Winter 2026 Newsletter

hillside with caribou herd

We are excited to share our latest edition of AAOKH News!  In this issue Bobby Schaeffer offers his observation and reflection of ex-typhoon Halong alongside Rick Thoman’s weather and climate highlights.  We highlight results from graduate student Meaghan Conner research exploring spotted seal haulout behavior near Utqiaġvik and introduction to one of our new collaborations…

Trails to the Whale: a new book documenting nearly 20 years of mapping sea ice trails near Utqiaġvik, Alaska

skin boat on lead edge

Each spring, Iñupiat hunters route and build trails across the shorefast sea ice off Utqiaġvik, Alaska to access hunting sites along the lead edge as they pursue the bowhead whale during its spring migration to the Beaufort Sea. Since 2007, an ongoing collaboration between whalers, scientists, and local organizations have worked together to map and…

Kimberly Kivvaq Pikok defends her M.S. Thesis

Kim Pikok

We are so proud of Kimberly Kivvaq Pikok, who defended her Master of Science Thesis in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Fairbanks Alaska on October 1, 2024. Kim delivered her defense titled “Centering community and joy through co-production: Tracking the seasonal changes of Utqiagvik’s spring whaling” from her Iñupiaq homelands in Utqiagvik, Alaska with…

Winter 2024 AAOKH newsletter

polar bear in sitting position on ice

We are excited to share the Winter 2024 edition of AAOKH News, from the Alaska Arctic Observatory & Knowledge Hub (AAOKH).  Another jam-packed edition, highlights include: And you can always track the latest observations on our Facebook page. 

AAOKH puts Indigenous perspectives front and center in essay for the international Arctic Report Card

Roberta Glenn presenting at podium

AAOKH contributed to the international 2023 Arctic Report Card supported by the US National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In our essay “Nunaaqqit Savaqatigivlugich: Working with communities to observe the Arctic”, AAOKH Project Coordinator and Commuity Liaison Roberta Tuurraq Glenn-Borade took the lead to describe environmental changes reported by observers, impacts to their communities and…

Hot off the press: check out our Winter 2023 newsletter!

Polar bear walking through water with seagulls in front

We are excited to share the latest edition of AAOKH News, from the Alaska Arctic Observatory & Knowledge Hub (AAOKH). This will be sent in print to all mailbox-holders in AAOKH communities, but you can read it online here! This edition is jam-packed, featuring summaries of: 

Kimberly Kivvaq Pikok recognized as one of 50 people changing the world!

Image of Kim Pikok holding a fish and one standing in a boat on shore

We are so proud of UAF graduate student Kimberly Kivvaq Pikok, who was recently honored by the Explorers Club as one of 50 people changing the world! Her research at UAF with AAOKH, Tamamta, and her community of Utqiaġvik is pushing the dial on putting community first in conservation science. Keep up the good work…

Explore our new StoryMap to learn about Arctic change from the perspective of AAOKH observers

Billy Adams standing on sea ice during sunset

Announcing the launch of a new online product sharing ‘Insights from Coastal Arctic Indigenous observers,’ expertly curated by Roberta Tuurraq Glenn as part of her M.S. degree at University of Alaska Fairbanks. As explained in the StoryMap: “Community-based observations from AAOKH observers offer insight into the impacts of rapid Arctic environmental change from a local…