Alaska Voices

"There's the energy of the emptiness is it's almost like the opposite of nothing..." -Lloyd Pikok Jr

"I remember the first computer that my dad bought us was an old Compaq, and he thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. So did I." -Bob Torgerson

"We only had a head nurse and not a doctor, and she came and she asked me what I was doing, and I tell her I'm looking for a job. At the age of 14, she wrote down my name and then she said, you know what? You came at just the right time." -Helen Peters

"this is what I want our kids to have. This is why we do the things. That's why Tlingit and Haida and and all these organizations, it's like we're a race against the clock. But at the same time, the solution is just to be indigenous." -Gloria Wolfe

"When I first came here, the idea of a smoky summer was more of a novelty than an almost annual event" -Scott Rupp

"I think about all of the opportunities that I've had to interact with science from an early age, and the ability that we've had to give that opportunity to other people, but also the fact that this is a very, very unique opportunity that I've been given, and I'm really grateful for it." -Merridy Littell

"To facilitate that space, you then see how people leave in a really good mood after having connected with a person."

"Could you even imagine if you could try to outgive me? ʼI’m going to give better than you.ʼ What kind of world would we live in?" -George Nix

"A lot of what I’ve learned is the academic history of exploitation of communities in the Arctic. Iʼm trying to teach myself as much as I can such that when I’m in a position that I am leading a project, that I have input to make sure that things are done correctly" -Margaret Anamaq Rudolf

"I would encourage people to not despair in this prospect of an unknowable climate future. We have tools, good tools, to get an idea of what might be coming." -Charlie Parr

"We call them our cathedral trees, I don’t think they grew up to have this much wind, so you hear them snapping during wind events, too. And it’s warmer. It’s much warmer. We don’t have those 40 below for a week at a time anymore." -Mary Burtness

"I remember his frustration as budgets were being cut. Now most of us experienced a mixture of apprehension and anger. The anger from the injustice of it and apprehension from how is this going to affect what matters to me? Not just my job, although that’s there, but also the things that I’m doing that I think are important And as near as I could tell, he experienced only anger. He was pissed." -...

"Come here and find out that million-acre years are pretty common and they’re dealt as extreme years, but in more recent years, you wind up seeing more and more million acres burned." -Jacob Coffey

"There’s this history of research happening, disregarding those pieces, and I’m really excited about this as a mechanism to shine a light on that, and ask those questions: does this work really need to be done? Are you willing to invest in the relationships with the community to ensure that your work is meaningful to the people who live here, and if not, then maybe we need to think twice about it....

"I was always interested in technology, ever since I was a little kid. I remember the first computer my dad bought us was an old Compaq and he thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread." -Bob Torgerson

" It's a working dog that's here to help keep you safe. And no one wants to pet your drone, you know? But they might want to pet your dog." -Nils Pedersen

"When I see people, I’d say maybe more senior personnel, get very angry about this, that, or the other, it almost comes out as like, an entitlement to that anger. ʼI have every right in the world to be this way,ʼ and there’s no longer any room to be like, ʼHm, maybe we need to take a step back.ʼ" -Jessie Young-Robertson

"I think it’s something that you and I have in common—loving to do science but really wanting to see it connect with the people who need it." -Nancy Fresco

The second season of Alaska Voices will be released December 1st with new episodes every Monday. Listen for your weekly dose of Alaskan lore, place-based knowledge, science stories, and climate adaptation.

This podcast miniseries focuses on the life and career of Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP)’s climate specialist, Rick Thoman. This podcast, hosted by Liz Carter, is made by ACCAP in partnership with Alaska Voices. In this episode Rick Thoman shares lessons learned throughout his time in Alaska. He offers advice on how to build trust and serve rural communities. “Ultimately I...

This podcast miniseries focuses on the life and career of Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP)’s climate specialist, Rick Thoman. This podcast, hosted by Liz Carter, is made by ACCAP in partnership with Alaska Voices. In this episode Rick Thoman shares key career accomplishments, and several collaborators weigh in on what makes Rick such a trusted source of climate information i...

This podcast miniseries focuses on the life and career of Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP)’s climate specialist, Rick Thoman. This podcast, hosted by Liz Carter, is made by ACCAP in partnership with Alaska Voices. In this episode Rick Thoman outlines the bulk of his career thus far, covering his time at the National Weather Service in Nome and Fairbanks as well as his transi...

This podcast miniseries focuses on the life and career of Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP)’s climate specialist, Rick Thoman. This podcast, hosted by Liz Carter, is made by ACCAP in partnership with Alaska Voices. In this episode Rick Thoman describes how he came to love weather, climate and Alaska. Starting in childhood, the episode follows Rick from elementary school proje...

This Wednesday weʼll release, the first episode of the 4-episode miniseries on Alaskaʼs beloved weather and climate communicator, Rick Thoman. Stay tuned for Rickʼs story and a new Alaska Voices season.

"I've seen an artistry come out of Alaska, it has changed, the way in which we've articulated in which our resources are important to us and how we've done that through art, and other type of expression, that makes me really hopeful." - Davin Holen