Achievement

Engagement of Indigenous Communities in Trainee Research. Matt Druckenmiller studies the effects of climate change on the dynamical motions of coastal sea ice. Through IGERT he has engaged residents of the Inupiat community of Barrow, Alaska in his research, learning from them about observations of recent changes in ice motion, the consequences of thinning sea ice on safety and patterns of over-ice travel, and the implications of these travel constraints on traditional harvest of seals and whales. He has also organized workshops in the community, particularly in schools, to foster a dialogue about what indigenous knowledge and western science contributes to improved understanding of ways that sea ice is changing and what this means to the local community.