10%

Supporting

local stewardship and youth engagement

By Arctic Beringia

February 1^st, 2017

engage: people of the places

Our work in and around Arctic villages leads to close working relationships with community members. Through partnerships with the National Park Service and Alaska Geographic's Arctic Youth Ambassador Program, WCS Arctic Beringia has worked with Alaskan youth from these villages to create several short videos highlighting their perspectives on nature and conservation. These videos, and the experiences behind them, support the WCS:2020 strategic plan to Discover through science, Protect wild places, and Inspire the next generation of conservationists. With access to remote field sites, support from experts in science and media, and workshops in which to edit their raw footage into compelling and informative products, these youth not only learn new technical job skills, but are also empowered to tell their own stories.

Yellow-billed loon at Ikpikpuk River in the NPR-A: Photographed by Cameron Rutt (WCS)

YELLOW-BILLED LOONS

In 2013, scientists with the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were monitoring the breeding population of Yellow-billed Loons across northern Alaska to document population trends and to investigate factors affecting the breeding population. These efforts were focused on informing a listing decision under the Endangered Species Act. In partnership with these agencies, Wildlife Conservation Society worked with Alaska Native youth and local homesteaders Jim and Teena Helmericks to help document the plight through a short video: "Alaska's Yellow-Billed Loons."

Bison reintroduction

In May of 2016, WCS Arctic Beringia sent a videographer and an Arctic Youth Ambassador to the villages of Shageluk and Grayling to gather stories about bison reintroduction in Western Alaska. The team spent five days teaching several K-12 students basic videography and interview skills, and gathering footage to be edited at a youth media workshop. In September, two of the youth participants attended this NPS videography workshop hosted by the Effie Kokrine Charter School in Fairbanks. They learned how to use editing software to create a story narrative, and produced a video titled “What is a Bison?”

With this final product complete, the program accepted a very generous invitation to participate in the American Bison Society Meeting in Banff, Canada. The Alaska delegation worked with youth videographers from the Montana Blackfeet Tribe and the Alberta Blood Tribe to create an entirely new video comprised of interviews with meeting attendees. In a little over 48 hours the youth created a 5-minute video (below) that was presented during the meeting’s cultural evening. It was a huge success and a great opportunity for the participants to travel internationally, further develop their technical skills, and collaborate cross-culturally.