Project abstract summaryproject title: building community-based monitoring partnerships between rural schools and wildlife refuges in alaska: focus on freshwater ICE, climate change, and beyondproject…

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) cooperative agreement, awarded under the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CFDA 15.820) program, will establish community-based freshwater ice monitoring partnerships between rural Alaska schools and nearby federal wildlife refuges. The $499,055 award from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2027 will empower K-12 students to work with USFWS staff to track local ice conditions and engage in STEM learning. Key activities include conducting a community needs assessment, developing an ice observation program, and delivering data products, community workshops, and a final report. The project aims to strengthen and expand an existing ice monitoring network to inform community safety, forecast hazards, and document climate change impacts. The University of Alaska Fairbanks, through its Grants and Contracts Administration Division, will serve as the prime awardee, leveraging its expertise in Arctic and climate science research to support this collaborative effort with rural Alaska schools and wildlife refuges.

Project abstract summaryproject title: building community-based monitoring partnerships between rural schools and wildlife refuges in alaska: focus on freshwater ICE, climate change, and beyondproject dates: 9 1 2024 through 8 31 2027AWARD purpose: people living in northern regions naturally pay attention to ICE andsnow. Whether to access traditional hunting grounds, transport fuel wood along river corridors, visit family upriver, or simply for recreation, alaskans care about when lakes and rivers freezeand thaw and if ICE is thick enough for travel. Long winters are generally becoming shorter, butalso with greater variability. For example, break-up of alaska rivers was exceptionally early IN2019, exceptionally late in 2013, and relatively late in 2023, and both late years saw severe ICE JAM flooding in some rural communities. Knowledge of these trends and extremes in freshwaterice dynamics comes from both government scientists and local community observers. A majorgoal of this project is to strengthen and expand ICE monitoring partnerships by specificallyempowering our most energetic and potentially long-term observers (i.e., students) to work with seasoned reliable scientists and educators (i.e., US fish and wildlife service staff). Revitalizing and modernizing a freshwater ICE observation network was the original objective of the fresh eyes on ICE project that began in 2019 by establishing community-based monitoring teams throughout alaska. Working with teachers and students to track local ICE conditions andengage in stem learning has made the program successful and helped IT to expand to newcommunities each year. A critical need for this observation network and its sustainability, however, is teaming schools with a local scientist to add support, expertise, and (mostimportantly) continuity.establishing and supporting new youth-centric partnerships will increase snow and iceobservations used to inform community safety, forecast hazards, and document responses toclimate change.activities to be performed: conduct a community and stakeholder needs assessment of ICE data needs and based on these results develop a freshwater ICE observation program for rural alaska communities associated k-12 schools and federal wildlife refuges.deliverables and expected outcomes: archived data products primarily in the form of icethickness, snow depth, and photographs made available through the arctic data center andfresh eyes on ICE website. The community needs assessment report, community workshops, and a final data report are also expected.intended beneficiary(IES): rural alaska communities, k-12 students and teachers in thosecommunities, USFWS researchers and staff scientists with national weather service and department of interior, climate scientists and researchers, resource managers, and the general publicsubrecipient activities: n a