A truck drives through floodwater on Sixth Avenue in Bethel on May 9, 2024. Photo by MaryCait Dolan/KYUK.
Alaska’s rapidly changing climate is driving the need for better collaboration and access to data for rural communities. To address this, AOOS funded a project led by Sean Kelly of Alaska Sea Grant to create an ArcGIS Story Map titled “Data for Resilience Planners in Rural Alaska.” This online tool is designed to help regional and community planners tackle climate challenges more effectively.
“While there are funding opportunities available to regional- and community-level planners for climate-related efforts, some rural planners don’t have the capacity or training to access and use available data in their proposals and projects,” said Kelly.
The Story Map he created seeks to bridge that gap and foster conversations about science questions important to Western Alaska. To inform the project, Kelly conducted interviews with regional and community planners in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a region with pressing needs for resilience planning. The interviews revealed barriers to data accessibility and usability.
“This project is about more than just providing data,” said Kelly. “It’s about creating a dialogue and building the capacity of rural communities to use existing data effectively and inform the creation of new data products.”
The Story Map features clear text, engaging graphics, and links to ocean, coastal, and environmental data. Topics covered include how data is used in Alaska, how diverse sources can support community planning, the principles of resilience planning, and the importance of data sovereignty. The tool also provides access to comprehensive data catalogs and step-by-step guidance for navigating and using them.
The Story Map and its resources are part of a broader effort to enhance collaboration and meet the unique needs of Alaska’s rural communities. AOOS and Alaska Sea Grant will continue to refine the tool based on user feedback and explore new ways to support resilience planning.
Contact: Sean Kelly, swkelly@alaska.edu
View the Story Map: Data for Resilience Planners in Rural Alaska