Building community-based monitoring partnerships between rural schools and wildlife refuges in Alaska
Project Overview
In Alaska, winters are becoming shorter and more unpredictable, leading to changes in lake and river ice, impacting access to hunting grounds, fuel wood transportation and recreation for local communities. Researchers supported by this Alaska CASC project will revitalize and modernize a freshwater ice observation network with a youth-centric partnership that teams schools with local scientists to develop more effective ice and snow observations. These collaborative efforts will help inform community safety, forecast hazards, and document responses to climate change.
Project Summary
People living in northern regions, particularly in Alaska, naturally pay attention to ice and snow. Whether to access traditional hunting grounds, transport fuel wood along river corridors, visit family upriver, or simply for recreation, Alaskans care about when lakes and rivers freeze and thaw and if ice is thick enough for travel. However, winters are generally becoming shorter and more variable. For example, the break-up of Alaska rivers was exceptionally early in 2019, exceptionally late in 2013, and relatively late in 2023, and both late years saw severe ice-jam flooding in some rural communities. Knowledge of these trends and extremes in freshwater ice dynamics comes from both government scientists and local community observers. A main goal of this project is to strengthen and expand ice monitoring partnerships by specifically empowering our most energetic and potentially long-term observers (i.e., students) to work with seasoned scientists and educators (i.e., US Fish and Wildlife Service staff).
Revitalizing and modernizing a freshwater ice observation network was the original objective of the Fresh Eyes on Ice project that began in 2019 by establishing community-based monitoring teams throughout Alaska. Working with teachers and students to track local ice conditions and engage in STEM-based learning has made the program successful and helped it to expand to new communities each year. A critical need for this observation network and its sustainability, however, is teaming schools with a local scientist to add support, expertise, and (most importantly) continuity. Sidney Huntington School and Koyukuk NWR in Galena have provided an excellent model of this partnership and we aspire to develop similar partnerships in other Alaskan communities adjacent to or within National Wildlife Refuges.
Establishing and supporting new youth-centric partnerships will increase snow and ice observations used to inform community safety, forecast hazards, and document responses to climate change. This partnership aims to provide a training ground for new scientists, community leaders, and engaged citizens—key aspects to building climate adaptation and resilience. In addition to improving ice data collection in response to community needs, this project will use monitoring team successes to foster improvements in community-federal partnerships in the future.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 6724d9d2d34e4f57573f27ff)
Project Overview
In Alaska, winters are becoming shorter and more unpredictable, leading to changes in lake and river ice, impacting access to hunting grounds, fuel wood transportation and recreation for local communities. Researchers supported by this Alaska CASC project will revitalize and modernize a freshwater ice observation network with a youth-centric partnership that teams schools with local scientists to develop more effective ice and snow observations. These collaborative efforts will help inform community safety, forecast hazards, and document responses to climate change.
Project Summary
People living in northern regions, particularly in Alaska, naturally pay attention to ice and snow. Whether to access traditional hunting grounds, transport fuel wood along river corridors, visit family upriver, or simply for recreation, Alaskans care about when lakes and rivers freeze and thaw and if ice is thick enough for travel. However, winters are generally becoming shorter and more variable. For example, the break-up of Alaska rivers was exceptionally early in 2019, exceptionally late in 2013, and relatively late in 2023, and both late years saw severe ice-jam flooding in some rural communities. Knowledge of these trends and extremes in freshwater ice dynamics comes from both government scientists and local community observers. A main goal of this project is to strengthen and expand ice monitoring partnerships by specifically empowering our most energetic and potentially long-term observers (i.e., students) to work with seasoned scientists and educators (i.e., US Fish and Wildlife Service staff).
Revitalizing and modernizing a freshwater ice observation network was the original objective of the Fresh Eyes on Ice project that began in 2019 by establishing community-based monitoring teams throughout Alaska. Working with teachers and students to track local ice conditions and engage in STEM-based learning has made the program successful and helped it to expand to new communities each year. A critical need for this observation network and its sustainability, however, is teaming schools with a local scientist to add support, expertise, and (most importantly) continuity. Sidney Huntington School and Koyukuk NWR in Galena have provided an excellent model of this partnership and we aspire to develop similar partnerships in other Alaskan communities adjacent to or within National Wildlife Refuges.
Establishing and supporting new youth-centric partnerships will increase snow and ice observations used to inform community safety, forecast hazards, and document responses to climate change. This partnership aims to provide a training ground for new scientists, community leaders, and engaged citizens—key aspects to building climate adaptation and resilience. In addition to improving ice data collection in response to community needs, this project will use monitoring team successes to foster improvements in community-federal partnerships in the future.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 6724d9d2d34e4f57573f27ff)