TEK Talks

Overview

We are two graduate students from the Geophysical Institute (GI) and International Arctic Research Center (IARC) with career interests in working with Indigenous People. Wanting to learn more, we decided to develop a lecture series on fostering understanding among scientists in regard to working with Indigenous People.

Background

Alaska is home to 229 federally recognized tribes and with about 21% of Alaska’s general population being American Indian or Alaska Native. For geoscientists, Alaska is an exciting place to work: Alaska contains the largest ice mass outside of Antarctica and Greenland, the aurora borealis can be observed for several months of the year, it is home to 54 historically active volcanoes, forest fires are a common natural phenomenon, and dinosaur fossils can be found at the foothills of the highest mountain in North America. Yet, as recent letters addressed to the NSF Navigating the New Arctic NSF office have shown, there are still barriers that prevent Indigenous participation within Arctic research.

Our Learning Goals:

- to increase respect and understanding of Indigenous People, their culture, and their knowledge;

- to understand the terminology and be able to apply the principles such as appropriate research ethics when working with Indigenous People (including intellectual property, self-determination, equitable partnership, and transformative principles);

- to know where to find appropriate resources and to be able to reach out to others to make meaningful connections and to collaborate across UAF.