Betsy Sheffield has worked in various capacities with the ELOKA project since its beginnings in 2007, initially as a user services representative and since 2012 as product owner and project manager. With a background in environmental studies and an interest in health and food security, Betsy brings passion for people and problem solving to her role.
ELOKA and SnowChange
ELOKA partnered with SnowChange Cooperative to create the first online cultural atlas of Indigenous Knowledge from Siberia.
Yukon River Inter-tribal Watershed Council
Yukon River Inter-tribal Watershed Council is an Indigenous grassroots organization, consisting of 70 First Nations and Tribes, dedicated to the protection and preservation of the Yukon River Watershed in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. ELOKA is developing an online atlas to display gathered data and information on water quality and other environmental factors for the Yukon River that we are building upon for the Chevak Traditional Council.
Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association (YRDFA)
Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association (YRDFA) works to protect and promote all healthy fisheries and cultures along the Yukon River drainage. YRDFA was established in 1990, becoming an essential intermediary between the fishing community and fishery managers. ELOKA will build a website to share the spoken language and traditional Place names that YRDFA has been documenting within a region of the Koyukuk River, a tributary of the Yukon River.
Snowchange Cooperative
Snowchange Cooperative is a network of indigenous cultures in the Circumpolar North. Based in Finland, the organization is devoted to protecting Finnish traditions and culture, but has alliances with other indigenous cultures across the globe. The Snowchange Project began in early 2001 as a multi-year education-oriented initiative to document Indigenous observations of climate change in northern regions.
Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre
The Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre at Carleton University works with Inuit communities of Canada to preserve and enhance indigenous and local knowledge.
Calista Education and Culture (CEC) & Lower Kuskokwim School District
The Calista Education and Culture, Inc. (CEC) is a nonprofit that represents 1,300 Yup’ik tradition-bearers of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Southwest Alaska. In 2014, the former Calista Heritage Foundation (est. 1980) merged with the Calista Elders Council (est. 1991) to become the research, scholarship, and assistance organization it is today. Beginning in 2000, with the support of the National Science Foundation, CEC worked with Indigenous elders to document Yup'ik place names.