Photo by J.Stephen Conn, 2008

For interpretive practitioners, environmental educators, interpretive planners and managers; anyone who presents the story and science of climate change and needs to know more.

The Spring Workshop will be based at several gathering sites around Region 10, linked via a webinar for the Keynote Presentation and Regional Business Meeting. These linked sites include Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and Portage Valley, Alaska.

Itinerary for Begich, Boggs Visitor Center site:

8:00 AM (ADT)...Check-in, order lunch
8:15 ...........Group Activity: "Defining the challenges in communicating climate change"
9:00 ...........Keynote-"Arranging for Change? Developing Collaborative Responses for the Future"
....................by John Morris, Alaska, National Park Service, Regional Education Coordinator
10:00 .........Break
10:15 .........NAI Region 10 Business Meeting
11:00 .........Lunch
11:45 .........Presentation: "Observing a Changing Climate in Alaska" by Uma Bhatt,
....................Associate Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences,
....................Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks. *
12:45 .........Break
1:00............Presentation:"Seabirds and Climate Change: Bringing Ocean Climate
....................Science into Alaska's High School Classrooms" by Lisa Matlock,
....................Education Specialist, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, USFWS **
1:45 ...........Break
2:00 ...........Presentation: “Indigenous Views of Climate Change” by Larry Merculieff,
....................Deputy Director, Alaska Native Science Commission ***
3:00 ...........Facilitated Discussion: "Keeping the Connections"

Cost:
NAI members, $50, includes lunch.
Non-members, $75, includes lunch

Directions:
From Anchorage take the Seward Highway (AK-1) south to Portage Glacier Highway, follow signs to Begich, Boggs Visitor Center at Mile 5.

Reduce your carbon footprint:
Carpooling: Send us an e-mail and we will help set up carpool sites.

Lunch:
Be sure to get your order in early as we are headed across the street to Portage Glacier Daylodge for lunch. "Omnivore and vegetarian" options are available.

For more information or general questions please contact, Nick Racine,
site host at nmracine@fs.fed.us or call at 907-242-3967.

Register Now

 

* Dr. Uma Bhatt majored in Mechanical Engineering as an undergraduate and was planning to attend graduate school in the area of alternate energy. After finishing her undergraduate education, she joined the U.S. Peace Corps and served as a high school math teacher in Kenya for two years (1983-85). The dramatic drought in East Africa during this time and the amazing atmospheric phenomena she experienced at the rural secondary school made her decide to pursue a graduate degree in Atmospheric Sciences. Dr. Bhatt acknowledges this to be one of the best decisions she has ever made!  Dr. Bhatt’s research specialty is "Climate Variability", and she has studied tropical climate for her M.S. and midlatitude air-sea interactions for her Ph.D. (and postdoc). For the past 10 years, her work has focused on Arctic climate as a faculty member at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The majority of Dr. Bhatt’s recent research has been interdisciplinary, collaborating with oceanographers, glaciologists, and biologists. She has conducted research on the climate variability of Alaska, most recently in the area of surface temperature inversions and climate links with Interior river ice breakup.  This research employs both models and observations and viewing the Arctic as a whole system, thereby helping to better understand how various components of the climate system interact.

** Lisa Matlock is the Education Specialist for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. She harbors a deep love for coastal Alaska and its awe-inspiring wildlife. Lisa has educated children of all ages and the general public for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, the USDA Forest Service, the University of Alaska Anchorage, and for private nature centers and eco-tourism companies for over eighteen years, most of that time in Alaska.

*** Larry Merculieff
Deputy Director, Alaska Native Science Commission
Seven Generations Consulting
U.S. Chair, Indigenous Working Group for Convening of Indigenous Peoples for the Healing of Mother Earth and Restoration of Original Teachings

Larry Merculieff has over 35 years experience serving his people, the Aleuts of the Pribilof Islands and other indigenous peoples locally, nationally, and internationally in a number of leadership capacities. Larry was the first Alaska Native commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development, a cabinet post. He was one of four Native Americans selected to present at the 1999 White House Conference on the Oceans in Monterey, California. Larry is the co-founder of the Indigenous Peoples’ Council for Marine Mammals, the Alaska Forum on the Environment, the International Bering Sea Forum, and the Alaska Oceans Network, and he is the founder and coordinator of the Bering Sea Council of Elders. Larry focuses on human rights, environment, community wellness, and elder wisdom in presentations from local to international and is currently an independent consultant while serving as the volunteer Deputy Director of the Alaska Native Science Commission.