About
Alaskan communities and their built environment are affected by permafrost thaw, coastal and river erosion, flooding, and other natural processes altered or accelerated by environmental changes. Arctic coastal communities in particular face compound threats from riverbank erosion, permafrost thaw, and increasing coastal storm impacts. As data collection campaigns in the Arctic are costly and often limited to periods of the year when weather affords access to sites of interest, significant gaps in data and information can result.
This NNA planning grant employs workshops designed to discover gaps in knowledge and develop associated research questions and hypotheses to address issues affecting coastal Arctic communities in Alaska. It identifies novel strategies for making targeted measurements in these challenging environments. This project also facilitates development of ideas for novel but feasible long-term data collection and monitoring strategies that encourage and rely upon local community engagement. Additionally, this project aids the development of a new multi- and interdisciplinary research team to open pathways towards future research efforts.
| Objectives |
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| 1. Develop hypotheses and questions that will guide research which will lead to a significant advancement of the relationship between natural coastal and riverine processes and the Arctic built environment, in the context of climate change. |
| 2. Identify effective data collection and monitoring strategies that enable continuous/frequent monitoring over longer periods and at more locations, to yield meaningful datasets about natural processes leading to long-term community adaptation. |
| 3. Identify the specific expertise and needs that will be required to investigate the hypotheses and research questions related to environmental impacts to the coastal built environment, and assemble a diverse and interdisciplinary research team to pursue new research efforts. |
| 4. Engage Arctic coastal communities and stakeholders in goals 1-3, and set the pathway for community and stakeholder engagement in future data collections and projects. |