News

June 2010

ELOKA members will participate in the IPY Oslo Science Conference, both at the Polar Information Commons booth, as well as during the conference sessions.

• Shari Gearheard will co-convene the session “Polar observing systems”
• Tuesday 8 June, 16:00-17:30: Shari Gearheard will present “The power of multiple perspectives: The Siku-Inuit-Hila (Sea Ice-People-Weather) project”
• Wednesday 9 June, 11:30: Shari Gearheard, Peter Pulsifer, and Mark Parsons will present “The Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA): Data management services for local and traditional knowledge and community-based observations”
• Thursday 10 June, 11:15: Shari Gearheard will present “The Igliniit (Trails) Project: Combining Inuit knowledge and geomatics engineering to create a new observation tool for hunters”
• Thursday 10 June, 16:00-17:30: Peter Pulsifer will present “Inuit communities and Knowledge: Data management and knowledge stewardship in the circumpolar flaw lead system study”
• Thursday 10 June, 11:30: Peter Pulsifer will present “Creating an online cybercartographic atlas of sea ice: Technical design and implementation”

April 2010

Sanikiluaq Sea Ice Project Web site released
ELOKA is pleased to release its first product: the Sanikiluaq Sea Ice Project Web site. Sanikiluaq is one of the southernmost Inuit communities in Nunavut, Canada, and is located on the Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay. To help document changing sea ice conditions around the islands, members of the Sanikiluaq Sea Ice Project interviewed three hunters. The product Web site presents the resulting videos and maps describing each hunter's observations.

Residents Peter Kattuk (left) and Johnassie Ippak (right) are two of the hunters interviewed for the Sanikiluaq Sea Ice Project. Photo credit: Chris McNeave

March 2010

In March, ELOKA conducted a short community workshop involving participants from many different scientific domains and indigenous knowledge research organizations. Participants generally agreed on the need to create a pan-Arctic network supporting community-based monitoring and local and traditional knowledge of the Arctic. A major outcome of the meeting was a white paper submitted to the agency officials who attended the State of the Arctic Conference and the Sustained Arctic Observing Network steering group. View a PDF version of the resulting ELOKA White Paper.

January 2010

ELOKA Community Workshop
The ELOKA Community Workshop, Northern Meeting, will be held on 26-27 February in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. Attendees will conduct community reviews with Sanikiluaq and Narwhal groups; discuss community needs and feedback for ELOKA; and hold an ELOKA open house-type meeting with local community members. The Southern Meeting will be on March 1 in Ottawa, and attendees will discuss Northern Meeting results and future directions for ELOKA.

Inuit Knowledge Centre launched
Inuit Qaujisarvingat: the Inuit Knowledge Centre, was launched to address the gap between western science and Inuit knowledge, as well as to provide a way for Inuit to respond to a growing interest in the Arctic and Arctic issues. The aim of Inuit Qaujisarvingat will be to help Canada build on its inherent advantage as the steward of remarkable human and natural resources that are of vital global importance, help Canada fulfill its international obligations, and help Canada become a leader in the exchange and use of Inuit and scientific knowledge.

December 2009

ELOKA and the Sustained Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) have begun collaborating on an inventory of Local and Traditional Knowledge (LTK) projects in the Arctic. This inventory will be used in the development of a map-based, searchable directory of Arctic LTK-related projects.

August 2009

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded funds to NSIDC for the continued development of ELOKA. This new award will move ELOKA into a fully operational mode that will help data providers and communities acquire, manage, and preserve their data, and to provide user-friendly tools for searching, browsing, and accessing data through the ELOKA Web site or the data providers' sites as a means of access to all partner projects. The funding is part of a contribution to the NSF Arctic Observing Network.

June 2009

The ELOKA project team is working to complete the first two examples of data management for two ELOKA collaborators. These are expected for release later this year.

November 2008

Over 20 people representing Northern communities, organizations, and research projects met in Anchorage, Alaska, 11 and 12 November for the second ELOKA project workshop. The group discussed shared challenges and goals for data management of local and traditional knowledge, and worked together to create future priorities for ELOKA.

September 2008

ELOKA launches new Web site. Our new Web site lays the foundation to develop ELOKA tools and services, such as the up and coming searchable database tool, where users will be able to find information about LTK and community-based monitoring projects throughout the Arctic.

July 2008

Isuma TV is a new internet video portal for indigenous filmmakers that features unique, indigenous-language content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

April 2008

The "Silavut: Inuit Voices in a Changing World" exhibit opened April 15, 2008 at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History in Boulder, Colorado. A collaboration of CIRES' National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), the museum, and the community of Clyde River in Nunavut, Canada, the exhibit relates the story of climate change through Inuit eyes. It will show through March 15, 2009.

January 2008

Sanikiluaq, Nunavut Canada - ELOKA Project Manager Chris McNeave traveled to Sanikiluaq to act as an advisor to members of a planning committee developing a strategy and approach for a proposed regional environmental study combining scientific observations with LTK from surrounding Inuit and Cree communities.

Abisko, Sweden - ELOKA Co-Principal Investigator Henry Huntington traveled to Abisko to meet with project collaborators, discuss ELOKA and partner status, and collaborate with the Abisko Scientific Research Station and the Saami community.

December 2007

ELOKA began working with Dr. Martin Nweeia of Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Nweeia is working with narwhal hunters from Greenland and Baffin Island studying narwhal migration and their salinity-sensitive tusks.

ELOKA Principal Investigator Shari Gearheard presented a poster on ELOKA at the Annual Scientific Meeting of ArcticNet in Collingwood, Ontario.

November 2007

Sanikiluaq, Nunavut Canada - ELOKA Project Manager Chris McNeave met with community members and representatives from the Hudson Bay Bioregion Community-based Monitoring Network and System (HUBB) to develop ELOKA and community relationships, and to identify ELOKA-related tasks.

October 2007

Anchorage, Alaska - ELOKA Co-Principal Investigator Henry Huntington and Project Manager Chris McNeave met with partners and collaborators from ANSC, ABR, and BSSN to review the projects and discuss partner status and needs from ELOKA.

March 2007

ELOKA approved for funding by the NSF IPY program.

May 2006

First ELOKA proposal submitted to the National Science Foundation Program Solicitation: NSF 06-534, International Polar Year. View the proposal summary: ELOKA NSF Proposal (PDF file, ~55 KB)

November 2005

ICSU/WMO Joint Committee for the International Polar Year 2007-2008 endorses the full ELOKA proposal on the IPY Web site.