Changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska

Indigenous Arctic and Subarctic communities currently are facing a myriad of social and environmental changes. In response to these changes, studies concerning indigenous knowledge (IK) and climate change vulnerability, resiliency, and adaptation have increased dramatically in recent years. Risks to lives and livelihoods are often the focus of adaptation research; however, the cultural dimensions of climate change are equally important because cultural dimensions inform perceptions of risk. Furthermore, many Arctic and Subarctic IK climate change studies document observations of change and knowledge of the elders and older generations in a community, but few include the perspectives of the younger population. These observations by elders and older generations form a historical baseline record of weather and climate observations in these regions. However, many indigenous Arctic and Subarctic communities are composed of primarily younger residents. We focused on the differences in the cultural dimensions of climate change found between young adults and elders. We outlined the findings from interviews conducted in four indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska. The findings revealed that (1) intergenerational observations of change were common among interview participants in all four communities, (2) older generations observed more overall change than younger generations interviewed by us, and (3) how change was perceived varied between generations. We defined “observations” as the specific examples of environmental and weather change that were described, whereas “perceptions” referred to the manner in which these observations of change were understood and contextualized by the interview participants. Understanding the differences in generational observations and perceptions of change are key issues in the development of climate change adaptation strategies.

“I know, therefore I adapt?” Complexities of individual adaptation to climate-induced forest dieback in Alaska

Individual actions to avoid, benefit from, or cope with climate change impacts partly shape adaptation; much research on adaptation has focused at the systems level, overlooking drivers of individual responses. Theoretical frameworks and empirical studies of environmental behavior identify a complex web of cognitive, affective, and evaluative factors that motivate stewardship. We explore the relationship between knowledge of, and adaptation to, widespread, climate-induced tree mortality to understand the cognitive (i.e., knowledge and learning), affective (i.e., attitudes and place attachment), and evaluative (i.e., use values) factors that influence how individuals respond to climate-change impacts. From 43 semistructured interviews with forest managers and users in a temperate forest, we identified distinct responses to local, climate-induced environmental changes that we then categorized as either behavioral or psychological adaptations. Interviewees developed a depth of knowledge about the dieback through a combination of direct, place-based experiences and indirect, mediated learning through social interactions. Knowing that the dieback was associated with climate change led to different adaptive responses among the interviewees, although knowledge alone did not explain this variation. Forest users reported psychological adaptations to process negative attitudes; these adaptations were spurred by knowledge of the causes, losses of intangible values, and impacts to a species to which they held attachment. Behavioral adaptations exclusive to a high level of knowledge included actions such as using the forests to educate others or changing transportation behaviors to reduce personal energy consumption. Managers integrated awareness of the dieback and its dynamics across spatial scales into current management objectives. Our findings suggest that adaptive management may occur from the bottom up, as individual managers implement new practices in advance of policies. As knowledge of climate-change impacts in local environments increases, resource users may benefit from programs and educational interventions that facilitate coping strategies.

Contemporary population genetic structure and phylogeography of pink salmon

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Did the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami increase the risk of species invasions along the Gulf of Alaska?

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Criminal Case Processing of Sexual Assaults in Alaska

Discretion plays a role in nearly every facet of the American criminal justice system. It is widely regarded as necessary to do justice but is not without criticisms – especially when it leads to unfavorable or disparate treatment. The role of discretion in sexual assault cases has been particularly scrutinized. Since the majority of sexual assaults do not fit stereotypic beliefs about what constitutes a “real rape” and “genuine victim,” criminal justice officials use their discretion to filter these cases out of the justice system. This study explored this issue by examining two stages of the criminal justice process: the police decision to refer cases for prosecution and the prosecutorial decision to accept referred cases. In doing so, it contributes to this body of literature in three ways. First, it included sexual assault cases that involve Alaska Native victims and suspects. Second, it addressed a gap in the theoretical scholarship by examining the downstream nature of police decision-making. And finally, it examined the formal reasons prosecutors give for charge dispositions. This study found a significant amount of attrition of sexual assault cases as they progressed through the criminal justice system. Moreover, a combination of legally relevant and extralegal factors was found to be important, but not consistently across all types of sexual assaults. Among legal factors, the number of victim injuries was the most consistent predictor. Among extralegal factors, cases that involved Alaska Native suspects had significantly higher odds of case referral and case acceptance compared to white suspects. The effect of suspect race was particularly pronounced in cases with a white victim. Additionally, the findings suggest that not only are Native American defendants more likely to have their cases referred by police, but once referred, they are also more likely to have them accepted for prosecution. Contrary to expectations, victim-suspect relationship, specifically non-stranger assaults, increased the odds of police referral compared to stranger cases. However, the opposite appears to be true for the decision to prosecute cases. Once referred, prosecutors were five times more likely to accept sexual assaults perpetrated by strangers. The implications of these findings are also discussed.

Technology, mining methods and landscapes of a placer mining district in Fairbanks, Alaska, 1900-1930

Placer miners in Alaska’s interior were part of the last great gold rush in North America. As word of gold in the Fairbanks Mining District traveled down the Yukon River, a wave of miners from the Klondike placer fields in Dawson, along with a assortment of speculators and inexperienced green horns from the Lower 48 converged on the confluence of the Tanana and Chena rivers hoping to strike it rich. The steamers coming from Dawson were integral; they carried miners with experience working the frozen subarctic placer deposits of the Klondike. These miners encountered new environmental challenges that required the development of new technologies and mining methods to efficiently harvest gold. These methods and machines were brought into Fairbanks and further perfected to account for the local conditions. This thesis describes the local mining technologies and methods employed in the Fairbanks district and the landscape patterns created during the placer mining boom years of 1903-1909, decline years of 1910-1923 and recovery of 1923-1930.

Experimentation of mitigation techniques to reduce the effects of permafrost degradation on transportation infrastructures at Beaver Creek experimental road site, Alaska Highway, Yukon

Les méthodes de design et de construction des routes développés dans le sud canadien ont maintenant besoin d’être adaptés aux environnements nordiques du pays afin de prévenir le dégel dramatique du pergélisol lors de la construction d’une nouvelle route. De plus, le réchauffement climatique occasionne présentement d’importants problèmes de stabilité des sols dans le nord canadien. Ces facteurs causent des pertes importantes au niveau des capacités fonctionnelles et structurales de l’Alaska Highway au Yukon sur un segment de plus de 200 km situé entre le village de Destruction Bay et la frontière de l’Alaska. Afin de trouver des solutions rentables à long terme, le ministère du transport du Yukon (en collaboration avec le Federal Highway Administration du gouvernement américain, Transports Canada, l’Université Laval, l’Université de Montréal et l’Alaska University transportation Center) a mis en place 12 sections d’essais de 50 mètres de longueur sur l’autoroute de l’Alaska près de Beaver Creek en 2008. Ces différentes sections d’essais ont été conçues pour évaluer une ou plusieurs méthodes combinées de stabilisation thermique telles que le drain thermique, le remblai à convection d’air, le pare-neige / pare-soleil, le remblai couvert de matières organiques, les drains longitudinaux, le déblaiement de la neige sur les pentes et la surface réfléchissante. Les objectifs spécifiques de la recherche sont 1) d’établir les régimes thermiques et les flux de chaleur dans chacune des sections pour les 3 premières années de fonctionnement ; 2) de documenter les facteurs pouvant favoriser ou nuire à l’efficacité des systèmes de protection et ; 3) de déterminer le rapport coûts/bénéfices à long terme pour chacune des techniques utilisées. Pour ce faire, une nouvelle méthode d’analyse, basée sur la mesure de flux d’extraction de chaleur Hx et d’induction Hi à l’interface entre le remblai et le sol naturel, a été utilisée dans cette étude. Certaines techniques de protection du pergélisol démontrent un bon potentiel durant leurs 3 premières années de fonctionnement. C’est le cas pour le remblai à convection d’air non-couvert, le remblai à convection d’air pleine largeur, les drains longitudinaux, le pare-soleil / pare-neige et la surface réfléchissante. Malheureusement, des problèmes dans l’installation des drains thermiques ont empêché une évaluation complète de leur efficacité.

FAB-MAP + RatSLAM : appearance-based SLAM for multiple times of day

Appearance-based mapping and localisation is especially challenging when separate processes of mapping and localisation occur at different times of day. The problem is exacerbated in the outdoors where continuous change in sun angle can drastically affect the appearance of a scene. We confront this challenge by fusing the probabilistic local feature based data association method of FAB-MAP with the pose cell filtering and experience mapping of RatSLAM. We evaluate the effectiveness of our amalgamation of methods using five datasets captured throughout the day from a single camera driven through a network of suburban streets. We show further results when the streets are re-visited three weeks later, and draw conclusions on the value of the system for lifelong mapping.

A Novel Approach to Haptic Tele-operation of Aerial Robot Vehicles

We present a novel, simple and effective approach for tele-operation of aerial robotic vehicles with haptic feedback. Such feedback provides the remote pilot with an intuitive feel of the robot’s state and perceived local environment that will ensure simple and safe operation in cluttered 3D environments common in inspection and surveillance tasks. Our approach is based on energetic considerations and uses the concepts of network theory and port-Hamiltonian systems. We provide a general framework for addressing problems such as mapping the limited stroke of a ‘master’ joystick to the infinite stroke of a ‘slave’ vehicle, while preserving passivity of the closed-loop system in the face of potential time delays in communications links and limited sensor data

Spherical image-based visual servo and structure estimation

This paper presents a formulation of image-based visual servoing (IBVS) for a spherical camera where coordinates are parameterized in terms of colatitude and longitude: IBVSSph. The image Jacobian is derived and simulation results are presented for canonical rotational, translational as well as general motion. Problems with large rotations that affect the planar perspective form of IBVS are not present on the sphere, whereas the desirable robustness properties of IBVS are shown to be retained. We also describe a structure from motion (SfM) system based on camera-centric spherical coordinates and show how a recursive estimator can be used to recover structure. The spherical formulations for IBVS and SfM are particularly suitable for platforms, such as aerial and underwater robots, that move in SE(3).

A practical implementation of a continuous isotropic spherical omnidirectional drive

This paper presents a continuous isotropic spherical omnidirectional drive mechanism that is efficient in its mechanical simplicity and use of volume. Spherical omnidirectional mechanisms allow isotropic motion, although many are limited from achieving true isotropic motion by practical mechanical design considerations. The mechanism presented in this paper uses a single motor to drive a point on the great circle of the sphere parallel to the ground plane, and does not require a gearbox. Three mechanisms located 120 degrees apart provide a stable drive platform for a mobile robot. Results show the omnidirectional ability of the robot and demonstrate the performance of the spherical mechanism compared to a popular commercial omnidirectional wheel over edges of varying heights and gaps of varying widths.

Hierarchical fuzzy logic traffic control at a road junction using genetic algorithms

Traffic control at a road junction by a complex fuzzy logic controller is investigated. The increase in the complexity of junction means more number of input variables must be taken into account, which will increase the number of fuzzy rules in the system. A hierarchical fuzzy logic controller is introduced to reduce the number of rules. Besides, the increase in the complexity of the controller makes formulation of the fuzzy rules difficult. A genetic algorithm based off-line leaning algorithm is employed to generate the fuzzy rules. The learning algorithm uses constant flow-rates as training sets. The system is tested by both constant and time-varying flow-rates. Simulation results show that the proposed controller produces lower average delay than a fixed-time controller does under various traffic conditions.

Peggy Shaw's "RUFF"

Peggy Shaw has always had a host of crooners, lounge singers, movie stars, rock and roll bands, and eccentric family members living inside her. Ruff is a tribute to those who have kept Shaw company over the last 68 years, a lament for the absence of those who disappeared into the dark holes left behind by her recent stroke, and a celebration that her brain is able to fill the blank green screens with new insight. The original set and media environment for RUFF was conceived during a Split Britches residency hosted at QUT from June-August 2012, funded by Arts Queensland. After a preliminary season at Out North in Alaska RUFF premiered at Performance Space 122 2013 COIL festival, PS122 @ Dixon Place, New York in January 2013 and has since toured to the Chelsea Theatre in London and the Arches Festival in Glasgow. Co Written and Performed by Peggy Shaw, Co Written and Directed by Lois Weaver, Original Music Composed by Vivian Stoll, Choreography by Stormy Brandenburger, Set and Media Design by Matt Delbridge, Lighting Design by Lori E Said.

Assessing the damage caused by deepwater horizon : not just another Exxon Valdez

In light of the high stakes of the deepwater horizon civil trial and the important precedent-setting role that the case will have on the assessment of future marine disasters, the methodologies underpinning the calculations of damage on both sides will be subjected to considerable scrutiny. Despite the importance of the case, however, there seems to be a pronounced lack of convergence about it in the academic literature. Contributions from scientific journals frequently make comparisons to the Ixtoc I oil spill off the coast of Mexico in 1979; the legal literature, by stark contrast, seems to be much more focused on the Exxon Valdez spill that occurred off the shores of Alaska in 1989. This paper accordingly calls for a more thorough consideration of other analogs beyond the Exxon Valdez spill—most notably, the Ixtoc I incident—in arriving at an assessment of the damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Lower respiratory infections in Australian Indigenous children

Despite Australia being one of the wealthiest countries of the world, Australian Indigenous children have a health status and social circumstance comparable to developing countries. Indigenous infants have 10 times the mortality rate for respiratory conditions. The lower respiratory infection (LRI) rate in Australian Indigenous children is at least as high as that of children in developing countries; the frequency of hospitalisations of Indigenous infants is triple that of non-Indigenous Australian infants (201.7 vs. 62.6/1000, respectively). While Indigenous Australian children have many risk factors for LRIs described in developing countries, there is little specific data, and hence, evidence-based intervention points are yet to be identified. Efficacy of conjugate vaccines for common bacterial causes of pneumonia has been less marked in Indigenous children than that documented overseas. Gaps in the management and prevention of disease are glaring. Given the burden of LRI in Indigenous children and the association with long-term respiratory dysfunction, LRIs should be addressed as a matter of priority.