The 2022 Arctic Encounter Symposium in Anchorage brought together researchers and leaders from government, the business community, the University of Alaska, and ambassadors of Arctic nations. ISER Director Diane Hirshberg served on a panel related to workforce development.
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"We are in a perfect storm where we don't have enough teachers," said Dayna DeFeo, director of the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research (CAEPR). DeFeo and ISER director Diane Hirshberg discussed CAEPR's research on teacher turnover issues in rural Alaska with Steve Heimel, of KYUK Bethel.
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New research from ISER’s Trang Tran and Dayna DeFeo examined how relationships influence rural Alaska students’ transitions from home communities to postsecondary institutions. Their analysis identified characteristics of the transition processes that seem particular to rural students—in navigating urban places and cultural norms, seeking institutional supports, advocating for self, and forming new social relationships. In all of these experiences, rural identities and community-oriented values emerged as a guiding force for students’ goal-setting, decision-making, interactions, and adjustment.
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Understanding the acceptance and perceptions of renewable energy is key to facilitating their sustainable development in northern communities say researchers Jennifer Schmidt and Amanda Byrd. Alaskans in rural areas are faced with a number of challenges, including increasing costs for energy and imported foods into their remote communities. Many residents rely on subsistence foods as part of their culture, but also to avoid high prices in the local store. Communities have begun turning to renewable energy to make energy more affordable as well. Schmidt and Byrd examined the connection between renewable energy and subsistence activities in a new paper.
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A recent article in the journal World Development, by Matthew Berman, professor of economics at ISER, examines how the Permanent Fund dividend (PFD) has reduced poverty among the 60,000 or so Alaska Natives living in small, isolated communities far off the road system. PFDs are cash payments the state government makes to virtually all Alaska residents every year. Rural Alaska Natives are much more likely than other Alaskans to be poor, mostly because jobs are scarce in remote areas. The author found:
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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.
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Dr. Heather E. Hudson, professor of communications policy at ISER, will chair a workshop providing current information on broadband plans and policy issues for rural Alaska, with panels on technology projects and opportunities in microwave, optical fiber, wireless, and satellite; and policy issues such as state initiatives, federal programs, and U.S. Arctic Council proposals.
When: Monday, December 15, 2014 @ 1:00 pm to 4:45 pm
Where: Diplomacy Building 301, 4500 Diplomacy Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508
Registration: The registration fee is $75. Please register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alaska-rural-broadband-workshop-tickets-14434551131.
If you are outside Anchorage and wish to participate by teleconference, please contact Prof. Heather Hudson at hehudson@uaa.alaska.edu.