CTD ocean measurements
Read about our latest work in the new Winter 2021 AAOKH Newsletter!
The latest AAOKH News is headed to mailbox holders in AAOKH communities – read it here first!
The Winter 2021 newsletter highlights:
- key observations over the past summer and fall, including evidence of killer whales in the Beaufort Sea
- recent weather and climate patterns
- perspectives from Billy Adams in Utqiagvik, in the Observer’s Corner section
- student updates, including opportunities to participate in a survey about changes in fish that supports Elizabeth Mik’aq Lindley’s student research
- updates on monitoring at spotted seal haulouts, trail mapping of Utqiagvik spring whaling trails, and AAOKH’s support of a new project led by the Native
We’re hiring! New Post Doctoral Position!
The Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub (AAOKH) at the International Arctic Research Center and University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) seeks a Post Doctoral Fellow interested in applied transdisciplinary data science. We are searching for early career researchers interested in collaborative approaches to improve the relevance and usefulness of community-based environmental observations across coastal Arctic Alaska. AAOKH is a sustained and year-round community-based monitoring network established in 2016, following on a predecessor program called the Seasonal Ice Zone Observing Network that was founded in 2007. A foundational goal is to develop partnerships with residents of Arctic Alaska to facilitate knowledge Read full story
Learn more about AAOKH via the virtual 2021 Alaska Marine Science Symposium
The virtual Alaska Marine Science Symposium is happening online this week. Each day features panel discussions and keynote events broadcast live at their conference site and over social media, including facebook live.
Thursday’s focus is the Arctic region. Panel discussions on each day include Indigenous perspectives from the region or representation from Indigenous-led organizations. AAOKH is sharing two presentations at the conference: an overview pre-recorded presentation about our project and a poster summarizing the long-term whaling trail mapping near Utqiaġvik.

Full panel Read full story
Winter 2020 AAOKH Newsletter published online and in the mail!
We’re excited to share the latest edition of the AAOKH newsletter, which should also soon be arriving in the mailboxes of AAOKH communities!
Learn more about summer-fall observations and environmental conditions, new student and staff additions to our team, perspectives from our observers, and other great features.
Read it online here!

AAOKH contributes article to ARCUS Witness Community Highlights
Alaska Arctic communities are the “first responders” to experience and detect changes in the environment given their deep connections to place and integral reliance on traditional resources. Here’s how we are working together to track changes: a story we provided to ARCUS for the Witness Community Highlights series.
Quyanaqpak and Taikuu to our authors: Donna D.W. Hauser (UAF); Joshua Jones (UAF); Robert (Bobby) Puya Schaeffer, AAOKH Observer, Kotzebue, Alaska; Billy Adams, AAOKH Observer, Utqiaġvik, Alaska; Matthew L. Druckenmiller (University of Colorado Boulder); Roberta Tuurraq Glenn (graduate student in Geography at UAF); Elena Bautista Sparrow (UAF); and Hajo Eicken (UAF). Read full story
AAOKH presentation at the Alaska Forum on the Environment
We were thrilled to have a full room at our Alaska Forum on the Environment 2020 presentation! A copy of our presentation can be downloaded here (sorry the videos and animations don’t play in this version – contact us for copies).
It was a pleasure and privilege to share observations and information about AAOKH. Taikuu and quyanaqpak!! Graduate student Roberta Glenn made the room stop with her Iñupiaq introduction and then told us about her upcoming coastal erosion monitoring research, Kotzebue Observer Bobby Schaeffer made clear the “unheard of” ice and ocean conditions in his region during 2019, UAF climatologist Read full story
AAOKH presents webinar, Tues. Dec 3, 10 am
Tomorrow Dec 3, at 10 am, join AAOKH Science Lead Donna Hauser, Sea Grant’s Gay Sheffield, and UAF’s Rick Thoman for a summary of 2019’s notable observations and conditions from the Bering and Chukchi Sea regions. Key observations and measurements by AAOKH observers will be featured in this webinar.
Click here for more details on how to join by phone or computer. A full recording should be available by checking back at the link at a later date. Read full story
New AAOKH Newsletter published
AAOKH poster shared at the Arctic Futures 2050 meeting
AAOKH will be presenting community-based observations of Arctic Change today at the Arctic Futures 2050 meeting, which has a goal to bring together “Arctic scientists, Indigenous Peoples, and policy makers jointly exploring the knowledge needed to inform decisions concerning the Arctic in coming decades.” Although it’s on East Coast time (4 hr earlier than AK), you can live stream or watch recordings of the sessions later at this link: https://www.searcharcticscience.org/…/conference-2019/stream. Read full story
Newsletter Fall 2018
The Fall 2018 newsletter is now available!
Read about the work we are currently doing, our steering group, and ways to get involved with our work:
AAOKH newsletter 2018 Read full story