"What are you going to do, Protest the Wind?": Community Perceptions of Emergent and Worsening Coastal Erosion from the Remote Bering Sea Community of St. Paul, Alaska

Phenomenological investigation of organic modified cements as biocompatible substrates interfacing model marine organisms

Organic modification can generally endow inorganic materials with novel and promotional characteristics to fit into new functionalities. In this paper, new cement-based composite materials, with Portland cement as the substrate and polyacrylamide (PAM, alone) and PAM/chitosan as the functional components mixed with cement (bulk modified) or served as the surface coating (surface modified), were prepared and engineered as sampling substrates for biofilm and coral co-culture. In comparison to the bulk modified substrate and pure cement material, the surface modified substrate showed a balanced mechanical property, considering both bending and compressive strengths and distinctive surface features toward facilitating biofilm and coral growth, as characterized by spectroscopic, morphological, mechanical, and biofilm and coral co-culture experiments. We, thus, believe that the as-prepared surface modified substrate has the very potential to be applied as a substitute/alternative for the conventional cement material in the construction and engineering of artificial facilities with ecological protection functions.

Climate change and Indigenous mental health in the Circumpolar North: A systematic review to inform clinical practice

Climate change is disproportionally impacting the Circumpolar North, with particular impacts among Indigenous populations. Environmental changes are felt in many aspects of daily life of Northern communities, including both physical and mental health. Thus, health institutions from around the Arctic must meet emerging needs, while the phenomenon remains marginal to their southern counterparts. In this systematic review, we aimed to review current scientific knowledge on the mental health impacts of climate change in Indigenous Peoples across the Circumpolar North. Seven databases were searched. Original peer-reviewed research articles were included if they addressed links between climate change and mental health in Arctic or Subarctic Indigenous Populations. After extraction, data were synthesized using thematic analysis. Of the 26 articles that met inclusion criteria, 16 focused on Canadian Inuit communities and 21 were exclusively qualitative. Being on the land was identified as a central determinant of wellbeing. Immediate impacts of climate change on mental health were felt through restricted mobility and disrupted livelihoods. Effects on mental health were further felt through changes in culture and identity, food insecurity, interpersonal stress and conflicts, and housing problems. Various ways in how communities and individuals are coping with these effects were reported. Understanding climate-related pathways of mental health risks in the Arctic is crucial to better identify vulnerable groups and to foster resilience. Clinicians can play a role in recognizing and providing support for patients affected by these disruptions. Policies sensitive to the climate-mental health relationship must be advocated for.

A Synthesis of Laaqudax^ (Northern Fur Seal) Community Surveys and Commercial Fishery Data in the Pribilof Islands Marine Ecosystem, Alaska

Indigenous communities on the Pribilof Islands have longstanding cultural and economic ties to their marine ecosystem and, in particular, to laaqudan (in Unangam Tunuu) or northern fur seals (NFS; Callorhinus ursinus). Indigenous and Local Knowledge holders from the Pribilof Islands have long expressed concerns about declines in NFS abundance, and research increasingly suggests that nutritional limitation is a key factor in the decline. Using a co-production of knowledge approach, we explore perceptions of NFS ecology and commercial fishery interactions in the Pribilof Islands Marine Ecosystem (PRIME). We synthesize results from community surveys and analyses of commercial pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) fishery catch data from 2004–2018 relative to documented NFS foraging areas. Community survey results highlighted ecosystem changes and nutritional limitation as primary drivers of recent declines in Pribilof Islands NFS. Consistent with these results, pollock catch data indicate there are concentrated areas of pollock harvest over time near the Pribilof Islands where female NFS forage. These results reinforce the value of considering Indigenous and Local Knowledge and western science together to better understand ecosystem interactions. Our findings also support the consideration of Indigenous and Local Knowledge-based approaches in combination with spatiotemporal management to mitigate NFS nutritional limitation and Pribilof Islands NFS declines.