RSI Research Seminar

Join us every other Monday at noon for lunch and a 30-minute research talk, presented by Resnick Sustainability Institute Graduate Fellows and Caltech researchers funded by the Resnick Sustainability Institute. To see the full schedule of speakers, visit the RSI Research Seminar web page. Seminars currently take place in a hybrid format, both in-person (in the new Resnick Sustainability Center building!) and via Zoom. For more information and to get the Zoom login info, please reach out to [email protected]

Community Engagement in Rural Alaska: Developing capacity for planning and adapting to riverbank erosion and its consequences in the Yukon River Basin

As part of a pair of complementary projects supported by RSI and NSF, Caltech researchers have been engaging with local communities in rural Alaska to study bank erosion and carbon fluxes in the Yukon River watershed. Over several years, we have completed multiple field campaigns in Alakanuk (Yukon Delta), Beaver (Yukon Flats), and Huslia (Koyukuk River), in which we have collected samples, deployed monitoring equipment, measured river and bank properties, measured soil and water gas fluxes, and met with community members. In collaboration with the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, we are working together with the Alakanuk Traditional Council, the Beaver Village Council, and the Huslia Tribal Council to learn about geochemical and geomorphological processes in these complex discontinuous permafrost landscapes and to help communities plan for future river conditions. In this presentation, we will describe some of the field campaigns and our collaborative work with local communities, including community meetings, visits to local schools, and participation in a career fair and a traditional culture camp.