Interdisciplinary Studies
Recent Submissions
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Centering community and joy through co-production: tracking the seasonal changes of Utqiaġvik’s spring whalingUsing mixed methods and multimedia approaches, I investigated the multigenerational perspectives and seasonal changes in Utqiaġvik’s spring whaling. As an Iñupiaq living in my home community of Utqiaġvik, it was important to me to center my community’s knowledge and Iñupiaq-led entities. I used various tools and resources such as conducting semi-directed interviews, hiring a local Iñupiaq videographer to take photos and videos of spring whaling preparations, and using observational data from the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub. The interviews, conversations with local Iñupiat-led entities and whalers, and the observational data guided my research goals and objectives and, more importantly, determined what key whaling events to research and analyze. Here, I am combining these techniques and resources to address the seasonal changes of our spring whaling key events (e.g., breaking trail) in the context of coastal Iñupiaq communities of northern Alaska and how we can use observations from our Indigenous Knowledge holders to inform scientists and managers of what is happening during spring whaling. In my research, science communication and community engagement occurred concurrently. Therefore, my thesis presents two chapters and a video project, all using excerpts from the interviews and footage and photos from museum archives and the videographer. The two main objectives of this research were communicating the observations of seasonal changes of Utqiaġvik’s spring whaling and centering Inupiat voices and resources. This research embodies significant Indigenous Knowledge and centers hunter and whaler experiences. As an Iñupiaq resident of Utqiaġvik, I hope the research will uplift Indigenous Knowledge and center it in decision-making. Indigenous Knowledge is critical for understanding change in the Arctic.
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Russian use of smart power to achieve Northern Sea Route objectivesThis dissertation examines Russia's use of smart power in pursuing its strategic objectives for the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in the Arctic. Through three interconnected articles, it analyzes how Russia combines soft and hard power approaches to assert control over the NSR and legitimize its claims. The first article challenges Russia's legal justification for NSR control by presenting new data on sea ice conditions and navigational risks. The second article explores how Russia's military posture in the Arctic has evolved in response to geopolitical shifts, particularly NATO expansion. The third article investigates Russia's strategic communication efforts to shape international perceptions of the NSR. Drawing on smart power theory, the dissertation demonstrates how Russia integrates legal, military, and informational tactics to advance its interests. It argues that Russia's smart power strategy aims to establish customary law status for its NSR policies, secure a maritime defensive buffer, and maintain regional dominance. The research contributes to broader understandings of smart power dynamics in international relations, offering insights for policymakers and scholars on the interplay of hard and soft power in achieving geopolitical objectives. By examining Russia's multifaceted approach to the NSR, this dissertation reveals the complex strategies employed by states in navigating the changing global landscape and evolving nature of power in the 21st century.
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Exploring the COVID-19 infodemic in AlaskaThe onset of the COVID-19 global health crisis coincided with an unprecedented rise in health misinformation and false narratives related to the disease. This simultaneous spread of accurate and inaccurate information, referred to as an infodemic, has had observable impacts on the trajectory of the pandemic and the future of public health. While health misinformation has been a factor in previous outbreaks, the increased prominence of social media as an information platform allowed misinformation to spread more widely and rapidly than ever before. This investigation aims to assess the impacts of COVID-19 misinformation in Alaska using a mixed methods approach. The first study uses a machine learning model to describe themes from popular public-facing Alaska-based Facebook pages in which posts or comments containing misinformation proliferated. The second study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief educational intervention in lowering vaccine hesitancy using an online, randomized controlled trial survey. The final study uses a One Health framework to explore how the circulation of false, incomplete, and excessive information affected professionals responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings from these studies offer insight into infodemic dynamics in Alaska, including trends in online misinformation, the need for highly targeted, coordinated communication strategies, and the challenges posed by misinformation across response sectors. First-hand knowledge of the effects of the infodemic revealed a direct impact on the community, professional practice, mental and physical health. The erosion of trust in science and public health along with the unprecedented politicization experienced during the pandemic not only impaired the immediate response but appears to have lasting repercussions on the field of public health. By leveraging these findings, we can enhance emergency preparedness for future public health threats with an informed, proactive, and nimble response.
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Analyzing vegetation effects on snow depth variability in the Caribou Poker Creeks Research Watershed, AlaskaSeasonal snowpack plays a critical role in hydrologic and ecologic processes. In boreal forest regions snow depth is known to be markedly different across land cover types. Identifying the vegetation metrics responsible for possible snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) spatial variability continues to be a challenge. Airborne lidar has advanced our understanding of links between forest snow distribution and vegetation impacts. This study analyzes high resolution (0.5 meter) lidar data sets acquired during NASA's SnowEx field campaign in Alaska and compares them statistically across the vegetation metrics of land cover class and lidar-derived canopy height. Airborne lidar data was collected for a boreal forest site, the Caribou Poker Creeks Research Watershed (CPCRW), during snow-off and peak snow-on accumulation in March of 2022 and May of 2023. Lidar snow depth (98 ± 15 cm) and canopy height maps, both at 0.5 m resolution, were created from lidar data sets. Lidar snow depth and canopy height maps were resampled to 1.5 m resolution to account for spatial autocorrelation. A total of 85.9 million lidar snow depth and canopy height values were available for this study. Three subsets totaling 6.1 million snow depths and canopy heights were processed to run the analysis. A USGS National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2016 map of Alaska was used to determine land cover classes. Extensive in situ field snow depth measurements were collected concurrently with the peak snow-on lidar survey and were used to validate lidar accuracy. Analysis results from the three subsets showed statistically significant differences in median snow depths for all land cover classes and canopy height (p < 2.2e-16). Statistical comparison within land cover classes showed the largest significant difference in snow depths between shrub and deciduous forest (6-15 cm) and shrub and wetlands (7-14 cm). For canopy height classes, forest and treeless (12-14 cm) and forest and shrub/short stature trees (SSS) (8-14 cm) had snow depths that were significantly different. This thesis will further summarize results on quantifying snow depth variability between land cover and canopy height classes within boreal forests using NASA SnowEx Alaska data.
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Nurturing teacher agency to influence teacher professionalism through teacher action researchThe research described in this study sought to understand how teacher agency was influenced by engaging teachers in action research-based professional development. Teacher agency is a critical component of teacher professionalism and nurturing teachers to recognize and enact greater agency has the potential to elevate the profession of teaching. A mixed methods methodology was employed to study the lived experience of six teachers who engaged in teacher research in a rural Alaskan school district. The research addressed this overarching question: How does engaging teachers in action research-based professional development about their professional practices influence teacher agency? In addition, data was collected to understand these supporting research questions: 1) How does participating in the action research-based professional development influence teachers' professional practices? 2) How does participating in the action research-based professional development influence collaborative practices? Findings and results suggest that the teachers' agency was influenced in the following ways: teacher engagement, knowing impact, empowerment by trust, and critical consciousness. Findings and results suggest that the teachers' professional practices were influenced in the following ways: intention and design, research capacity, determining impact, and dispositions. Findings and results suggest that the teachers' collaborative practices were influenced in the following ways: shared experience and a culture of willingness to learn. Convergence was observed between qualitative results and quantitative findings. Implications for influencing teacher agency through specific contextual conditions of professional learning and development are discussed and recommendations for the direction of future research.
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The influence of play as positive emotion on engagement and self-regulated learning in an online higher education classroomStudent demand for online learning is at an all-time high, making the identification of practical strategies for supporting student success in online learning more vital than ever. Positive emotion has been shown to promote self-regulated learning (SRL) and engagement, both evidenced predictors of student success. However, little is known about designing online learning environments to elicit positive emotion in students. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of play-infused learning design on SRL and engagement in an online, higher education classroom. This study is based on the premise that play is a positive affect emotional system that stimulates approach behaviors for the purpose of broadening an individual's thought-action repertoire, thereby preparing them to build intellectual and social resources that contribute to their ability to survive future challenges. The study used a mixed-methods approach to add to the current understanding of the ability of play, when it is designed into the higher education learning environment, to influence student engagement and SRL. In addition to three student surveys, data generated during normal course activities, primarily in the form of recorded student reflections, were analyzed using the systematic text condensation method. The thematic analysis provides insight into how play in the online environment resulted in student perceptions of enjoyment, fun, happiness, lowered stress levels, and social connection. These elements are discussed in relation to enhanced student engagement and SRL. The results of the study provide initial evidence that it is both possible and desirable to leverage the power of play in the design of higher education online learning environments to support student success.
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Climate security and scale: climate change risk and security as an all-scales, all-of-society challengeClimate security as an emerging field of study seeks to connect the substantial security-related challenges faced under climate change, and the ways in which climate change re-prioritizes issues at all scales of governance, and throughout all parts of society. This dissertation explores these perspectives to better understand how climate security differs from past approaches in security, and how climate change requires new paradigms to consider local, national, regional, and international assessments on risk and security. Through three papers, this dissertation assesses local approaches toward shifts in natural hazards through computational modeling, explores regional and global governance challenges that generate ethical and security concerns through attempts to mitigate climate impacts via geoengineering, and identifies current limitations on risk and security dialogues, particularly where conflict and disasters intertwine. The final paper also proposes a new conceptual model to advance approaches on assessing critical failure, the limits of mutual aid, and the assessment of "just securitization" when a referent of analysis faces significant impacts from disruptive events. This dissertation connects these issues of scale and dimensions of security to present climate security as a deeply interconnected and widely impacting issue that requires common framing and dialogues to prioritize capacity and understand limitations of future adaptation.
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Project management by the people, for the people, and of the people: context, challenges, and prospects for adoption of e-government tools to monitor execution of public infrastructure projects in NigeriaAn abundance of failed or abandoned public infrastructure projects contributes to Nigeria's poor quality of life and economic development. The project management process for public infrastructure projects in Nigeria is opaque to the public and has not benefited from active public stakeholder involvement. This study investigated from a public perspective, (i) factors driving the public to participate effectively, (ii) moderating effect of using e-government tools on the public's willingness to participate effectively, (iii) factors influencing the willingness of the public to adopt e-government tools and approaches to effectively participate, and (iv) current level of public participation in monitoring the execution of public infrastructure projects in Nigeria. Using questionnaire surveys and statistical analysis, the study found that the following conditions were required for active public participation to occur: (i) the public has access to and control of information on projects, (ii) the public has the power to control the agenda and influence decision making, (iii) structures are available for the public to engage with the project team and government on issues concerning public infrastructure projects, and (iv) adoption of e-government tools to public participation, as a moderating factor. It also found that, despite the low level of public infrastructure in Nigeria, the Nigerian public is ready and open to adopting e-government tools and platforms to participate in monitoring the execution of public infrastructure projects in Nigeria. This study presents new models for the participation of the public as a stakeholder group in project management. It recommends devolution of power to the public, creation of structures for public participation, enhancement of public access to information on projects, and deployment of e-government tools and approaches, such as having an interactive project website for the public to engage with the project team and government officials. This is anticipated to incentivize the Nigerian public as a stakeholder group to be more actively involved in public infrastructure project development.
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Indigenous self-determination in co-production of knowledgeAnalyzing and comprehending co-production of knowledge (CPK) in the context of working with Arctic Indigenous communities on climate change research is the main goal for this interdisciplinary doctoral dissertation. CPK is shared decision-making on every step of the research process with research partners from communities, agencies, or organizations. CPK with Arctic Indigenous communities requires dedicated consideration of equity, ethics, cultural worldviews, and colonization. Key concepts from Indigenous critical methodologies are used to analyze both the CPK theory and implementation. CPK has the potential to be an ethical space to question the status quo of research processes and support Indigenous self-determination. Critiquing NSF's Navigating the New Arctic as a case study, there were many missteps in not following CPK in the development of the program and projects, along with not following United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (Ch. 2). There are significant lessons to be learned from the literature on collaborative methodology, including Indigenous methodologies. Through synthesis work, a model was developed compiling factors of success to achieving CPK along with a discussion of perspectives on those factors and success metrics. The objective of the synthesis work is the development of tools to support transparent communication and co-design of research projects (Ch. 3). CPK happens in-between the boundaries of disciplines, cultures, and science-policy-community. Thirteen experts in boundary spanning co-produced lessons-learned and recommendations based on their expertise and experiences. The project co-produced strategies to overcome funding barriers and the cultural divide to Alaska Native communities utilizing a boundary analysis framework (Ch. 4). Applying the CPK and boundary spanning concepts, themes of success in improving Arctic observing were developed from homogenous focus groups. With thirty-four participants representing scientists, science coordination experts, policy experts, and Indigenous community leaders and scholars, co-analysis was impractical. Following the Rapid Assessment Process utilizing focus groups, themes of success and corresponding science and Indigenous perspectives were developed (Ch. 5).
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Marine methane: sources and potential adverse effectsRecently, there has been an increase in the occurrence of incidents involving spills of oil and natural gas, such as methane. The world experiences at least one major spill in each decade. An illustrative case is the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. This catastrophe resulted in the discharge of about 205.8 million gallons of oil and 225,000 metric tons of methane gas into the Gulf of Mexico. More recently, in 2022, the Nord Stream pipeline leak occurred, which was the largest single methane release ever recorded. It released up to 500K tons of methane underwater, a greenhouse gas with a significantly higher potency than carbon dioxide. Due to the Deepwater Horizon incident, mammals, sea turtles, birds, fish, and invertebrates were adversely affected and caused damage to the corals. More than 90 bird species died, and 1300 miles of shoreline became polluted. The fishing industry suffered a significant reduction. This study systematically reviewed the source and impact of methane in the marine environment, utilizing 271 peer-reviewed academic publications, eight non-peer-reviewed sources, and 44 online resources. In the marine environment, methane can come from various sources such as methane hydrate, methane seeps, pockmarks, mud volcanoes, microbial activities, and anthropogenic sources or human-induced activities. Sediment typically contains methane from methane seeps, methane hydrates, mud volcanoes, and microbial activity. In the water column, methane is produced from diffusion from hydrates, seeps, hydrothermal vents, and thermogenic and anthropogenic sources. On the other hand, air-water interface methane comes from the atmospheric exchange or diffusion from the water column or sediment. In marine water, methane undergoes various reactions. Methane reacts with oxygen, producing carbon dioxide in aerobic conditions. Conversely, in anaerobic conditions, methane is anaerobically oxidized, coupling with sulfate reduction mediating by sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanotrophic archaea. These microorganisms, bacteria, and archaea derive the majority of their carbon and energy from methane, and they can proliferate their number where they find excess methane. However, excess methane can create anoxic conditions by reducing oxygen concentration. Invertebrates utilize methane through a symbiotic relationship with methane-consuming microorganisms. Moreover, the marine ecosystem exhibits complex interdependencies among the organisms and methane.
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Preserving reflections of ourselves: the past, present, and future of Alaska's museumsWhile museums are very good at collecting, preserving, documenting, and interpreting the histories of our communities, we have not done a very good job with our own histories. No comprehensive publication holistically examines the development of museums in Alaska, let alone looks critically at the "big three" (Alaska State Museums, University of Alaska Museum of the North, and the Anchorage Museum) with a goal of establishing a connection between the historical context, the individuals who shaped those museums, and the institutions' current states of being. This dissertation uses the academic fields of history, museology, and ethnography to discover and analyze how we find ourselves in the current state, while offering suggestions for moving ahead in a positive way. In this dissertation I examine the past, present, and future of Alaska's museums. I do this by first assembling a more complete history of the "big three" using archival primary sources, published literature, and interviews. Second, I examine the current state of museums with their strengths and challenges through a combination of literature review, interviews, surveys, and participant observation. Finally, I consider the way Alaska's museums might respond to the changes facing museums around the world by reflecting on current museological literature, current events, and examining two case studies based on my work at the University of Alaska Museum of the North located on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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Elitnaurilleq piciryaramtenek qanemcitgun: a participatory teacher action research study to improve language and literacy instruction in a Yup'ik immersion schoolElitnaurilleq Piciryaramtenek Qanemcitgun: A participatory teacher action research study (Teaching our way of life through stories) is participatory action research involving four Yugtun immersion teachers investigating first and second grade Yugtun reading and language instruction through lesson study. Lesson study involves a group of educators collaboratively implementing teacher action research to investigate a problem area in their teaching. The research questions that guided our investigation include: How can teachers' involvement in a Participatory Action Research (a) contribute to their own professional development; (b) improve their language teaching; and (c) generate new strategies for teaching reading based on Yugtun language principles? Data collections included video recordings of our sessions, the journal entries of the participants, and audio recording of the interviews. Data were analyzed using Constructivist Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2014). Primary categories that emerged were: Selecting vocabulary words; organizing lesson that help students make meaning from text; How and when to teach vocabulary words; Recognizing differences between Yugtun and English morphology in relation to language and literacy instruction. Each of these categories are addressed in terms of a professional development inservice and a workshop series designed to involve teachers in continued lesson study.
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Collaborative dialogue for Ellangellerkaq and crosslinguistic awareness in third grade Yugtun English bilingual research centers: a teacher action research studyMost bilingual programs are built around a clear separation between the two languages used throughout the school day. However, in bilingual research centers (BRCs), a key component of the Gomez and Gomez Dual Language Enrichment model, students can choose which language to use. This is what sparked my interest, because I wanted to understand more clearly how bilingual students use language to problem-solve language issues. My research question is "How do third-grade students use collaborative dialogue in Yugtun and English in bilingual research centers?" This qualitative teacher action research study took place in a Nelson Island, Toksook Bay third-grade dual language classroom. Out of the twelve students, there were nine Yup'ik-first language speakers and three were English-first. I focused on a bilingual group of two Yup'ik-first language speakers and two English-first speakers. The students ranged from low to high proficiency levels in language. Data collection spanned nine months and included video recordings, audio recordings, student artifacts, and field notes. I used video recordings to transcribe students' use of the Yup'ik and English language. First, I identified language-related episodes (Swain, 2000). Then I employed constructive grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014). I found that students more frequently engaged in collaborative dialogue when producing language, for example when writing about what they know or what they have learned. The students' collaborative dialogue while writing often focused on letter-sound correspondences, especially when those differ between the two languages used in the classroom. In talking about language issues, the students are actively engaged in their own learning. All involved students learn something about the language they or others are using. Crosslinguistic awareness, which examines the similarities and differences between two or more languages, emerged as a significant area of focus both for students and also for their teachers. One key recommendation is that bilingual teachers should collaborate with other teachers to create opportunities for students to engage in collaborative dialogue, which has the potential to build students' crosslinguistic awareness. Monolingual and bilingual teachers alike also need to develop crosslinguistic awareness to better understand their students' language production and support language development in both languages. Teacher action research calls one to further action, and that is the action plan. My action plan is to use data and finding from this study during a 3-day teacher inservice for teachers of bilingual students. During the inservice teachers will be invited into an inquiry process by examining selected language-related episodes from this research in order for them to develop crosslinguistic awareness through carefully listening to and observing the learning process of bilingual students.
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Communicating remote sensing surveys of aufeis in northeast Alaska with land managersWith an area of over 19 million acres, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is situated in the northeastern region of Alaska and stands as the largest federally protected refuge in the United States. The region supports a variety of wildlife and plants and is culturally significant to the indigenous populations of nearby Iñupiat and Gwich'in villages who rely on the land and wildlife for their way of life. The discovery of oil near this region in 1968, prompted local, state, and federal interest in understanding the oil and gas potential of the region. Oil and gas surveys in the 1980s estimated that a portion of the Arctic Coastal Plain, known as the "1002 Area", could contain more than seven trillion barrels of recoverable oil, making it one of the largest deposits in the world. In 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which mandated lease sales and the development of an environmental impact statement (EIS) to understand the potential impacts of an oil and gas program within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The purpose of this research is to effectively communicate to resource managers about spatial and temporal changes in aufeis distribution in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Aufeis fields are important features of rivers and streams in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that often form downstream from perennial groundwater springs. Over the course of a winter, these fields of ice can grow to be tens of kilometers long, kilometers wide, and up to ten meters thick. Perennial springs and aufeis play a crucial role in maintaining the hydrologic system during winter by contributing liquid water, which not only supports fish habitat but also ensures a consistent water supply during summer, thus enhancing connectivity along aquatic migratory corridors. At locations identified by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as perennial groundwater springs or known fish habitat, a remote sensing analysis of Landsat data was performed. Landsat imagery was analyzed during the melt season (May 14th - August 15th) between 1985 and 2021 to determine seasonal and interannual changes to the overall aufeis extent and the melt rate of aufeis. Based on the available imagery, aufeis between 2010 and 2021 appears to be melting at a significantly faster rate than between 1985 and 2009. An ArcGIS StoryMap was developed to effectively communicate this analysis by allowing users to interact directly with geospatial data. In presenting information in this format, scientific information is effectively communicated to resource managers to help inform their decision making process in a way that is relevant to known problems, is credible by conforming to scientific standards of rigor, and is legitimate by presenting information in an unbiased manner.
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Comparison of Arctic Alaska historical snow data with satellite-derived benchmarks and model results using ILAMB softwareUnderstanding and modeling the permafrost system, hydrologic cycle, energy balance, and biologic systems in the Arctic are dependent, in part, on snow depth and snow distribution. Point-source snow measurements provide ground-truth observations of snow depth and snow water equivalent, although these measurements may be limited in their spatial and temporal distributions. Satellite-derived remote sensing products and gridded model output provide spatial coverage of snow properties, but their applicability is affected by their balance of resolution, computational speed, and accuracy confidence. The goal of this research is to assess the performance of three snow data products derived from remote sensing techniques as well as model output across the North Slope of Alaska with the International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) Project software. Historic ground-based snow data, collected by agencies, academia, and industry, and dating from 1902 to 2021, was curated to create an ILAMB-compatible benchmark dataset for end-of-winter (EOW) snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) for the evaluation of the three snow data products: Canadian Sea Ice and Snow Evolution (CanSISE) network SWE; Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) snow depth; and Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) Earth Land Model (ELM) snow depth. The ILAMB evaluation results showed that the ABoVE data product is effective in providing the average EOW snow depth for regions of the North Slope but lacks representation of interannual and spatial variability of snow depth. Comparatively, the CanSISE data product and ELM results are inaccurate in magnitude for applicability across the North Slope of Alaska in addition to lacking representation of snow condition spatial variability. In interpreting ILAMB results, factors to consider were representation bias from inconsistent benchmark site distribution throughout the evaluated time period, the range of dates considered to represent the spring snow data, and uncertainty within the individual benchmark values. Future analysis of the same datasets with ILAMB could include diagnostic tests to understand the sources of error better. Thorough spring snow data collection should continue on the North Slope of Alaska to inform and improve Earth System Models.
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Among the Dene: Allen's 1885 trans-Alaska expeditionIn 1885, U.S. Army Lieutenant Henry T. Allen crossed Alaska for the purpose of obtaining all information "valuable and important," especially to the military branch of government. The following year, the Secretary of War submitted Allen's much-anticipated report of a reconnaissance in Alaska to the U.S. Senate. Although the Senate ratified a treaty transferring Russian America to the United States nearly two decades earlier, and Alaska had been a Russian colony for over a century, the interior of Alaska - the homeland of Alaska's Dene people - remained largely unknown to the outside world. With constant assistance while traveling among the Dene, Allen surveyed twenty-five hundred miles of Dene territory including the Copper, Tanana, and Koyukuk Rivers. From the North Pacific, the Dene guided Allen across the Alaska Range and north to the Arctic Circle, then west to the Bering Sea. Though scholars then and now have recognized Allen's expedition as the most comprehensive exploration of Alaska and the earliest documentation of Dene lifeways in much of Alaska's Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, this dissertation presents the first scholarly work entirely focused on the expedition. An interdisciplinary approach and narrative history provide the framework for evaluating the expedition's place in U.S. and Alaska history, particularly regarding Allen's noteworthy interactions with Indigenous peoples and his ethnographic and cartographic contributions. With Dene support, Allen recorded the social and physical environment throughout much of Alaska's interior prior to direct colonial influences and resultant rapid and irrevocable change. The expedition's primary sources, combined with documented Dene perspectives, illustrate positive Indigenous-military relations. Mutually respectful interactions between Allen and Alaska's Dene who played an integral role in the expedition's success remain a legacy of the expedition. The character traits that contributed to Allen's success in 1885 eventually led to his selection by General Pershing and President Wilson to lead America's occupation in Germany following World War I. Whether mediating conflict in Europe or managing complex cross-cultural encounters along North America's borderlands during his trans-Alaska expedition, Allen's respectfulness and humanitarianism serve as a benchmark for positive civil-military relations.
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Cartography, territory and empire mapping the Alaska boundary dispute, 1821-1903In the wake of the Klondike gold rush of 1898 a long-simmering dispute over the boundary between Alaska territory and British-America (Canada) rose to a boil. The disagreement between the United States and England was a combination of imperial arrogance, geographic ignorance, administrative neglect, and diplomatic brinksmanship. At every step the dispute was fueled by colonial cartography and served an eventual European/Euro-American hegemony over the indigenous Tlingit people. In this dissertation, a series of three papers will describe and analyze the precursors and resolution of the Alaska Boundary Dispute in part by employing novel methods of analysis of historical maps that the respective colonial powers used to establish their sovereign claims and then re-introduced as evidence in the 1903 tribunal. The research in this project examines the transformation and reordering of geographic knowledge through the employment of cartography of the Northwest Coast, but also reveals by deductive analysis of the same maps the underlying power struggle between colonial Europeans and Indigenous Americans. Colonial cartography contributed to a competition for imperial space on the Northwest Coast and the analysis of colonial mapping reveals a legacy of geography mediating history, maps creating territory, and the power of geographic knowledge.
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Understanding permafrost dynamics and geohazards with a terrain-cryofacies approachThe Arctic and its permafrost terrain are inherently dynamic, complex, and sensitive environments. Understanding the past and current changes occurring in these systems is key in predicting future variations, including the response of permafrost to climate change, and to terrain modifications resulting from natural processes or anthropogenic activities. This study contributes to advance our understanding of permafrost dynamics in varying permafrost environments of northern Alaska and northwestern Canada using a terrain-cryofacies approach. This unique approach helps to increase our understanding of permafrost dynamics from the site-specific scale to over extended areas by recognizing linkages between terrain and subsurface properties, and by identifying similar terrain units in remote sensing analysis. In the Colville River Delta (Alaska), our terrain-cryofacies study integrated data from 79 boreholes with a remote sensing analysis to evaluate the temporal changes in the Nigliq channel positions from 1948 to 2013 and the related permafrost dynamics. Most land cover changes occurred as land exposition (64%), whereas about 36% of the total changes were classified as eroded. The erosion of the older terrain units from the floodplain toposequence, such as the inactive-floodplain cover deposits, implied ground loss volumes of about one-fifth of soil solids and four-fifths of ground ice. Along this channel, we also identified the typical configuration and properties of taliks and cryopegs, as well as subsequent epigenetic permafrost growth. We found that the active channel was underlain by closed taliks, rather than through taliks and thus did not penetrate the entire layer of permafrost connecting supra- and sub-permafrost groundwater. A cryopeg connected to the active channel talik was identified from borehole data in the adjacent terrain units that developed following channel migration. We estimated the likelihood of encountering such taliks and cryopegs over extended areas. The terrain-cryofacies approach was also applied to understand permafrost dynamics of hillslope thermokarst located in multiple ecoregions of northern Alaska and northwestern Canada, including areas affected by interactions with infrastructure. Six features were studied through the combination of field-based and remote sensing methods, whereas 150 others were assessed solely by remote sensing. Studies along a pipeline indicated that embankment construction led to an increase in the active layer thickness, reaching the underlying ice-rich intermediate layer, and causing thaw settlement. This formed a thermokarst-ditch that facilitated channelization of cross-drainage water, and thermal erosion of the ice-rich permafrost that became affected by thermal denudation and caused a retrogressive thaw slump (RTS). The RTS later selfstabilized mainly due to the lateral discontinuity of massive ice (i.e., ice wedge) and the low-relief terrain. We suggested approaches to develop adaptation strategies for infrastructure at risk of RTS based on: these findings and conditions that favor or limit RTS growth by local feedbacks; considering the interaction patterns that we identified between RTS and infrastructure; and the main destabilization processes that we highlighted by terrain units. Further research is necessary, however, and must include testing potential mitigation techniques at multiple sites with monitoring programs to assess the variability in performance with respect to site-specific conditions.
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Rooted in environmental justice: phytogeography and ethnoecology of SerianthesSerianthes Benth. (Fabaceae) is one of the most endangered plant genera in the world, with 12 of the 18 species listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Serianthes trees are culturally important to island communities of the Indo-Pacific region for canoes, boats, traditional houses, and medicine. Habitat loss and ecosystem degradation increased pressure on these trees, also threatening its Indigenous cosmology and traditional practices. This interdisciplinary study integrated genomic, biogeographic and ethnoecological approaches to develop appropriate policies that protect the Indigenous biocultural diversity of Serianthes. Phylogenomics of 401 nuclear exons and non-coding flanking regions using both a multi-species coalescent model and a partition gene tree analysis confirmed the monophyly of the genus and inferred the biogeography and phylogenetic relationships within Serianthes. The Guåhan (Guam) and Luta (Rota) endemic Serianthes nelsonii (known locally as Håyun lågu and Tronkon guåfi respectively) are closely related to South Pacific species. Serianthes kanehirae from Belau (Palau) and Wa'ab (Yap) are closely related to Malesian and Papuasian species. Phylogeographical patterns of Serianthes in Micronesia are discussed to inform conservation management. The ethnoecological study revealed interspecies relationships between people, animals, and plants remain strong. The traditional use of Ukall and Gumor (Serianthes kanehirae) on Belau and Wa'ab respectively remain part of Belau and Wa'ab's culture and are intertwined with rituals respecting the spiritual world. On Luta, Tronkon guåfi is an established flagship for endangered species conservation, while the last adult Håyun lågu tree on Guåhan became a rallying point for spiritual resistance when its habitat became threatened by military plans to construct a firing range. Despite its listing as critically endangered by the Endangered Species Act, its habitat is still at risk of being lost. The social movement guided by Prutehi Litekyan brought the community together to protect the Håyun lågu tree based on Indigenous belief systems. The social movement and policy research used a qualitative mixed-method approach to evaluate the dimensions of the Endangered Species Act in relation to environmental justice and biocultural rights. I concluded that a bottom-up co-management approach with polycentric networks best fits the social-cultural system of Guåhan. I propose Indigenous participation and the creation of an advisory council, comprising traditional and scientific knowledge holders, to advise on biocultural diversity preservation in the Mariana Islands.
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Brooks Range perennial snowfields : mapping and modeling change in Alaska's cryospherePerennial snowfields, such as those found in the Brooks Range of Alaska, are a critical component of the cryosphere. They serve as habitat for an array of wildlife, some of which are crucial for rural subsistence hunters. Snowfields also influence hydrology, vegetation, permafrost, and have the potential to preserve valuable archaeological artifacts. In this study, perennial snowfield extents in the Brooks Range are derived from satellite remote sensing, field acquired data, and snowmelt modeling. The remote sensing data are used to map and quantify snow cover area changes across multiple temporal scales, spatial resolutions, and geographic sub-domains. Perennial snowfield classification techniques were developed using optical multi-spectral imagery from NASA Landsat and European Space Agency Sentinel-2 satellites. A Synthetic Aperture Radar change detection algorithm was also developed to quantify snow cover area using Sentinel-1 data. Results of the remote sensing analyses were compared to helicopter and manually collected field data. Also, a snowfield melt model was developed using an adaptation of the temperature index method to determine probability of melt via binary logistic regression in two dimensions. The logistic temperature melt model considers summer season snow cover area changes per pixel in remotely sensed products and relationships to several independent variables, including elevation-lapse-adjusted air temperature and terrain-adjusted solar radiation. Evaluations of the Synthetic Aperture Radar change detection algorithm via comparison with results from optical imagery analysis, as well as via comparison with field acquired data, indicate that the radar algorithm performs best in small, focused geographic sub-domains. The multi-spectral approach appears to perform similarly well within multiple geographic domain sizes. This may be the result of synthetic aperture radar algorithm dependency on backscatter thresholding techniques and slope corrections in mountainous complex topography. Results indicate that perennial snowfield extents in the Brooks Range are decreasing over decadal time scales, with short-lived, interannual and seasonal increases. Results also show that perennial snowfields are more persistent at higher elevations over time with notable consistency in at least one of the Brooks Range sub-domains of this study, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Climate change may be altering the distribution, elevation, melt behavior, and overall extents of the Brooks Range perennial snowfields. Such changes could have significant implications for hydrology, wildlife, vegetation, and subsistence hunting in rural Alaska.