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.
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Chris Southcott, who has been involved in community-based research in the circumpolar north for more than 30 years, will share final results from his Resources and Sustainable Development (ReSDA) project, which looked at developing ways to ensure that a larger share of resource development benefits stay in the region, and what it means for communities in Northern Canada, Alaska and other Arctic regions at a lunchtime talk at ISER on Thursday, May 16 at noon.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Come to ISER and hear Chris Southcott of Lakehead University in Ontario discuss the initial findings of the Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic project. That project is bringing together researchers and community representatives from northern Canada and other circumpolar areas to identify potential ways of improving the well-being of northern communities affected by Arctic resource development. Past resource development in the Arctic has often created social and economic challenges for northern communities but provided little benefit for them. Dr.