background documents

Meeting Materials

2008

Regional Advisory Board (RAB) and Community Advisory Board (CAB)

Regional Advisory Board

Oversees the Local and Traditional Knowledge (LTK) Component of the Bering Sea Project. Partner communities are Akutan, St. Paul, Togiak, Nelson Island, Emmonak, and Savoonga. The RAB includes LTK researchers, community coordinators, principal investigators for each community, and those responsible for specific parts of the project such as harvest surveys, data management, modeling, and managing the whole project. The RAB will meet annually for the five years of BEST-BSIERP and will also hold regular teleconferences.

RAB Responsibilities

To design research activities to ensure that research results from the different communities can be compared with each other and, where possible, with the results of prior research
To coordinate LTK activities with other BEST-BSIERP research for maximum mutual benefit through exchange of information and collaborative analysis and interpretation
To oversee the analysis and interpretation of LTK results and collaborations with other BEST-BSIERP research activities, including determining how to make best use of available funds for comparing, integrating, and synthesizing results across projects
To provide support for community research activities by connecting community researchers with one another, by connecting communities with researchers studying topics of community interest, and by helping communities find other expertise and information they seek
To help other BEST-BSIERP researchers find communities that have an interest in their research activities and results for the purposes of education, outreach, and collaboration
To identify the need for additional research activities and funding and to determine how to seek such funding and create additional activities

See how the RAB fits into the overall program structure.

Regional Advisory Board Members

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Henry Huntington, Huntington Consulting
Sarah Kruse, Ecotrust
Jim Fall, Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game
Heather Lazrus, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
Jennie Webster, Akutan Community Coordinator
Aquilina D. Lestenkof, Aleut Community-St. Paul Island
Phillip A. Zavadil, Aleut Community of St. Paul Island
Elizabeth Andrews, Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game
George Noongwook, Native Village of Savoonga/AEWC
Caroline Brown, Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game
Josh Wisniewski, UAF Dept. of Anthropology
Ted Hamilton, Emmonak Tribal Council
Walter Kanulie, Togiak Traditional Council
Jennifer Sepez, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
Eugene Hunn, University of Washington
Astrid Scholz, Ecotrust
Austin Ahmasuk, Kawerak

Community Advisory Board

Oversees the LTK component of BEST-BSIERP in each community. Each Community Coordinator will organize and conduct CAB meetings and provide updates to the CAB and their Tribal Councils regarding project status and progress.

CAB Responsibilities

To assist with the planning and design of the tools to document, characterize, and quantify local harvest practices and changes thereto
To assist with the planning and design of the tools to document and characterize local understanding of Bering Sea ecosystem structure and function to allow comparison with biological understanding and sharing of knowledge between both ways of knowing
To assist with coordinating LTK activities with other BEST-BSIERP research for maximum mutual benefit through exchange of information and collaborative analysis and interpretation
To assist with providing support for community research activities by connecting community researchers with one another, by connecting the community with researchers studying topics of community interest, and by helping the community find other expertise and information they seek
To identify the need for additional research activities and funding and to determine how to seek such funding and create additional activities

See how the CAB fits into the overall program structure.