A new study published by the University of Alaska Fairbanks last week highlights how Indigenous knowledge can inform and improve computer modeling that analyzes and predicts changes in the Arctic Ocean.
Claudine Hauri, an oceanographer with the university’s International Arctic Research Center and the leading author of the study, said the collaboration is valuable to understand the changing Arctic.
“Having this person who lives there all year round, who sees these changes on a daily basis and who also understands how that relates to what it used to be in their childhood — and then also in in their dad's or mom's childhood — that just makes for a much more holistic way of of looking at these change,” she said.
For two years, Hauri said researchers have been working with the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub, a network of Indigenous experts recording changes in their environment on a daily basis.
Observers share the conditions of the Arctic Ocean, sea ice and marine life. In turn, researchers use those observations to check and improve a model that simulates ocean currents, ice and organisms such as zooplankton.
One example was a heat wave in 2019, when the model showed a freeze-up time that was earlier than what people on the ground reported.
“They already noticed much warmer temperatures earlier than what we noticed in the model,” Hauri said.
Collaborating with observers can also help scientists learn how modeling can be useful to the Arctic residents, Hauri said. One example is helping Utqiagvik subsistence hunters better understand whaling patterns.
“In 2019, in fall, their whaling season was very long, much longer than it was ever before, and they were only able to get one whale,” she said. “So, what are the underlying conditions for this? Maybe the model can help us figure out how were the environmental conditions different?”
Hauri said it is important to have Arctic residents at the table for science projects related to the environment of where they live.
Several observers were co-authors on the study, and Hauri said the collaboration would continue for a new research project.
