SEARCH Highlights

Interacting Climate Drivers Are Reshaping Alaska’s Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta

7 October 2025

The Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) in western Alaska is one of the world’s most important wetlands for migratory birds and home to the largest Indigenous population in the U.S. Arctic. New research shows that sea-level rise, sea-ice loss, stronger storms, erosion, and permafrost thaw are working together in unexpected ways—driving rapid, landscape-scale transformations across the delta.…

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Where have the salmon gone and what can be done?

17 July 2025

SEARCH has published a new peer-reviewed policy brief in Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research (AAAR), emphasizing the escalating food security crisis in Yukon River communities of Alaska and Canada where decades of salmon decline have intersected with management systems ill-equipped for today’s environmental and social realities. The article, “Food security crisis in the Yukon River…

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Reading Group Explores Global “Must-Haves”

20 December 2024

SEARCH’s reading group has re-invigorated its sessions, kicking off with a vibrant discussion of the paper “Accelerating Transformations for a Just, Sustainable Future: 10 Must Haves” on November 26th. Conceptualized by The Earth League and participants of the Global Futures Conference, this paper outlines a framework for bridging the gap between global pledges and actionable…

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Hunters’ Access to Walrus in the Changing Arctic

5 September 2024

For Indigenous communities in the Western Arctic’s Bering and Chukchi seas, Pacific walrus stand as integral components to cultural and nutritional well being. As sea ice conditions continue to change, however, these communities’ access to walrus is challenged. A new Arctic Answers policy brief written by a diverse group of SEARCH researchers was published this…

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From the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico

20 August 2024

Building on decades of marine ecology and environmental leadership experience, SEARCH co-Principal Investigator Francis Wiese is starting a new position as Senior Scholar at the National Academies of Sciences (NAS). Alongside his existing work co-leading SEARCH’s International Cooperation and Economic Decision-Making team, Francis will be helping frame and implement a vision and strategy for the…

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Turning the Tide for Imperiled Arctic Biodiversity

31 July 2024

The Arctic hosts an intricate web of biodiversity. Seals, walruses, and whales roam the frigid ocean waves. Bears, moose, and a variety of plants and fungi sprawl through boreal forest while snowy owls, foxes, and caribou make the grasses and flowers of the tundra their home. Yet, with climate change and human activities making the…

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