Signs of the Land: Reaching Arctic Communities Facing Climate Change (ReAC) Academy will explore the PoLAR Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) activities and climate change information through the cultural lens of Arctic communities in Alaska. Participants will attend a four-day camp to gain insight and an understanding about local climate change observations and knowledge from participating Alaska Native elders, and learn about climate change interactive activities and resources. Participants will design an individual plan to share and adapt the activities to fit the needs of their particular community. Designed for Alaska Native educators, local leaders and planners, and rural community members. Click here to view and download the event flyer.

Academy facilitators: Dr. Elena Sparrow, Princess Lucaj and Malinda Chase

Academy elder advisors: Trimble Gilbert, Roy David and Sam Demientieff

Language and landscape documentation: Linguists will work with elder-speakers individually to collect and document language and traditional knowledge related to the land. 

Maximum number of participants: 14

Travel award: Participants may apply for limited travel assistance to participate in the ReAC Academy. Click here to download the travel assistance policy and application.

Camp Participation: This academy will be held as a four-day/three night camp at Howard Luke’ Gaalee’ya Camp on the Tanana River near Fairbanks, Alaska. Participants will need to bring their individual tent, camping gear and utensils.

Day Participation: Day participation will be considered on a case-by-case basis. There will be one boat pick-up time at 8:00am and one drop-off time approximately 7:00pm, following the dinner meal.

Boat transportation: Boat transportation to the camp will be provided from Perkins Landing.

Outreach requirement and stipend: Participants will develop an outreach plan or lesson to share what they have learned about climate change, cultural knowledge about the environment and the academy resources. A stipend of $500 will be awarded to participants who complete the outreach and dissemination requirement.

Optional university credit: Two University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) credits for $90. This course starts in July, however is a fall 2014 credited course.

Project partners: The Signs of the Land: Reaching Arctic Communities Camp Academy is through a partnership between the Association of Interior Native Educators,  University of Alaska Fairbanks International Arctic Research Center (IARC), Gwich'in Steering Committee and Doyon Foundation under the Polar Learning and Responding (PoLAR) Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) through Columbia University. Partners include Columbia Climate Center, Barnard College, Teachers College, the American Museum of Natural History, University of New Hampshire, and Ken Eklund. To learn more visit: www.thepolarhub.org. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DUE-1239783, with additional funding for language documentation from Doyon Foundation.