Ph.D. Candidate selected to attend an international meeting of Arctic academics and practitioners in Washington, DC

Sustainability Management Ph.D. Candidate Kaylia Little recently returned from Washington, DC, where she attended a working meeting with 30 international academics and practitioners working in Arctic spaces. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together a diverse group of Arctic professionals to share current work, identify challenges to and opportunities for cross-border and cross-disciplinary collaborations. Attendees came from Canada, Sweden, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, and of course, the USA.

The Arctic is a critical region that is experiencing significant environmental, social, and economic changes due to climate change, which can have implications for the entire planet. As a result, there is a pressing need for collaborative research that involves diverse perspectives and disciplines to address the challenges facing the Arctic. The meeting provided a unique space for open discussions about the challenges of Arctic research collaboration, which is essential for promoting effective and meaningful research especially in a region that is traditionally successful at international cooperation.

After presenting current research projects, all participants identified points of collaboration across attendees. In addition to the workshop-style meeting, there were opportunities to network with Arctic public service employees in DC and hear from National Geographic archivists about their vast polar records.

The meeting was very successful with its goals of creating cross-disciplinary and cross-border networks. The groundwork was laid for joint publications and projects across the attendees at this initial meeting. The excitement of the meeting will continue with online collaboration that will be facilitated over the course of the summer before the group reconvenes in Alaska this fall.

Dr. Victoria Herrmann of Georgetown University organized the meeting through a National Science Foundation grant which created the Migration in Harmony Research Coordination Network.