| NSF Org: |
OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) |
| Recipient: |
|
| Initial Amendment Date: | July 8, 2015 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 1, 2015 |
| Award Number: | 1439468 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Anna Kerttula de Echave
OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2015 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2016 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $14,036.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $14,036.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
|
| History of Investigator: |
|
| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4400 UNIVERSITY DR FAIRFAX VA US 22030-4422 (703)993-2295 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
|
| Primary Place of Performance: |
4400 University Drive Fairfax VA US 22030-4422 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
|
| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
|
| Parent UEI: |
|
| NSF Program(s): | ASSP-Arctic Social Science |
| Primary Program Source: |
|
| Program Reference Code(s): |
|
| Program Element Code(s): |
|
| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.078 |
ABSTRACT
This award supports dissertation research by a PhD student, Vera Solovyeva, to investigate of the effects of environmental change on two indigenous communities in northern Russia. This project seeks to understand how indigenous communities adapt to environmental change within a context of other dramatic changes, e.g., globalization, colonization, missionization, language loss, and others. The co-PI has strong community connections for the distribution of her work and this project will contribute to the completion of a PhD by an arctic indigenous woman, a highly underrepresented group in the social sciences.
This is ethnographic research that explores the resilience of arctic peoples under conditions of environmental change in an under-researched region of the world. This research will contribute to out understanding of the resiliency of marginalized peoples who have undergone intense historical trauma and are now undergoing increasing social and economic pressures from environmental change. The research also investigates arctic indigenous attitudes regarding possible future policy options to mitigate environmental change.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This study focuses on the impacts of, vulnerabilities from, and adaptation strategies to climate change of two Siberian native communities: the Sakha and the Evens, that live in one of the coldest inhabited areas in the world - Oymyakonskuy ulus, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russian Federation. The Evens are reindeer herders and the Sakha are horse and cattle breeders. They both practice hunting, fishing, and harvesting natural resources as necessary additions to their food supply. Evens and Sakha are well adapted to the extreme conditions of the north; however, they currently face difficult challenges due to the processes of climate change that add on to other stressing factors rooted in their recent history.
This research is aimed at finding what aspects of indigenous knowledge, culture and other factors the Evens and Sakha perceive as key to their adaptation to climate change and sustainable life, discovering methods to better adapt to changes, and how their local ecological knowledge can benefit policy and decision-making processes.
The research methods used were: focus groups (separated for age and gender), individual interviews, surveys, systematic participant observations, and supplemental data collection. Including the localized ecological knowledge of indigenous peoples in the legislative process not only helps develop better tailored laws and guidelines toward climate change adaptation, due to taking into account the unique regional characteristics of where people live, but could also help raise the role of indigenous peoples to that of equal participants in the legislative process. It would allow native people to exercise their rights proclaimed in the Declaration of Indigenous rights, and help them to develop an adaptation strategy based on conservation principles to effectively manage wildlife and natural resources while improving the well-being and sustainability of their communities.
The results of this study can contribute to a generalizable model that can be used in different indigenous communities in northern Russia that are facing similar challenges of climate change and globalization. Additionally, this research can be used in formulating and implementing recommendations and policies designed to help indigenous peoples of the North survive economically and culturally. The findings of this research also have scientific relevance and policy implications for peoples around the world beyond Russia, where indigenous peoples struggle to maintain traditional livelihoods in the face of globalization and climate change.
Last Modified: 09/15/2016
Modified by: Vera Solovyeva
Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.
