The Vulnerable North? Risk and Resilience in Alaskan Coastal Communities

大量研究表明，北极圈和亚北极地区容易受到从气候变化到经济危机等一系列威胁的影响。然而，人们对这些评估如何与北方人保持一致知之甚少？自己对脆弱性的看法和经验。这项为期三年的定性研究项目考察了阿拉斯加沿海社区的不同行为者群体如何形成关于环境和经济风险的知识。它进一步探讨了对风险知识的接触如何影响有助于复原力的社会行动模式。项目？S两个研究地点都是乡村渔区，阿拉斯加原住民和非原住民混居，但各自的风险概况略有不同：阿拉斯加西南部的布里斯托尔湾因拟议中的鹅卵石矿而陷入争议，而阿拉斯加东南部的锡特卡则有大量关于变化的生态系统的科学研究，可能是由于气候变化。在每个地点，一组研究人员将使用人种学方法，包括参与者观察和半结构化访谈，以确定社区居民以及居民和非居民专家和倡导者如何跨代发展、传播、接受和使用有关风险的知识。该奖项支持的研究将有助于风险学术研究，并为更适当地设计和交流措施以减轻风险和提高复原力提供基础。它还将连接自然科学和社会科学研究主题，与当地组织合作，并让利益攸关方参与知识生产。社区成员和研究生将成为每个研究现场指导研究团队的一部分。

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.