The Vulnerable North? Risk and Resilience in Alaskan Coastal Communities

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A substantial body of research suggests that the circumpolar and subarctic North is vulnerable to a range of threats, from climate change to economic crisis. Yet less is known about how these assessments square with Northerners? own perceptions and experiences of vulnerability. This three-year qualitative research project examines how different groups of actors in Alaskan coastal communities form knowledge about environmental and economic risk. It further probes how engagement with risk knowledge affects the modes of social action that contribute to resilience. The project?s two research sites are both rural fishing regions with mixed Alaska Native and non-Native populations, but each with a somewhat different risk profile: Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska is embroiled in controversy over the proposed Pebble mine, while Sitka in southeast Alaska is home to considerable scientific research on shifting ecosystems, likely due to climate change. In each site, a team of researchers will use ethnographic methodologies, including participant-observation and semi-structured interviews, to determine how knowledge about risk is developed, circulated, received, and used by community residents across generations and by resident and non-resident experts and advocates. The research supported by this award will contribute to scholarship on risk and provide a basis for more appropriate design and communication of measures to mitigate risk and promote resilience. It will also connect natural and social science research topics, partner with local organizations, and engage stakeholders in knowledge production. Community members and graduate students will be a part of mentored research teams in each study fieldsite.