NNA Community Newsletter

November 2023 Issue

• NNA-CO to host Tribal/Arctic Community Listening Session
• Call for Arctic Outreach Fair Flash Talks
• NNA-CO at AGU
• AGU Social for Polar Early Career Researchers
• IARPC Public Webinar Series: Fifth National Cliimate Assessment Alaska Chapter
• NNA Project Highlight: Socio-Ecological Considerations for SustAinable Fuel Treatments for Wildfire Risk Reduction (SAFRR)
• Upcoming Events

Call for Arctic Outreach Fair Flash Talks

Do you want an opportunity to connect your NNA project to Arctic community members and decision-makers across Alaska? The NNA-CO is hosting a session of NNA flash talks in the upcoming Arctic Outreach Fair that will take place as part of the Alaska Forum on the Environment (AFE) on February 7, 2024 at 2:00pm Alaska Time. AFE gathers environmental professionals from government agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, community leaders, and Alaska youth to discuss the latest projects, processes, and issues that affect the environment in Alaska. 

If you are interested in participating, please fill out the form below. If accepted, we will ask you to prepare a 3-minute flash talk about your project’s relevance to Arctic communities and what outreach opportunities you have to offer attendees. The session will be a hybrid event, with both in-person and online audience members. Your flash talk may be in-person, online, or pre-recorded. We will hold a practice flash talk session prior to the event.

Apply here for one of our 10 spots in the Arctic Outreach Fair by January 9, 2024 at 11:59pm MT. Any questions? Email alyse.thurber@colorado.edu.

NNA-CO at AGU

AGU Social for Polar Early Career Researchers

December 13, 2023 | 6:00-8:00pm PT

Are you an early career polar researcher going to the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting? Join other Arctic, Antarctic and high alpine researchers at a social co-hosted by PSECCO, Polar Impact and USAPECS, complete with snacks and a short intro to each of these organizations and how you can get involved and find support. The social will start in the Sierra AB room at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis (room courtesy of ARCUS, located by the Moscone Center) and then likely move on to another food or drinks place outside of the hotel. Learn more here.

IARPC Public Webinar Series: Fifth National Climate Assessment Alaska Chapter

November 29, 2023 | 11am-12pm AKT / 1-2pm MT / 3-4pm ET

Please join IARPC and the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) for a webinar about the Alaska chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5). Led by the USGCRP and written by over 500 experts, NCA5 describes the observed and projected impacts of climate change on a range of sectors and ten regions of the U.S. Speakers will provide an overview of the key findings of the Alaska chapter, and then will answer questions from participants. Learn more here.

NNA Project Highlight

Socio-Ecological Considerations for SustAinable Fuel Treatments for Wildfire Risk Reduction (SAFRR)

Since the 1990s, Alaska and western Canada have suffered dramatic increases in the amount of boreal forest burned each year. This area has experienced some of the largest and most costly wildfires in the last decade. A primary tool used by public land and wildfire practitioners is fuel treatments, which aim to reduce flammable vegetation on the landscape with the goal of reducing wildfire risk to an area. The goal of this project is to understand more about the effectiveness and social acceptance of fuel treatments.

To understand effectiveness, the project team is using fieldwork to explore the ability to permanently change areas treated from flammable fuels like spruce to deciduous species such as aspen. During Summer 2023 the team from the Mack Lab criss-crossed over 12,000 miles of the boreal forest to set up an experiment and conduct ecological surveys. 

Meanwhile, the Wildfire Research (WiRē) team is working on a collaborative, co-productive effort with the Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management, Central Emergency Services (Funny River), Cooper Landing Emergency Services, and Nikiski Fire Department to pursue research embedded in practice. The project prioritizes the collection and delivery of actionable data for the local partners. The work includes building local capacity to assess parcel-level wildfire risk and evaluating the trade-offs between conducting risk assessments in-field and leveraging the availability of aerial imagery. In the next project phase, household surveys will collect data on residents’ perceptions and experiences living with wildfire, including acceptance of fuel treatments on adjacent public lands. This Alaska work will be compared to similar research in the lower 48.

For more information about the project, contact Jennifer Schmidt at jischmidt@alaska.edu. 

Photo: Mack Lab students assessing fuel treatments on the Kenai Peninsula during the summer of 2023.  Photo credit: Nick Link.

Article and photo submitted by Jennifer Schmidt.

Upcoming Events

AGU Session on “Arctic Education & Outreach - Effective Ways of Engaging Diverse Learners in Arctic Science"

• December 13, 2023 | 8:30-10:00am PT

AGU Presentation on “Towards an 'Arctic Together': Supporting an Inclusive and Diverse Community through the Navigating the New Arctic Community Office"

• December 15, 2023 | 9:37-9:46am PT

Science Storytelling Series - Creating Virtual Tours with Infiniscope

• January 25, 2024 | 10am AKT / 12pm MT / 2pm ET

2024 NNA Annual Community Meeting

• March 5-7, 2024