25 March 2025 | 16:00 - 18:00 (MDT)
Open Session - HYBRID
Room: UMC Fourth Floor - 425
Organisers: Paul Castañeda Dower (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA); Sonja Castañeda Dower (University of Chicago, USA); Jessica Rich (Virginia Tech University, USA)
Zoom link to the Open Session (password-protected)
The password needed to connect to the session will be distributed the day prior to the start of the sessions to all registered conference participants. Further guidelines on how to participate virtually in the ASSW 2025 can be found on the ASSW 2025 website.
Session Description:
A review of top journals in social science disciplines reveals a near-total absence of Arctic-focused research. This session focuses on related challenges:
- Social scientists face career penalties for not prioritizing solo-authored research and publications, which are highly valued in their disciplines,
- Challenges in applying the full range of social science methodologies in collaborative Arctic research,
- Narrow inclusion of social science and Indigenous perspectives,
- Restricted access to graduate studies and academia for Indigenous and other Arctic-based people.
We invite presentations that highlight these issues and/or present actionable solutions. Discussions may focus on past, ongoing, or planned research related to one or more session themes:
- Professional Disincentives: Address challenges for social scientists, such as loss of credibility in their discipline and marginalization in multi-disciplinary teams.
- Rigorous Methodologies: Acknowledge the wide range of social science methodologies: critical theory to challenge prevailing power structures, longitudinal studies for detailed, long-term insights, ethnography for deep cultural understanding and generative findings, formal models, complex systems analysis, econometric models, large-N surveys, and field experiments for robust analytical frameworks.
- Indigenous Knowledge Inclusion: Recognize challenges and propose strategies for meaningfully incorporating Indigenous knowledge, e.g. by advocating for longer proposal time-frames and longer-term social science fieldwork.
- Representation Challenges: Highlight the stark underrepresentation of Indigenous and Arctic people in social sciences (e.g. according to the Alaska Native Knowledge Network, no Alaska Native has completed a PhD in key disciplines like economics or political science). Discuss ways to enhance and extend mentorship and community engagement to improve representation.
Instructions for Speakers: Oral presentations in this session should be at most 12-minutes in length, with an additional 2-3 minutes for questions (unless more detailed instructions are provided by session conveners). See more detailed presenter instructions here.
Oral Presentations:
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unfold_moreAlways a bridesmaid, never a bride: the supporting role of social science in Arctic research — Nicole Herman-Mercer
Nicole Herman-Mercer 1
1 U.S. Geological SurveyFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Recently, social science has moved from an afterthought in Arctic research - don’t forget to include human dimensions! – to greater inclusion and recognition, particularly during the project development stage. This shift has been partially driven by funding programs such as the National Science Foundation’s Navigating the New Arctic, which emphasized convergence research. Despite an increase in interdisciplinary Arctic research, social scientists are rarely principal investigators and are often required to play the dual roles of researcher and boundary spanner - responsible for translating between physical scientists and communities, limiting their ability to play either role effectively. Additionally, working in a space dominated by another discipline can lead to isolation in multidisciplinary spaces and marginalization in your own discipline. While many social scientists have a basic fluency in the physical sciences and associated methods, the reverse is less often true of physical scientists. As the refrain “we need more social scientists” continues, it is necessary to understand what social science is (and what it is not) and how it adds value. At the US Geological Survey, a recently developed community of practice provides a venue for social scientists to fight isolation, while sharing resources and innovations in methods and theories. Opportunities to network, learn from one another, and share tools and language to discuss our methods and our needs with other colleagues can help empower social scientists to ask research questions with a foundation in social science theories and play a leading role in Arctic research.
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unfold_moreAdvancing Political Science Research in Alaska and the Arctic — Sonja Castaneda Dower
Sonja Castañeda Dower 1
1 University of ChicagoFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Alaska’s 22% Native population constitutes the highest percentage of Indigenous people in any state in the United States. More strikingly, of the 574 federally recognized “tribes” in the U.S., 40% are located in Alaska. Yet, Alaska Native politics has received comparatively little attention in political science and is often treated as anomalous to U.S.-tribal affairs. In limiting the scope of research to “The Lower 48 states,” researchers often note that federal-tribal relations in Alaska have played out differently than in other states due to things like differing timelines, geographies, and institutional arrangements. The geographic isolation of Alaska and the logistical challenges associated with conducting research there exacerbate the difficulties of in-depth political science studies as does proximity to PhD programs in political science. This is compounded by a prevailing hesitancy among Indigenous politics scholars in the Lower 48 to engage with Arctic issues due to the overwhelming costs of entry. While these concerns are in some ways justified, much overlap remains as do opportunities for collaborative work and incorporation of Alaskan students and researchers into central spaces in political science more generally. This presentation will invite strategies to demystify the study of Arctic and Indigenous politics within the field of political science and encourage more inclusive research. By doing so, it aims to initiate a generative discussion about increasing and improving political scientists' engagement with the Indigenous Arctic, benefiting both scholarly inquiry and Indigenous communities.
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unfold_moreRenewable Energy Transitions and Energy Sovereignty in the Northwest Arctic — Bindu Panikkar & Ingemar Mathiasson
Bindu Panikkar 1; Ingemar Mathiasson 2
1 University of Vermont; 2 Energy Manager, Northwest Arctic BoroughFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
This talk will explore renewable energy transitions in the Northwest Arctic Borough in Alaska and how its grid transitions to solar, wind, batteries and other distributed systems are shaping new ownership and governance structures that enhance energy security, community capabilities, energy sovereignty as well climate/environmental resilience.
Remote communities across Alaska are largely powered by isolated diesel powered microgrids, with fuel either flown or barged in during summer months, the Northwest Arctic Borough is no different. Energy burden is rampant in the region due to the high cost of freight and fluctuations in fuel prices, which are three to five times higher than for urban residents in the state. The Borough has been challenging this cycle of oil dependency and exorbitant costs with renewable integration since the 1990s. Today, Northwest Arctic Borough is a leader in the state on renewable energy transitions with its establishment of wind, solar with batteries and heat pumps. Their accomplishments have been noted by the Biden administration with the Sunny Awards for the most equitable community solar program in the country in 2022. Its community-based renewable transitions have steered innovation and energy autonomy with the tribes being an independent power producer in the region advancing tribal sovereignty.
Despite these advancements, multiple challenges remain to operationalizing and optimizing the use of renewables in the Arctic. This talk will provide a high-level overview that frame the goals, challenges, and benefits alongside scenarios of optimizing energy efficiency, community capabilities, and energy sovereignty in the Northwest Arctic.
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unfold_moreThe path of an Indigenous scholar — Vera Solovyeva
Vera Solovyeva 1
1 Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian InstituteFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Like many Indigenous scholars, I faced similar challenges making my way in academia. Even now I am struggling to conform to Western academic standards. It is because I am an Indigenous scholar/researcher, but also an Indigenous knowledge holder. I am still not sure about the success of my career even though I am a highly qualified climate change researcher with a biology background, which I received before social science.
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unfold_moreExploring the Occupational Hazards of Convergence Research in Arctic Studies — Jessica Rich
Jessica Rich 1
1 Virginia TechFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Convergence research has been acknowledged as critical for the study of natural hazards and disasters since the mid-twentieth century, but collaborations that cut across disciplinary, organizational, and cultural boundaries continue to face challenges. This presentation investigates the role of occupational identity in building effective multidisciplinary teams conducting hazards research in the Arctic. The concept of occupational identity formation draws from organization studies and is defined as a process through which professionals negotiate meanings of the self (and others) at work, which can lead to an uneven distribution of power among stakeholders (e.g., technical experts vs. community members), disciplines (e.g., hard sciences vs. soft sciences), and professions (e.g., academic vs. practitioner). Highlighted is a case study of the Greenland Hazards Project, which is funded by the United States National Science Foundation’s Navigating the New Arctic initiative to investigate the interplay between natural hazards, society, and infrastructure on Greenland’s west coast. The project partners a team of natural and social scientists with community, science, and government stakeholders in Greenland to co-create a reciprocal system of knowledge about natural hazard risks, including landslides, large wave activity, and permafrost melt. Lessons learned from the project will be presented with emphases on scientific decision-making processes, the need to expand definitions of expertise, and the importance of community-based research initiatives anchored in Greenland.
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unfold_moreAn Arctic expedition into economics journals — Paul Castaneda Dower
Paul Castaneda Dower 1
1 University of Wisconsin-MadisonFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
This review paper hopes to bring attention to the acute need for more quantitative-oriented social science research on the Arctic region. To establish this fact, we, first, review the current state of the economics literature on the Arctic and present some basic statistics on methodologies, data sources, journal placement and citation counts and types. Second, we discuss how the existing body of knowledge can be used to address contemporary debates or inform policy choices. Third, we identify some key knowledge gaps that economics research could fill and opine on why these gaps may have emerged and persisted under the status quo.