Bringing the Arctic to Cincinnati

Lollie Hopson, an Inupiaq from Barrow, Alaska, just assumed that by flying south, she’d be welcomed by sunshine and warm weather.

She was surprised upon her arrival in Cincinnati last Monday, then, when the ice and snow she left behind seemed to magically follow her to the Queen City in the form of a tempestuous mixture. The storm managed to shut down area businesses and close the University of Cincinnati for a day.

“I came with the snow and ice,” Hopson said laughing. “I left it at home and I got it here. In the community at home, it’s nothing. But in the big city like this, everything stands still.”

Not only did Hopson have to borrow a pair of snow boots from friend and colleague Wendy Eisner, associate professor of geography and environmental studies in McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, she was unable to experience the full effect of life in Cincinnati, and how much it must contrast life back home in the northernmost settlement on North America’s mainland.

Those cultural differences were the focus of discussion at UC, when the Center for Environmental Studies held an informal talk on Jan. 30 for students, faculty and other members of the University of Cincinnati community who came to ask Hopson questions about her life on Alaska’s North Slope.

The talk, held in Baldwin Hall, had about 100 people in attendance, from students interested in how much snow Barrow gets, to faculty interested in the Inupiat community’s opinion on off-shore drilling in Alaska.

After the informal chat, Hopson joined Eisner and co-instructor Eric Maurer, director of environmental studies, at their honors Environmental Studies class, "Human Dimensions of Climate Change." The students had the opportunity to ask her a myriad of questions about the effects of global climate change that she has experienced in her hometown.

“The kids came up with some very interesting questions,” Eisner said. “People don’t have any idea what it’s like to live in a place like that.”

Hopson offers a unique perspective because she is experienced in collaborating with the scientists who come to Alaska for their research.

“I work with Barrow Arctic Science Consortium and that involves all the researchers and scientists that come to Barrow on different projects,” Hopson said. “I work as a community liaison, so I help find the people that have the information that is needed.”

When Eisner received National Science Foundation funding with fellow geography faculty Ken Hinkel and Richard Beck for their work on drained lakes on the North Slope, she began working with Hopson to recruit local people in the community for their expansive knowledge of the evolving landscape.

Eisner and other members in her research team interview the village elders, asking them questions about the geography of the evolving thaw lakes and recording the changes they note. The abundant amount of data that is accrued by these oral histories give a human dimension to the impact the environment has on people’s lives.
 
“We’re always using maps. The Inupiat look at the maps and they tell stories,” Eisner said. As soon as one village elder saw a map, Eisner recalled, “she had a story about when this happened and that happened when the families were starving one winter. A whole story based on the landscape.”

“It’s overwhelming how much information they have.”

Hopson not only sets up Eisner’s meetings with the locals, she translates the interviews as well, considering some of the inhabitants of Barrow mainly speak Inupiaq. Translation alone can make a one-hour interview turn into a week-long duty, as the Inupiaq language is very complex and considered endangered because of its low usage rate today.

In fact, it was the translation of Inupiaq speaker Ruth Nukapigak’s interview that brought Hopson to Cincinnati in the first place. Because Eisner only visits Alaska in the summer months, translating the interview would pose impossible without Hopson’s assistance in the same location.

Her visit, while perhaps not a break from the harsh winter elements, was nonetheless productive. She and Eisner managed to translate the information volunteered by Nukapigak, bringing them one step closer to understanding the effects of climate change on Barrow and, ultimately, the world.

Read more about Eisner's work:

UC Faculty Members Break New Ground While Treading Gently on the Alaskan Tundra