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Socio-Ecological Systems Transformation in River basins of the sub-Arctic under climate change
(SESTRA)
Kuskokwim River, Alaska. Source: Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
About
Cold regions are experiencing unprecedented environmental change that coincides with social and economic transformations. Given the vital role of water systems in cold regions, current climate and socioeconomic changes have significantly impacted many riverine communities. Focusing on two sub-Arctic river basins, Kuskokwim and Selenge, located in remote parts of Alaska and northern Eurasia (Mongolia), the SESTRA RIVERS Project analyzes the changing interactions between climate, water, and society, to assess their impact on people, ecosystems, and infrastructure, and develop, jointly with communities, current and future adaptation options.
The project will help understand how climate and water cycle changes impact people living in cold regions, including Indigenous communities. The results will suggest effective ways to deal with the current and future climate changes in the Arctic and sub-Arctic. The project will engage Indigenous communities. Project results will help navigate the current and arising challenges of climate change and lay the foundation for future international community-driven collaboration.
This research will provide a set of plausible trajectories of human responses to climatic, social, economic, and political stressors developed for Alaskan and Mongolian regions and communities but applicable to the broader Arctic and sub-Arctic.
The project will involve Indigenous artists and develop an extensive training program for students and early career scientists.
The photo of Bayanzürkh, Mongolia. Courtesy of Vera Kuklina.
Our Study Domains
The SESTRA Project focuses on two sub-Arctic river basins, Kuskokwim and Selenge, located in remote parts of Alaska and Mongolia.
The Project uses a multiscale approach by integrating diverse information flows from urban and rural settings in each study region.
Map of the Kuskokwim River, Alaska.
Map of the Selenge River, Mongolia.
Our Team
The interdisciplinary SESTRA team consists of researchers with backgrounds in different natural and social science disciplines, artists, Indigenous scholars and knowledge-holders.
The Project involves students and early career scientists from undergraduate to post-doctoral levels in interdisciplinary research and fieldwork activities.
Our fieldwork in Alaska – 2026
July 31–August 12, 2026
The SESTRA multidisciplinary team of researchers and students from UNH, UAF, UNI, and GWU conducted fieldwork in McGrath, Akiak, and Akiachak,– three communities located within Alaska’s Kuskokwim River basin.
The fieldwork brought together environmental monitoring, social science research, community engagement, education, and knowledge-sharing activities to better understand how rapid environmental change is affecting riverine communities and local livelihoods, and to identify adaptation measures that can strengthen adaptive capacity and support long-term resilience.
On behalf of our team, we'd like to sincerely thank our local partners and supporters:
Joel Neimeyer (Neimeyer Consulting, Akiak Native Community), Kimberly Wortman (McGrath Native Village Council), Michele Greenamyre, Tim Yoder, Joyce Turner (McGrath City Council), Sheila Williams Carl and Lena (Maamcuk) Foss (Akiak Native Community (Tribal Council), James Boldosser (Akiak School), Christine Harrington and Clinton Spafford (Radio Station “KSKO, 89.5 FM” (Kuskokwim Public Broadcasting Corporation) in McGrath, and all the other wonderful people we had the pleasure of meeting during our field trip.
Our special thanks go to the participants of the Unit 4 Working Meeting in Akiak, as well as to all interview participants, for sharing their perspectives, hopes, and concerns about the future of their communities.
Our fieldwork senior researchers – team members:
Alexander Shiklomanov (UNI), Alexander Kholodov (UAF),
Marya Rozanova-Smith (GWU), Victoria Sharakhmatova (UNI).
Our students–research assistants:
Evan King (GWU) and Amelia Ogawa (GWU).
Fieldwork community meetings and project presentations
July 31 –August 12, 2026
McGrath – Akiak – Akiachak, Alaska
SESTRA engaged communities through a variety of collaborative and knowledge-sharing activities.
The team organized two Community Potlucks with project presentations in McGrath Tribal Council (August 3) and Akiak Tribal Council Bingo Hall (August 7).
The gatherings provided an informal and welcoming setting for residents to learn about the SESTRA project, participate in door-prize activities, meet members of the research team, discuss environmental changes affecting their communities, and share their own observations and experiences.
The field team also brought the project to a broader regional audience through KSKO 89.5 FM, Kuskokwim Public Broadcasting Corporation, in McGrath on August 5. During the radio program, researchers introduced the SESTRA project, discussed its progress and preliminary findings, and invited greater engagement from residents of McGrath and neighboring communities.
More news and videos will be available soon.
Watch our video:
On the Edge:
What Does Climate Change Mean for Alaska’s Future?
In Alaska, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, 86% of Native communities are threatened by flooding, coastal or riverbank erosion, and thawing permafrost. These risks are no longer distant: many are already facing permanent damage to housing, roads and runways, and other essential infrastructure. Entire communities, including well-known ones like Newtok and Shishmaref, as well as newer cases such as Akiak and McGrath, are already contending with substantial destruction impacts and the reality of climate-forced relocation.
In this video, experts and community voices come together to illuminate urgent challenges. Through striking imagery and firsthand accounts, it illustrates how climate change is reshaping lives and placing the very survival of Arctic communities at risk—while also highlighting their extraordinary resilience.
Acknowledgements
Land Acknowledgement
The SESTRA Project honors the ancestral stewards of the Indigenous lands included in our study areas in Alaska and Mongolia. In Alaska, among these stewards are the Yup'ik on the lower Kuskokwim and Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan on the upper Kuskokwim. We acknowledge and respect their knowledge and wisdom.
Our field work in Mongolia in Summer 2025
June 7–20:
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Expedition to Khövsgöl aimag included: Ulaanbaatar- Erdenet -Mörön-Khatgal-Bayanzurkh-Mörön- Erdenet-Ulaanbaatar (7-17 June)
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SESTRA Project presentation at the International Conference Environmental Science and Technology – EST 2025 (The Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, 18-20 June). Our special thanks to all Mongolian colleagues and the Director of the Institute, Dr. Dashtseren Avirmed.
August 1–22
SESTRA team working sites:
Mörön, Bayanzurkh, Tsagaannuur, Sukhbaatar, Khatgal.
Research objectives:
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Permafrost measurements in Bayanzurkh
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PhotoVoice master-classes and drone surveys in Bayanzurkh and Tsagaannuur
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ArtSLInK workshop in Khatgal
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Workshops and RIMS trainings in Mörön and Sukhbaatar.
Photo credit: Natalya Saprunova.
SESTRA-RIMS Trainings in Mongolia in August 2025
On August 11, 2025, SESTRA research team organized RIMS training workshops in Mörön, August 15 – in Sukhbaatar, Selenge aimag on Rapid Integrated Mapping and data analysis System (RIMS) for SESTRA project developed at UNH.
The workshops generated great interest among various environmental specialists representing the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Hydrometeorological Service, Construction and Urban Development and Water Management Agencies as well as geography teachers from several local high schools who found that the RIMS tool is very useful for various educational applications.
Our field work in Alaska
August 2024
The SESTRA Project research team conducted field work in Alaska in August 2024.
The team worked in Bethel, Akiak, Kwethluk, and McGrath, focusing on identifying and analyzing changes in hydroclimatological components of the natural system that affect human activities and ecosystem services, as well as examining changes in riverine socioeconomic systems.
An important part of this trip was the in-person engagement with the SESTRA Project partners, local stakeholders, local media, and community members.
March 5-7, 2024
Washington, DC
The George Washington University
Session Transformations of Socio-Ecological Systems in Pan-Arctic River Basins under Climate Change
Description:
Cold regions are experiencing unprecedented environmental change that coincides with social and economic transformations. Given the vital role of water systems in cold regions, current changes in climate, land cover and water cycle have significantly impacted sustainability of many local communities through increased streamflow, river bank erosion, permafrost thaw, and changed precipitation pattern, vegetation and river/lake ice magnitude and timing. We propose a session aimed at understanding how changes in climate and hydrology impact people and ecosystems of riverine communities in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions.
The Session welcomes projects focused on interactions between changing climate, hydrology, cryosphere, and human processes in order to improve local-regional resilience and adaptive capacity.
The Session is organized by the SESTRA Project in cooperation with the ARCTICenter, UNI, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Cold Regions Lab, and GWU.
April 16–20, 2024
Honolulu, Hawai'i
Session Indigenizing Research Agenda and Geography Research Methodologies
Description:
Indigenizing research agenda and research methods is an important priority to ensure that geographical research is respectful and inclusive of Indigenous knowledge, is ethically conducted, and addresses urgent community needs and priorities.
We invite researchers, especially Indigenous scholars, to share their experiences in implementing the Indigenized and knowledge co-production approaches throughout the complete research process.
The Session is organized by the ARCTICenter, University of Northern Iowa, Measuring Urban Sustainability in Transition (MUST) Project, the Understanding the Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 in the Arctic (COVID-GEA) Project, and the Socio-Ecological Systems Transformation in River basins of the sub-Arctic under climate change (SESTRA) Project.
