Subsistence | AK CASC

‘It’s cold Eeee!’ – The Joy and Importance of Ice Observation Through Art

By Lia Ferguson | April 27, 2026

Abstract watercolor painting of white sea ice floating through navy blue water.

Earlier this month, Fresh Eyes on Ice, a freshwater ice observation network, held an opening reception for their art show. The show, on display through May at the Morris Thompson Cultural Center, features local professional artists, as well as youth art from students of all ages engaged in the program.

USGS salmon research features at Yukon River Panel preseason meeting

By Christian Thorsberg | April 25, 2025

A small fish with a brown back, white belly, and black spots on its side swims through a black background.

Vanessa von Biela’s studies on heat stress, spawning, and salmon mothers received great attention from U.S. and Canadian leaders.

In Metlakatla, Salmonberries Speak and Tell Time

By Christian Thorsberg | February 20, 2025

A hand holds a pile of red and orange salmonberries in front of green leaves.

Throughout the Berry Futures project, it became clear: Berries gather people, as much as people gather berries.

AK CASC Tribal Liaisons and Researchers Lead and Learn at Historic Tribal Climate Conference

By Christian Thorsberg | October 23, 2024

Hundreds of Indigenous leaders, knowledge holders, artists and scientists, along with many non-Indigenous partners, were welcomed to Anchorage in September for the National Tribal and Indigenous Climate Conference (NTICC), the first ever national tribal conference addressing climate change held in Alaska.

At latest PI-AK exchange, subsistence and sovereignty take center stage

By Christian Thorsberg | September 16, 2024

A group of people stand watch a shirtless man in shorts gesture while standing in over a foot of mud in a taro field.

The two CASCs shared ocean-spanning reflections at the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference in late July.

Digging for the future of shellfish: AK CASC and Tribal researchers work together to understand changes to a valued subsistence resource

By Molly Tankersley | September 20, 2022

Three people in warm clothes and rain boots, crouch on a rocky shoreline with buckets, clipboards, and research equipment.

As the tide creeps up the shoreline at Juneau’s Amalga Harbor, AK CASC-supported researcher John Harley works shoulder to shoulder with collaborators from the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA),…

Vulnerability of subsistence systems in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska

By Molly Tankersley | November 12, 2019

A newly-published article, by USGS lead author Nicole Herman-Mercer, focuses on the impacts that social and environmental changes may have on subsistence practices in Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

Models for climate-driven impacts on Alaska berries

By Molly Tankersley | September 12, 2019

Two women sit and point with markers at a map on a table.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Berry Outlook project works to identify the causes of recent changes in berry abundance and distribution in order to develop maps and models to aid local residents.