I am incredibly grateful to have been able to attend ASSW and ICARP IV this year in Boulder with the support of the YoungArctic project through UArctic. Leading up to the conference, I had been working on creating fine-scale maps of changing permafrost vegetation in Deadhorse, Alaska as part of the NNA Ice-Rich Permafrost Systems (NNA-IRPS) project and I presented this work as a poster at ICARP IV. I was also able to attend the three-day Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Science Initiative (CAVSI) workshop and the CliC Arctic Sea Ice Working Group session, as well as many science talks and town hall meetings throughout the week. In these sessions and discussions, I felt that I was able to contribute my perspective as an early-career scientist to the planning and future of Arctic research in a way that most conferences don’t allow for. Similarly, I was so impressed by the representation of researchers and indigenous communities from across the Arctic, particularly those from Europe and Russia, who I don’t often get to learn from in Alaska. Hearing about the shared experiences of Indigenous peoples from around the whole Arctic was incredibly valuable to me and has inspired me to pursue a graduate certificate in Arctic and Northern Studies.

I am currently working as a Geospatial Data Analyst at the Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA), housed in the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I came to this role after completing my MS in Geosciences in Fairbanks in 2023. My position allows me to work directly with researchers and communities across Alaska on projects ranging from mapping wildfire risk and exposure to tundra vegetation changes over time, to producing tsunami evacuation brochures and updating NASA GLOBE protocols for citizen science initiatives. As such, I am uniquely positioned to view Alaskan research from a holistic perspective, rather than as a specialist in any one area. Finally, Alaska is my home and its people and environment matter to me on a deeply personal level.

Part of the YoungArctic project, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway. YoungArctic is a collaboration between High North Center (at Nord University), UArctic, and the International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA).Follow the project on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youngarcticproject/