The Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies

My name is Willow Jackson, and I’m from a small island called Kake, which is located in Southeast, Alaska. I’m currently a junior, attending California State University and I’m getting my bachelors degree in Environmental Sciences with a Coastal and Marine emphasis. One of my main goals in life is to work in ocean conservation, that way I can bring ocean conservation back to Kake and aim to work the oceans healthier and more sustainable for my people who are reliant on the oceans of our way of life.

This summer, I was able to dabble in the social science aspect of my aimed career by working with the CICOES internship at the University of Washington. I had the incredible opportunity of working with my amazing mentor, Sarah Wise, who works with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Along with working with Sarah, I also got to work with her amazing Social Science Team, which included: Jessica Reynolds, Melissa Parks, Rebecca Ingram, and Jennifer Brave. Our project was on Diminishing Salmon Runs and Effects on Communities: Exploring the climate impacts and adaptation responses of Salmon Subsistence fisheries in the Northern Bering Sea. The purpose of our project was to explore the climate impacts and adaptation responses of salmon subsistence fisheries in the Northern Bering Sea and the Yukon. We did this by reviewing narrative sources of data(including oral accounts, reports, grey literature, social media, and organizational meeting notes) to document community-level observations specific to social and ecological shifts and effects on salmon subsistence and well being. We created annotated bibliographies with pre-selected literature, read and elaborated on key literature that was vital to our project, and we transcribed key interviews that involved interviewing people in the Northern Bering Sea area that have been directly impacted by climate change. We were able to enter and classify our sources and bibliographies through Zotero, which is a free online reference library.

Our work this summer contributed vital information regarding the effects of diminishing runs on cultural cohesion, food security, and community wellbeing in the Western Alaska region. This project felt extremely special to me, because I feel like I already was able to work on a project that is already making a difference in my community and within my Alaskan native peoples way of life. This was an unforgettable research experience, and I feel extremely blessed to have been a part of the 2022 CICOES internship program.

Project introduction

Research poster