NNA Community Newsletter

March 2023 Issue

• Save the Date: 2024 NNA Annual Community Meeting
• New Resource Available: Connecting Arctic Priorities (CAP) Portal
• Arctic Together Podcast Episode 2 Launched
• Announcing "Nuna" - the Arctic Together Zine
• NSF Inviting Supplemental Funding Requests from Active NNA Awards
• Polar STEAM Fellows Opportunity
• NNA Project Highlight - Exploring the Benefits and Challenges of Community-Powered Connectivity in the New Arctic
• Upcoming Events

Save the Date: 2024 NNA Annual Community Meeting

Please mark your calendars for the next NNA Annual Community Meeting! The meeting will be held March 5-7, 2024 at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

New Resource Available: Connecting Arctic Priorities (CAP) Portal

Arctic Together Podcast Episode 2 Launched

The NNA-CO Community Extension Office at Alaska Pacific University is excited to share Episode 2 of the Arctic Together podcast series—a podcast that centers Indigenous story, community-based research and what it means to be "Arctic Together." This episode features discussion with Rayanna Seymour-Hourie and Summer Tyance, both Anishinaabekwe, who are transforming environmental decision-making and strengthening legal protection for the environment through collaborative legal strategies that bridge Indigenous and Canadian law. The Arctic Together podcast is available on all streaming platforms and you can visit the podcast website to view the show notes and resource guide for further reading.



Have feedback, suggestions or comments for the hosts or ideas for future episodes? Contact Karli, NNA-CO Indigenous Engagement Coordinator, at ktyancehassell@alaskapacific.edu. 

Announcing "Nuna" - the Arctic Together Zine

A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. The NNA-CO’s Nuna Zine is a digital/printed magazine that features stories and creative contributions from the NNA community and beyond to strengthen sharing and knowledge exchange.The target audience for the Nuna Zine is Arctic Indigenous community members. Printed copies are mailed to Alaska Native Village Council offices and schools.

Read the first Arctic Together Nuna Zine issue here.

Call for Nuna contributions! The next issue of Nuna will feature all things salmon! Do you have a story about salmon or subsistence you would like to share? Does your research involve salmon habitat, food security related to salmon, or a favorite salmon recipe? We are accepting contributions such as personal essays, poetry, resource and research project overviews, as well as narratives that feature cultural influence and impact. Research assistants, graduate students, and community partners are encouraged to contribute! The deadline to submit is April 31, 2023. Please contact James Temte at jtemte@alaskapacific.edu for story/article guidelines. 

NSF Inviting Supplemental Funding Requests from Active NNA Awards

Through June 1, 2023, NSF NNA Principal Investigators (PIs) are eligible to apply for supplemental funding for the following types of needs for active NNA awards. Supplemental funding requests must follow the guidance offered by the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG, NSF 23-1).

• CLB – Career-Life Balance: To support continuity of NNA-funded projects when investigators are on family leave

• FASED – Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities: To support continuity of NNA-funded projects involving investigators with disabilities



• Standard: To support continuity of NNA-funded projects facing unforeseen logistical or budgetary hurdles

NSF strongly advises investigators to discuss plans for supplement requests with their cognizant program officer prior to submission. NNA PIs should have received an email from NSF about supplemental funding requests on Jan. 4, 2023.

Polar STEAM Fellows Opportunity

Exploring the Benefits and Challenges of Community-Powered Connectivity in the New Arctic

Throughout the Arctic, communication remains a vital need and critical issue.The Exploring the Benefits and Challenges of Community-Powered Connectivity in the New Arctic investigates how the Arctic community of Ulukhaktok makes use of existing connectivity solutions and explores the potential role of locally-owned networks in similar small hamlets. The project team traveled to Ulukhaktok in July 2022 and held meetings with key stakeholders, who gave permission to install equipment on the roof of the Community Hall and supported installation activities. These activities included installing a network on the roof of the community hall and then using a cell phone to conduct range-testing experiments. 

The team also carried out an initial set of interviews with residents which provided baseline information on current Internet quality and uses and thoughts on the benefits and challenges associated with expanding Internet access. Interviews identified several possible avenues for future research projects, including the creation of software for documenting local language and culture, the development of STEM training at the local high school, and the use of the Internet to support telemedicine and e-commerce. Youth and teachers seemed particularly interested in the possibilities presented by the project, although support for the work seemed very broad. The project team was also present in the community for both Internet and cellular outages, allowing them to observe the social impacts of poor Internet quality. Since 2022, Starlink has arrived in the Arctic and has been deployed in the Hamlet. The team will return in the summer of 2023 to finish the network installation and explore the rapidly changing connectivity environment.



For more information, please contact Kurtis Heimerl at kheimerl@cs.washington.edu. 

Figure 1: Spencer Sevilla doing coverage testing outside of Ulukhaktok.

Indigenous Evaluation Training

• Spring 2023