Community Well-being

Are changes to access, harvest, cultivation, and use of marine species influencing the health and social, cultural, and economic well-being in rural coastal communities? 
 
 

 

Marine resources such as salmon, cultivated shellfish, and seaweed are vital for food security, cultural continuity, and livelihoods in Alaska's coastal communities. Both subsistence and commercial harvests are integral to the way of life in these communities contribute significantly to community well-being.    

 

Four people dishing out plates for themselves at a table full of food featuring kelp and seaweed.
Photo courtesy of the 绿奴天花板S Mariculture Program.
绿奴天花板F Professor Emerita Dolly Garza hosts an Indigenous seaweed culinary activity with students in the Alaska Aquaculture Semester at the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus.

 

Led by anthropologist Davin Holen and epidemiologist Micah Hahn, the Interface of Change Community Well-being team is working with communities to learn how changes in access, harvest, cultivation, and use of marine resources affect the health and social, cultural, and economic well-being in rural coastal communities. 

 

Kids sitting on the floor in a circle with an adult sitting in a chair, backlit by bright windows.
Photo courtesy of Brenda Konar.
University of Alaska Fairbanks marine biologist Schery Umanzor engages with children in Klukwan at an annual Interface of Change project community participatory workshop.

 


The Community Well-being team is working with collaborators in Seldovia, Cordova, Valdez, Haines, and Klukwan to discuss, document, and model patterns of local change through collaborative activities, including community conversations and participatory photography.

 

Community Conversations

Each year over the course of the Interface of Change project, we organize an interactive workshop in each of the communities we are working with. These meetings are an opportunity to share findings and updates from the project and provide a venue for mutual dialogue to develop shared understanding of potential community vulnerabilities and concerns related to environmental change, and pair those with potential resilience and adaptation strategies.

University of Alaska Anchorage anthropologist Davin Holen harvests seaweed near Hoonah.
University of Alaska Anchorage anthropologist Davin Holen harvests seaweed near Hoonah.

A hand holding a camera with fall foliage blurred in the background.
Participatory photography is a group approach to photo documentation and storytelling.

 

Participatory Photography

The team is leading participatory photography projects in our partner communities to gain insights into the impact of environmental shifts and changes in wild foods on daily life. We are using photography and storytelling to understand how and why wild foods are important to youth, highlight their concerns about the future of wild foods and environmental change, and to share their perspectives with the local community and beyond to support planning and action. Through participation, youth gain photography experience and build confidence and leadership skills.

Community Well-being Team