ISN in the News
Welcome to our Announcement & News page. This is a great spot to get some more context and background of ISN's latest work, news highlights, articles, announcements, and more!
ACSPI and ISN Received $2.3 Million from Biden-Harris Administration Investments to Build a Climate-Ready Workforce
June 12, 2024
Expanding and strengthening the Tribal and Indigenous workforce for climate resilience in Alaska Tribal Government of St. Paul Island: $2,306,004. This project aims to address the demand for climate-resilient monitoring programs and local workforce development in Alaska by leveraging existing capacity within the Tribal Government of St. Paul Island’s Indigenous Sentinels Network offsite link, the Bering Sea Research Center and a partnership with IḷisaÄ¡vik College, Alaska’s Tribal college. This collaborative effort will engage a diverse network of climate service practitioners, including Indigenous community leaders, state agencies, academic institutions, and nonprofits. The network will support climate resilience workforce development that incorporates Indigenous knowledge of climate research in the development of Indigenous-led environmental monitoring programs.
See the complete NOAA press release here.
Citizen’s science program aims to fill data gaps in Alaska’s waters
March 9, 2023, by Tracy Sinclare in Alaska's News Source
Skipper Science is a citizen’s science program that asks fishermen in Alaska’s waters to take observations and report them. It’s one of 12 citizen science environmental monitoring programs within the Indigenous Sentinels Network. “Skipper Science specifically works with fishing and commercial fishing industries and communities across the state of Alaska,” Indigenous Sentinels Network Coordinator Hannah-Marie Garcia said.
2023 Annual Report for Skipper Science Now Available
February 2023
New report available for the Skipper Science Partnership program - an environmental monitoring effort powered by ISN that aims to connect fishermen with scientists and researchers in an effort to build climate-resilient fisheries.
Smartphone apps help rural Alaskans monitor effects of warming climate
January 13, 2023 Yale Climate Connections
Smartphone apps help rural Alaskans monitor the effects of a warming climate. Check out this short interview by Yale Climate Connections about the Indigenous Sentinels Network!
Call for Proposals
Our ISN RFP is available! Click the link below to download the RFP and apply by Nov. 15, 2022
​Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 Montréal Side-event: Promoting knowledge and rights of Arctic Indigenous Peoples through Community-Based Monitoring
December 15, 2022
ISN presented at a hybrid side-event at the CoP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montréal. The event focused on discussions about Arctic Indigenous Peoples living in and observing the Arctic environment year-round. The event presented a review of the capabilities, good practices, opportunities, and barriers of community-based environmental monitoring programs in the circumpolar region, with a focus on decision-making for resource management. The event was organized by: the Council of Yukaghirs Elders, Yakutia; CSIPN, Russia; and NORDECO, Denmark. The moderators are Rodion Sulyandziga, CSIPN, and Finn Danielsen, NORDECO.
Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management
December 2022
ISN presented at a Workshop on ‘good practice’ in the use of local and scientific knowledge for informing natural resource management in Aasiaat, Greenland, 29 Nov. – 1 Dec. 2022
Seal pups on St. Paul Island. (Photo courtesy of Justine Kibbe)
Seal hunting regulations on St. Paul Island show a new path for federal marine mammal protection
October 30, 2022 by Claire Stremple, KTOO
A recent article showcases how St. Paul's seal hunting regulations are leading the way in showing how co-management can improve conservation outcomes for wildlife and the communities and people who depend on them.
ISN Expands Work with Skipper Science Partnerships Program
June 21, 2021
ISN underwent an expansion phase as we transition to Indigenous Sentinels Network. Today we are excited to announce a partnership with the Salmon Habitat Information Program, SHIP, and commercial fishing industry partners, to launch a new Skipper Science Program! Skipper Science kicks off this summer with on-the-water climate observations that will document commercial fishermen’s ecological observations, including changes in fisheries and ocean conditions. One of Skipper Science’s key tools is a smartphone app from the ISN app suite that allows fishermen to log observations in real-time from the fishing grounds — meaning they will become citizen scientists cataloging conditions that may be related to climate change.
Expanding Community-Based Monitoring to Address Rapid Environmental Change
October 2020
The Northern Latitudes Partnerships are collaborating with the Aleut Community of St. Paul to help expand the Indigenous Sentinels Network to provide remote Indigenous communities with tools, training, networking and convening, coordination, and new capacity for ecological, environmental, and climate monitoring.
Tribes and Canadian First Nations see real potential for self-determination through the data they collect, own, and manage—while agencies see the potential to collaborate with communities to address their need for observations in remote locations where rapid changes are occurring. The Tanana Chiefs Conference has piloted efforts under the framework this summer in order to expand community-based monitoring in interior Alaska.
Coastal Erosion App Created
2017
New program being testing with the coastal erosion monitoring app now available in Apple and Google Play stores.
Seaduck and Gull Survey App Created
2016
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Tribal Wildlife Grant for Establishing Long-Term Trends of Winter Seaducks, Gulls, and Beachcast Birds on the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. The app was designed to collect trend survey data of winter seaducks and gulls on St. Paul Island, Alaska. The goal is to establish the local capacity to create scientifically valid long-term data sets on aspects of local biology that directly impact the traditional Unangam lifestyle. Through this project, we developed strong working partnerships involving various degrees of technical assistance with both the USFWS Refuge and COASST program.
Seabird Die-Off Events: ISN and COASST Parternship
2015
Need a way to record what you see on our beaches - whether it's dead fish, birds, marine mammals, erosion, or any other observations? We have an app for that! The Citizen Sentinel app works on iOS or Android devices. ISN is receiving reports of observations of summer migrating birds and dead birds on our beaches, such as crested auklets, red-legged kittiwakes, murres, and pigeon guillemots. In addition, you can learn more about how to do consistent beach surveys by being a part of COASST - Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team. COASST and ISN have been working together to help collect coastal data by training communities to share their observations.
