A scene from Silageetuq, by Mera Kenney '12

A scene from Aksik, by Jonathan Ignatowski '12

6/8/12

Films By St. Lawrence Students Document Climate Change In Alaska Villages

CANTON - Short films documenting the effects of climate change on two remote villages in Alaska, made by recent graduates of St. Lawrence University as senior projects in environmental studies, are now available online. The films are on the Alaskans Sharing Indigenous Knowledge (AKSIK) project website, http://aksik.org.

Jonathan Ignatowski '12, an environmental studies and English major from Scottsville, N.Y., created a film titled Aksik, which details the impact of climate change on the subsistence culture of the village of Savoonga, located on St. Lawrence Island.

The film Silageetuq was written and directed by Mera Kenney '12, an environmental studies major from Rensselaerville, N.Y. Featuring original music by Stephanie Milton '12, it highlights the effects that increasingly violent storms have had on Shaktoolik, a village in Alaska. The film features two women, Carole Sookiayak and Tonia Sagoonick, who describe how such storms threaten their survival and explores the needs of the village, mainly an evacuation road and evacuation center so the villagers can escape the next storm.

"This short film was inspired," Kenney says, "by a walk along the Bering Sea coast with (Carole) Sookiayak. On that walk, I was deeply moved by the resilience and perseverance of the community, despite the looming threat of bigger and more severe storms, and I felt an obligation to share the struggle of our fellow human beings."

Both films are part of the larger AKSIK project, a multi-year science and advocacy project headed by Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Jon Rosales. AKSIK documents local knowledge of climate change in Shaktoolik and Savoonga and the efforts of residents to adapt to these changes.