months. Travel to subsistence areas or to visit family and friends in nearby villages or just getting around the village itself can no longer be accomplished via snow mobile. This means that people have no choice but to use All Terrain Vehicles to get around which can have damaging impacts on the landscape and some subsistence resources such as berries.
What climate information does USGS provide to communities and how is that information used?
The USGS provides data and information that communities can use to develop climate adaptation and resilience plans. It is important that the data and information provided by the USGS is provided in formats that are usable by Indigenous communities and local decision makers and respond to their needs. As part of the Arctic Rivers Project, USGS scientists are working with climate and hydrologic modelers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado in collaboration with an Indigenous Advisory Council. We are working to develop models of future climate and hydrology based on the interests and needs of local decision-makers (Tribal and City Councils and Regional Indigenous Organizations). To learn what these decision-makers were interested in we co-developed a survey with the Indigenous Advisory Council that was sent to community and tribal decision-makers throughout Alaska. The results of this survey are being used to guide the model development. Later this year, the project will host a summit meeting in Anchorage where we hope to learn more about how communities would like to receive information from the models so that they may best support local decision-making.
What is Indigenous Knowledge and how can Indigenous Knowledge and USGS science complement each other?
Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and western scientific knowledge are both knowledge systems and ways of understanding the world around us. Indigenous Knowledge includes scientific knowledge based on observation and experimentation, but also the cultural and spiritual context in which those observations and experiments are embedded. Unlike some forms of western science, it is place-based as opposed to universal. USGS science and Indigenous Knowledge complement each other in many ways. Often Indigenous Knowledge provides a more holistic understanding of a problem as the cultural and social context of the problem is not removed. Indigenous Knowledge is comprised of a long-term understanding of a specific environment based on interactions with that environment and thus can alert us to changes before scientific monitoring data can. USGS science and Indigenous Knowledge can complement each other through the combination of Indigenous metrics and indicators with USGS data collection in researching a problem and by reminding us that the environment and the people that reside in it are not separate. Environmental issues often cause cascading societal issues that must also be addressed. When working with Indigenous Knowledge is important to weave that knowledge with USGS science as opposed to assimilating IK into USGS science. Both ways of knowing should retain their uniqueness while working together to increase our understanding of the world around us.
How do researchers get started on the co-production process? What opportunities are available?
Working in a co-production of knowledge model requires deep collaboration with the community or stakeholder group in which a research project is proposed, has an interest or stake in a research question, or may be impacted by the research itself. How one gets started on the co-production process depends on whether the scientist has an existing relationship with the community or stakeholder group. If no relationship exists, the researcher will need to begin by developing that relationship. When developing relationships or co-producing science, community boundary spanning organizations and individuals are hugely important. For example, much of our work with communities has been facilitated by the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, an Indigenous organization that represents nearly all the Tribes and First Nations in the Yukon River Basin. Consider starting with an Indigenous organization that represents the communities that you are seeking to work with or the region your research question pertains to and get an understanding of the communities’ science needs or research questions. It is important to act equitably when co-producing knowledge and science with communities. This means that the research question or research proposal should be developed in collaboration with the communities and that community partners and boundary spanners should be compensated for their time. Additionally, decision-making and data sharing guidelines should be established and agreed upon up front.
It’s also important to understand when co-production is the right approach and when it may not be. Sometimes communities want to participate in a more limited way in a research project perhaps as collaborators or partners as opposed to full co-producers. There are many resources that describe best practices for co-production of knowledge. First and foremost, I would recommend reading up on co-production, learning about the history and culture of the community you seek to collaborate with, and building in time for true meaningful collaboration which needs to go at the pace of the community as opposed to the pace of the researcher.