USGS ScienceSearch

USGS · 70243264

Looking forward, looking back: Building resilience today Training one report. International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, AK, April 16-18, 2019

Abstract

The Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center (AK CASC), in partnership with the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (APIA), designed the Looking Forward, Looking Back: Building Resilience Today project (hereafter BRT) as a series of trainings and workshops with tribal community leadership and members to collaboratively develop the western science knowledge and Indigenous Knowledge necessary for tribal community adaptation plans. Rather than replicate existing tribally-focused climate adaptation training in Alaska, this pilot project sought to include a range of best practices in education, specifically in climate science and tribal engagement, and builds upon the experience and expertise of the partner teams and communities, the facilitating team, and subject-matter experts. The project had three phases related to its title and structure. The core idea of the Looking Forward, Looking Back: Building Resilience Today project is to include multiple knowledges into adaptation plans that result in resilient communities. Looking Forward refers to the need to plan for our rapidly changing climate by critically considering current and future projected climate and its impacts on the community and Tribe. Looking Back refers to the need for any realistic tribal planning process, and subsequent planning document, to be grounded in Indigenous and local knowledge. The overarching goal of Building Resilience Today is to introduce planning tools that strengthen community capacity to plan for the future, while maintaining important values grounded in the past. Training One: The goal of the first training was to bring the cohort of community members and project team members together to work in teams to gain a common understanding of local climate impacts and longer-term climate projections at the local, regional, statewide, Arctic, and global level.

Explore related subjects

90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 50.98609893339354° to 71.45515260247822° latitude; -178.9453125° to -129.97169494628906° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

2020. Looking forward, looking back: Building resilience today Training one report. International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, AK, April 16-18, 2019. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70243264

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

Factors affecting benthic macroinvertebrate health in the City of Roanoke, Virginia, 2020–2023

Major waterways in the City of Roanoke (City) have failed to meet Virginia’s aquatic life designated use since 1996. Segments of the upper Roanoke River lack healthy benthic macroinvertebrate communities which prompted a total maximum daily load (TMDL) study by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) to identify the most probable stressor(s) causing the impairment. Excess fine sediment was identified as the most probable stressor impairing benthic macroinvertebrates on portions of the Roanoke River in 2006, and a watershed implementation plan published in 2016 required communities within the impaired watershed to implement projects that would reduce the load of fine sediment entering the Roanoke River. Additional benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and stream habitat assessments along the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek (a tributary to the Roanoke River that flows through the City) revealed continued impaired conditions, and subsequent stressor identification analysis was completed in 2023. Samples collected downstream of the City on the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek generally showed more impaired conditions relative to samples collected at locations upstream of the City. Based on this evaluation, sediment and sediment-bound polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were identified as probable stressors while specific conductance, total nitrogen, and sediment metals were possible stressors in Tinker Creek; however, only a sediment TMDL target was identified to address impaired benthic macroinvertebrate communities. In the Roanoke River upstream of the Niagara Dam, sediment and total phosphorus were identified as probable stressors, sediment polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and sediment PCB were considered possible stressors; however, the TMDL target was only for total phosphorus. The City partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2016 to continuously monitor water quality and streamflow conditions on a major tributary of Tinker Creek, Lick Run, and by 2020, four similar monitoring stations were installed on the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek near the locations of benthic macroinvertebrate sampling. Monitored parameters included streamflow and/or gage height (water level), water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, and turbidity. Turbidity is a measure of the relative clarity of the water and was previously used to model suspended-sediment concentrations at the monitoring stations. The City also contracted Kirk Environmental, LLP (KE) to collect benthic macroinvertebrate samples and stream habitat assessments near the locations of the water-quality monitoring stations. Identified benthic macroinvertebrates were used to calculate the Virginia Stream Condition Index (SCI), a multi-metric index composed of eight biological attributes that represent elements of the structure and function of the benthic macroinvertebrate community that measure diversity, composition, and tolerance to pollution. Study objective: In this report, benthic macroinvertebrate samples and stream habitat assessment scores collected at four locations on the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek by KE and the VDEQ between 2020 and 2023 were compared to measured water-quality and streamflow conditions prior to sampling to evaluate patterns between benthic macroinvertebrate health, water quality, and hydrology.

Virginia