Climatologist Sees Effect of Changes on Alaskan People

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Climatologist Martha Shulski will present "Life on the Last Frontier: Impacts of a Changing Climate on the Alaskan Landscape" on Thursday, October 15, at 7 p.m. in the Hardin Hall Auditorium, 33rd and Holdrege, as part of the Earth Science Week celebration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's School of Natural Resources.

Shulski, the new director of the High Plains Regional Climate Center, lived in Alaska for seven years, working with the Alaska Climate Research Center at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. While her day-to-day environment was urban, her work took her into villages that were off the road system, accessible mainly by sea and air.

She will share photos and stories of how climate change is affecting the land, sea and people of Alaska. Small changes in temperature, or in sea ice, glaciers, or permafrost, can translate into big changes for people who live off the land.

At one point Shulski worked with an anthropologist to compare weather station data with the observations and experiences of indigenous people.  "What's important to people on the ground were not changes I would have considered significant," she said. "The biggest changes, statistically, were in winter and spring. But what's important to people with a subsistence lifestyle is, are the moose where they should be during a three-week window in the fall."

They found that relatively small changes in climate patterns could have a tremendous impact on people's well-being and food supply.

And what does this mean for Nebraska? "If these changes are occurring in Alaska now, we could be seeing something of similar magnitude in the lower 48, down the line," Shulski said. "If temperature and precipitation patterns change here, our vegetation patterns could change as well."

As of August, when she relocated to Lincoln, this is the fourth time that Shulski has lived in Nebraska. In addition to intervals in Omaha and Nebraska City while growing up, she earned an M.S. in agricultural meteorology  from UNL. Her Ph.D. is from the University of Minnesota, in soil science and climatology.

Other talks in the School's Fall Outreach Lecture Series include Stephen Vantassel, October 27, on "Wildlife Damage Management: Problems and Prospects" (warning: includes graphic images of wildlife), and Roger Pabian, November 10, on "Nebraska's Gemstones - Tiny Little Treasures."

Free parking will be available adjacent to Hardin Hall and refreshments will be served.

For more information please contact Kelly Smith, School of Natural Resources, 472-3373, ksmith2@unl.edu, or Martha Shulski, Director of the High Plains Regional Climate Center, 472-6111, mshulski3@unl.edu.