Tourism in Alaska is a growth industry, with much of the revenue generated below the Arctic Circle. But the Arctic’s unique natural environment and tourists' desire to see the Arctic before it changes – sometimes called “last chance tourism” – is drawing more and more travelers above the Arctic Circle. The increase in nature-based tourism offers Arctic communities around the world development opportunities, but also risks to community and environmental systems.
Read More
Residents of Cordova and Tanana describe how renewable energy systems, including hydropower and solar power, are impacting their access to food, energy, and water, in two new videos produced by a research team including ISER’s Jennifer Schmidt.
Read More
ISER’s Jennifer Schmidt gave presentations at the recent Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromso, Norway on the role of technology in remote Arctic communities and how harvesting wood for fuel impacts subsistence.
Arctic Frontiers brings together academic researchers along with government and business decision makers to promote responsible and sustainable development of the Arctic.
Read More
ISER’s Jennifer Schmidt, Assistant Professor of Natural Resources Management, is part of the Indigenous Foods Knowledges Network (IFKN), bringing together Indigenous leaders, community practitioners, and scholars (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) focused on research and community capacity related to food sovereignty and Indigenous Knowledge.
Read More
ISER’s Jennifer Schmidt, Assistant Professor of Natural Resources Management, attended Understanding Northern Latitude Vegetation Greening and Browning, a National Academies workshop in Washington DC, as a guest speaker. The workshop’s focus was to assess current knowledge and upcoming research about patterns and shifts in tundra and boreal vegetation. The two-day workshop covered topics such as identifying patterns in Arctic tundra and boreal forests, developing tools and methods for evaluation, and determining implications from changes in Arctic vegetation. Schmidt’s presentation on socioeconomic implications of vegetation change is available for download.
Read More
Matthew Berman and Jennifer Schmidt, faculty members at ISER, recently completed a study titled Economic Effects of Climate Change in Alaska. Findings from that research were also included in the Alaska chapter of the recently released report from the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).
The graph shows Alaska statewide annual average temperatures for 1925-2016.
Read More
ISER’s Jennifer Schmidt, Assistant Professor of Natural Resources Management, is lead for the Urban Forest and Watershed sector of the Anchorage Climate Action Plan.Read More
Jennifer I. Schmidt, ISER researcher and Assistant Professor of Natural Resources Management, is co-author of an article that explores the importance and development of relationships with local, often Indigeneous populations, to manage resources in remote Arctic locations. "The Role of Trust in Sustainable Management of Land, Fish, and Wildlife Populations in the Arctic" appears in the Sustainable and Rural Development section of the September issue of Sustainability, an international, cross-disciplinary journal.
Read More
A new report by Bob Loeffler and Jennifer Schmidt of ISER looks at jobs and income residents of small Bristol Bay communities received during exploration at the proposed Pebble mine site from 2009 through 2012. That proposed mine is enormously controversial, because of its proximity to the world-class Bristol Bay salmon fisheries, and there has been no exploration since 2013. The authors emphasize they are neither endorsing nor opposing the proposed mine. Rather, they assessed the economic effects of Pebble exploration on local communities as a case study in how small, remote communities can capture more of the benefits of rural resource development.
They found that about 43% of the workers at the Pebble exploration site from 2009 through 2012 were residents of 18 small Bristol Bay communities. That totaled about 300 Bristol Bay residents over the four-year period. Residents of the seven communities closest to the exploration site got the most jobs and income, averaging 100 jobs a year and bringing nearly $1.5 million into their communities annually. Almost all the jobs were seasonal, and pay averaged $19 an hour.
Download the summary (PDF, 454KB) or the full report (PDF, 2MB). If you have questions, get in touch with Bob Loeffler at rloeffle@alaska.edu or call 907-250-4621. You can also contact Jennifer Schmidt at jischmidt0@gmail.com or call 907-786-5497.