Arctic Communities

Russia’s Chukotka Peninsula is just a few miles across the Bering Strait from northwest Alaska, and indigenous peoples traditionally traveled back and forth across the strait. But the border between Alaska and Chukotka was essentially closed for decades, during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Then, in the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union and took steps to improve relations with the West.

Some Alaskans took that change as an opportunity to re-open ties with the Russian Far East. In his new book, Melting the Ice Curtain, David Ramseur describes these Alaskans as “citizen diplomats,” and tells the story of how cooperation at the individual level between Alaskans and Russians did for a time build better relations between Alaska and the Russian Far East. David Ramseur is currently a visiting scholar in public policy at ISER, but at the time of thawing Alaska-Russia relations, he was the press secretary for Steve Cowper, then governor of Alaska. He traveled to Provideniya, in the Chukotka region, on the 1988 Alaska Airlines "Friendship Flight," which carried a group of Alaskans on a cultural exchange. Join us to hear him talk about this important time in Alaska-Russia relations.

The Alaska Energy Data Gateway is an online database that ISER, the Alaska Center for Energy and Power at UAF, and other partner organizations established in 2011, to provide communities across Alaska with data they can use as they develop and improve their energy systems. Information in the database comes from many sources, can be downloaded in various file formats, and is mostly at the community level.

This summer Rachael Teter, an intern sponsored by First Alaskans Institute, has been working at ISER, updating and expanding the information available in the database. Kyle Borash, ISER's computer programmer, is developing an interactive map that will allow users to see at a glance what kinds of information are available for individual communities. That map will be launched on the data gateway in September. Join us at ISER to hear Rachael Teter and Kyle Borash discuss their work on the data gateway.

Download the presentation (PDF, 1.3MB)

Many coastal Alaska Native communities are seeing rapid erosion, flooding, and other serious problems related to climate change, and a number plan to move to safer ground. Robin Bronen, a senior research scientist at UAF's Institute of Arctic Biology and the executive director of the Alaska Institute for Justice, has been studying the climate-induced need for relocation of these communities since 2007.

At ISER, she talked about her current work with 15 coastal Alaska Native villages, to design and implement a community-led approach to making decisions about relocating their communities in the face of climate change.

When: Friday, May 19, 12 to 1
Where: ISER conference room, Third floor, 1901 Bragaw St., Suite 301

Does expensive home-heating fuel cause people to move out of rural Alaska communities and into urban areas? Yes, but not as many as anecdotal reports might lead you to expect. Matthew Berman, professor of economics at ISER, found that for each $1 increase in fuel prices, fewer than 40 adults a year moved from rural to urban places. He also found that people's employment status and earnings, and local labor market conditions in general, had much more influence than high fuel prices on their decisions to leave rural places.

This is the first study to use statistical testing to assess whether high fuel prices prompt people to leave rural Alaska communities. The analysis was based on adult Permanent Fund Dividend applications for 2003 through 2015, and was funded by the Alaska Energy Authority.

Download the study, Energy Costs and Rural Alaska Out-Migration (PDF, 137.3KB), by Matthew Berman. If you have questions, get in touch with the author at matthew.berman@uaa.alaska.edu or call 907-786-5426.

ISER and First Alaskans Institute (FAI) recently signed a memorandum of understanding to promote a "mutually beneficial" relationship between them, by meeting annually, developing new research collaborations, and taking other steps to help advance the goals of both organizations. FAI is a nonprofit organization that works to help Alaska Native people meet educational, economic, and social challenges they will face in the future. ISER does non-partisan public policy research, to help Alaskans and others understand the issues of the day and make informed decisions.

In this presentation, Davin Holen, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, will discuss his dissertation, which examines the intersection of commercial and subsistence fishing in Alaska for food security, culture, and community well-being. His multi-year project documents how the economic and cultural value of salmon promotes the long-term viability of coastal Alaska communities.

When: Friday, November 4, 12 to 1
Where: ISER Conference Room ,
Third Floor, 1901 Bragaw St, Suite 301.

Note: Those who can’t attend in person can stream the talk live at: http://stream.iseralaska.org

Greg Poelzer is a professor in the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan, but currently he is a Fulbright Arctic Initiative scholar who has been visiting at ISER. An important part of his research focuses on comparative public policy related to Indigenous-state relations. At ISER he talks about how Saskatchewan is on the forefront of developing renewable energy through partnerships with First Nations and other Indigenous peoples, as it moves toward sharply increasing its use of renewable energy.

Siri Veland, an assistant professor of environmental studies at Brown University in Rhode Island, will talk about her work on a new project examining diverse cultural perspectives on risks and benefits of offshore oil and gas developments in Alaska, Greenland, and Northern Norway. Dr. Veland previously studied environmental change and risk in Northern Australia, and she'll discuss possible overlaps with key issues in the Arctic.

When: June 17, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: 1901 Bragaw Street, Third Floor, Suite 301

Please join us, but remember that ISER has moved to 1901 Bragaw Street, Third Floor, Suite 301. The new location is between Northern Lights Blvd. and DeBarr Road. Enter through Reka Drive, and drive all the way south to the front parking area. If you need more directions, call 907-786-7710. Parking is still free. Download the full announcement (PDF, 204KB).

Note: Those who can’t attend in person can join us remotely over the web or call (907) 786-6755, Conference ID: 475905.

By request, a recording was not made of this presentation.