We are excited to share the great work Breanna Bishop did to undertake a scoping review of environmental indicators used by Inuit across Inuit Nunaat. Her work made important contributions to our ArcticNet-funded collaborative survey project to learn about Inuit Uses and Needs for Weather, Water, Ice, and Climate Information and Services!

Inuit uses of weather, water, ice, and climate indicators to assess travel safety in Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Greenland: a scoping review (article in FACETS Volume 10)

“Environmental indicators are naturally occurring variables, conditions, and events that are used to assess and monitor environmental conditions and change. Inuit throughout Inuit Nunaat (Inuit circumpolar homelands) observe and experience environmental indicators as they travel year-round for harvesting and other cultural practices. Inuit draw on their observations of current conditions and their knowledge of weather, water, ice, and climate (WWIC) indicators, when seeking to predict and understand conditions that impact safe travel. This scoping review documents the types and diversity of WWIC indicators articulated in peer-reviewed and grey literature as being used by Inuit in Canada, Alaska, and Greenland to assess travel safety…Indicators reflect a broad range of ways that Inuit experience their environment, through sight, feel, and sound. Indicators can be considered as causal, conditional, or predictive (or a combination thereof), where knowledge of the interactions among various indicators is especially important to support safe travel. Identified gaps and future research directions included assessing key indicators to better target development of locally relevant research and information services.”

SUN Team members Emmelie Paquette, Natalie Carter, and Gita Ljubicic contributed as co-authors on this paper.