February 14, 2022, by admin

The Sitka Sound Science Center and its local, regional, and national partners are pleased to announce that the National Science Foundation has awarded a grant to develop natural hazard monitoring and warning systems in tribal communities throughout Southeast Alaska. 

The team for this project which is called KUTÍ (the Tlingit word for weather) includes the communities and tribal representatives from Sitka, Yakutat, Haines, Skagway, Hoonah, Craig, and Kasaan; Central Council Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, RAND Corporation, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, as well as Sitka Tribe of Alaska, USDA Forest Service, National Weather Service, Alaska Division of Geology and Geophysical Services and U.S Geologic Survey. 

The National Science Foundation grant from the Coastlines and People program, will develop a co-produced regional system for warning residents of events that might lead to flooding, avalanches, and landslides. The new five-year, $5 million project is based on distributed sensors and predictive models of the impacts of extreme weather events in Southeast Alaska. It will study the impacts of atmospheric rivers on this region’s coastlines. Already one of the rainiest regions on the planet, the thirty rural communities of Southeast Alaska, spanning 18,000 miles of coastline, are experiencing extreme weather events with more frequency, as a result of climate change. These weather events put the safety of people and the stability of infrastructure at risk. 

Traditionally, Indigenous people planned subsistence food gathering according to astute observations of the weather but changes in climate are interfering with traditional gathering. KUTÍ is founded on community leadership in: identifying priorities; selecting observation sites; being part of installation and maintenance teams; and moreover, in creating the community-based systems that will provide the data upon which local warnings can be created.  Additionally, KUTÍ will build on existing successful engagement programs meant to excite Indigenous students in STEM disciplines and empower Tribal Citizens. 

This project builds on the experience of a National Science Foundation research project that is creating a community-based landslide warning system in Sitka. 

For more information contact Ron Heintz at rheintz@sitkascience.org