Listening Sessions

We conducted a series of listening sessions through the Alaska CASC Tribal Resilience Learning Network. Our goals for the listening sessions included: 1) to provide opportunities for discussion of issues and concerns about berries by harvesters and resource decision makers throughout Alaska; 2) to promote listening and sharing between berry researchers and berry users; 3) to identify information for incorporation into berry species summaries to help address harvesters’ and resource decision makers’ concerns; 4) to identify areas for further research; and 5) to identify ways that berry observations and science can be shared to best help berry harvesters.

We held three sessions through Zoom and broadly advertised through the EPA IGAP network, AK CASC TRLN, statewide harvesting and environmental newsletters and social media (Harvesters of AK and Berry pickers of AK Facebook groups, for example), and our UAF berry monitoring and citizen/community science networks. Sessions were held on December 9, 2021 (1 - 2 PM AKST), January 24, 2022 (6 - 7 PM AKST), and February 9, 2022 (11 AM - 12:30 PM AKST) and had 61, 16, and 55 participants in each session respectively for a total of 132 participants in the listening sessions. An additional 45 people registered for the events and had access to the materials, but did not attend. The February session was held as a part of the Alaska Forum on the Environment annual conference. We varied the times to accommodate berry enthusiasts who are able to connect during the workday, and those who could only join after work hours. Across the three sessions people from 40 different rural and urban Alaskan communities attended.

Distribution of the 132 attendees participating in the Alaska’s Berries in a Changing Climate listening sessions December 9, 2021, January 24, 2022, and February 9, 2022. 


Session Series Organizers and Facilitators included:

·       Katie Spellman, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) International Arctic Research Center (IARC)

·       Krista Heeringa, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center, Tribal Resilience Learning Network

·       Malinda Chase, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center, Tribal Resilience Learning Network, UAF IARC

·       Christa Mulder, UAF Institute of Arctic Biology and Department of Biology and Wildlife

·       Lori Petrauski, NEON Thriving Earth Exchange Fellow

·       Jasmine Shaw, UAF Cooperative Extension, Sitka Outreach Center

·       Kitty LaBounty, University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka Campus

·       Megan Pittas, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center, Tribal Resilience Learning Network and Alaska Fellows Program, UAF IARC

·       Mike DeLue, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center, UAF IARC

·       Molly Tankersly, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center, UAF IARC

·       Laura Weingartner, UAF Institute of Arctic Biology and Department of Biology and Wildlife

·       Kristin Schroeder, UAF Institute of Arctic Biology and Department of Biology and Wildlife

During the sessions we shared our concerns about berries, actions we were taking or ideas we had to adapt to changes in berries in our communities, and ways that we wanted information about berries and climate change shared. Example concerns from our sessions are included below.

Example of shared questions and concerns about berries from a group of people from boreal forest communities  from one of the listening session break out rooms.

Preferences of attendees at berry listening sessions on how they would like information on berries and a changing climate to be shared.