Last spring, researchers at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability's Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR) traveled to St. Lawrence Island and Nome, Alaska, to meet with community members, emergency responders, subsistence hunters, and local leaders to discuss the challenges of traveling on sea ice in a changing Arctic.

In Alaska, landfast ice is more than just a landscape, it’s a frozen highway and a lifeline for subsistence hunting. But as the Arctic changes, this vital coastal ice is becoming increasingly unpredictable. For many, it no longer follows long-held seasonal patterns, making it harder to know when it is safe to set a crab pot or travel between villages.

To help address these challenges, CIGLR and Northwest Planning, LLC hosted a series of community workshops across Western Alaska to support the development of an improved sea ice forecasting tool. On February 24–25, the project team traveled to St. Lawrence Island to host workshops in the Villages of Savoonga and Gambell. A third workshop followed on April 16-17 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Northwest Campus in Nome.

These workshops are helping shape a next-generation sea ice forecasting tool that combines advanced modeling with Indigenous knowledge to provide more accurate, locally relevant information for communities that rely on ice for transportation, hunting, and everyday life. The conversations highlighted the importance of co-developing tools with the people who use them and ensuring local expertise guides scientific progress.

Ayumi Fujisaki-Manome, associate research professor, is the main science principal investigator on the project. John McClure (MS '23), a member of CIGLR’s research engagement team, works alongside her to focus on bridging the gap between this complex science and practical community needs. 

Learn how these workshops are helping build safer, more resilient Arctic communities in this CIGLR blog post.