ARCTIC Arctic Research Consortium of the United States Member Institution Winter 2006/2007, Volume 12 Number 2 Research at the University of Lapland Arctic Centre stablished in 1979 and located on the Oulu, and Helsinki, and about 50 supervi- EArctic Circle, the University of Lap- sors and associate members from multiple For more information, contact: land in Rovaniemi, Finland, enrolls about institutions. The theme of the school is Riku Lavia 4,300 undergraduate and 400 graduate stu- Social and Environmental Impacts of Arctic Centre dents and employs a staff of 650. Within Modernization and Global Change in the University of Lapland the university, the Arctic Centre was Arctic. ARKTIS students work in the social PO Box 122 established in 1989 as a multidisciplinary sciences—including sociology, political sci- FI-96101 Rovaniemi research institute and science centre. Its ence, environmental politics, international Finland multinational staff of 80 conducts a wide relations, economics, cultural studies, law, [email protected] • 358-16-3412758 range of research and education activities, and education—as well as biology and www.arcticcentre.org carries out project services, and maintains geography. Most research groups at the a science centre, information service, and Arctic Centre also include graduate stu- The Arctic Centre hosts the Finnish library. The operating budget for the Arctic dents who are funded by outside sources, National Secretariat of the International Centre (€2.34 million in 2005) comes such as the Academy of Finland and vari- Polar Year (IPY; see page XX) in coopera- from the Finnish Ministry of Education. ous foundations. tion with the Thule Institute of the Univer- Arctic Centre research projects also receive The Arctic Centre organizes and sity of Oulu. The secretariat is responsible funding (€1.43 million in 2005) from a coordinates a non-degree granting Arctic for coordination of national IPY events, variety of outside sources, including the Studies Program (ASP) in cooperation international cooperation with other IPY Academy of Finland and European Union with the International Studies Centre of entities, and IPY education and outreach (EU) funding instruments. the University of Lapland. The one-year services. The University of Lapland also Founded in 2003 at the Arctic Centre, ASP provides students with comprehensive operates the International Secretariat of the ARKTIS is a multidisciplinary graduate knowledge of the physical, environmental, University of the Arctic (see page XX). school funded by the Ministry of Educa- social, and cultural aspects of the Arctic as With a strong emphasis on interna- tion. ARKTIS has 22 Ph.D. students well as research opportunities at the centre. tional multidisciplinary cooperation, the enrolled at the Universities of Lapland, The program is designed for a variety of 40 scientists working at the Arctic Centre students, includ- combine the perspectives of natural and ing Finnish and social sciences to understand societal and foreign degree stu- environmental problems of northern dents, international regions and contribute to management exchange students, decisions with the goal of a sustainable and professionals, future. While the centre has a circumpolar who would like mandate, its primary emphasis is on north- to improve their ern Russia, Scandinavia, and Svalbard. knowledge of the Research focuses on three main themes, North. each of which is led by a research professor: • global change, The Arktikum building, which houses the Arctic • sustainable development, and Centre, is on the banks • environmental and minority law. of the Ounasjoki River This insert includes highlights of recent in Rovaniemi, Finland. Photo by Timo Lindholm/ Arctic Centre research activities. Fotoplan. Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road • Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland: ARCUS Member Institution Global Change Research Group ed by Bruce Forbes (Biogeography/ LEcology), the global change research group examines the effects of large-scale changes in climate and ecology and efforts to adapt to them. The research group As part of the emphasizes both the natural sciences and ENSINOR project, Anu Pajunen, a the relationship between human com- Ph.D. student in munities and rapid environmental change. Botany, talks with a Because the responses and resilience of herder about forage plants in reindeer northern societies are of special interest, pastures in the the global change group works closely Bolshezemel’skaia with the sustainable development research tundra, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, group (see page 3). Russia. Photo by For example, a 2004 Arctic Centre Bruce Forbes. project entitled Challenges of Modernity for Reindeer Management: Integration Ole Henrik Magga and Svein Mathiesen, forage plants to increasing ultraviolet-B and Sustainable Development in Europe’s Saami University College, Norway. (UV-B, 280–320 nm) radiation as indica- Subarctic and Boreal Regions (REN- The ENSINOR project’s comparative tors of climate change. ECOREIN investi- MAN) developed new models of partici- case studies examine changes resulting from gators manipulate plants’ UV-B exposure in patory research and planning in reindeer energy development in two districts— the field and characterize plant responses, management that fostered integrated and Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the including synthesis of defensive phenolic sustainable use of semi-domestic reindeer Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug—that compounds, nitrogen metabolism, and resources in northernmost Europe. contain the region’s most productive proven composition of waxes and nutritive sub- Arctic Centre researchers are using the energy sources. The research team conducts stances. The social science component of participatory approach developed through biological, geographic, and anthropologi- the project analyzes the human-animal- RENMAN in a multidisciplinary analy- cal investigations and works closely with plant-relationship. An assessment, derived sis of energy development in northwest migratory Nenets herders. The research- from participant observation and question- Russia. With primary funding from the ers combine quantitative methods, such naires, will identify environmental and Academy of Finland, Forbes works with as high-resolution satellite image analysis socioeconomic factors that make reindeer Florian Stammler (Social Anthropology) and on-site biological data collection, with herding vulnerable to change and ways on Environmental and Social Impacts of anthropological research on the herders’ herders can cope with these changes effec- Industrial Development in Northern Rus- qualitative knowledge of herding, hunting, tively. For more information, see http:// sia (ENSINOR). This four-year project fishing, and gathering. In December 2007, thule.oulu.fi/projects/ecorein.html. includes collaboration with Tuula Tuisku the Arctic Centre will develop a museum Arctic Centre research in glaciology of the Thule Institute at the University of exhibition sharing the project’s findings and paleoclimatology is funded primarily Oulu and Svetlana Ektova of the Institute that will travel to regional museums in by the Academy of Finland. John Moore of Plant and Animal Ecology at the Rus- Salekhard and Naryan Mar. A final work- leads a group of investigators specializing sian Academy of Sciences and with three shop will involve stakeholders, including in geophysics (Venkata Gandikota, Aslak closely related projects: government, the oil industry, reindeer herd- Grinsted, and Anna Sinisalo) and chemis- • Heterogeneity and Resilience of Human- ers, indigenous officials, and researchers. try (Kristiina Virkkunen) with the aim of Rangifer Systems: A Circumpolar Social- Stammler also works with Minna better understanding the climate system Ecological Synthesis, funded by NSF Turunen (Global Change, Botany), Päivi and its interactions with the cryosphere. and led by Gary Kofinas, University of Soppela (Global Change, Zoology), and They combine geophysical measurements, Alaska Fairbanks (UAF); Monica Tennberg (Sustainable Develop- such as ground penetrating radar on gla- • Application of Space-Based Technolo- ment) on a project investigating ecologi- ciers and ice core analyses, with advanced gies and Models to Address Land-Cover/ cal and socioeconomic impacts of global mathematical methods to explore the non- Land-Use Change Problems on the change on reindeer herding in Finnish Lap- linear mechanistic behavior of the climate Yamal Peninsula, funded by the National land and northwest Russia. Conducted in system. These methods allow features that Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) collaboration with researchers at the Uni- are largely obscured by complex noise pro- and led by Skip Walker, UAF; and versity of Oulu, Finnish Forest Research cesses in more traditional analyses to be • Reindeer Herders’ Vulnerability Net- Institute, and several international partners, extracted from time series of observed cli- work Study: Reindeer Pastoralism in Ecological and Socioeconomical Responses mate. Sophisticated treatment of chemistry a Changing Climate, funded by the of Global Change on Reindeer Pastures data also allows climate information to be Norwegian Research Council and led by (ECOREIN) uses responses of reindeer continued on page 3 2 extracted from ice cores taken from non- Jukka Jokimäki (Ecology and Envi- whose populations have declined in recent optimum environments, greatly expanding