Planting seeds

Eric Nyquist

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A hub for Arctic warming research
Nowhere on the planet is warming as fast as the Arctic. But there is sometimes a curious disconnect between researchers and the people at the bleeding edge of this transformation, inhabitants of remote northern subsistence communities. “They had what they called ‘research inundation,’” recalls Ross Martin ’23MEM, a graduate student at the School of the Environment. “Someone described it to me as, ‘They want to show up, dig a hundred holes, and then leave.’” Martin and his fellow seed grant recipients wondered, what research questions might be drawn from these people’s own observations of their environment?

Since last July, Martin has been visiting remote Alaskan villages, far from the road network. He has been attending government meetings in subsistence communities, listening to what people are noticing about changing salmon runs, how the moose are dealing with ice on snow, what the streams look like. The goal is to create an online resource where scientists in the Yale network and beyond can learn what people on the ground are observing and what questions they think are worth exploring.  

“The well-being of the ecosystem is inextricably tied to their own well-being. These two things are bound together, and they have a real stake in the health of the Arctic,” says Martin. “Not only is it the right thing to do to include them in the research process, but it also enhances the work we can do.”