Changing sea ice in the Canadian Arctic is the inspiration behind SIKU (pronounced: see-coo) a new online social media and mapping platform, which is a finalist for the Google.org Impact Challenge. Headed by a University of Manitoba researcher, the not-for-profit Arctic Eider Society (AES) is harnessing social media, wiki and digital mapping technologies to address these challenges.

This month, AES is one of 10 finalists competing for the top prize in the 2017 Google.org Impact Challenge, and the public can vote for it until March 28. 

“It’s an honour to be nominated alongside many established and respected charities,” says AES executive director Joel Heath, a research associate at the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Earth Observation Sciences (CEOS). “We’re a small charity with a big heart. This funding will go a long way toward achieving our goals and helping Inuit communities address long-standing priorities for environmental and community health.”

Sea ice environments are changing across the Canadian Arctic, making travel on the ice more dangerous. These changes affect food security for Inuit. Named for the Inuktitut word for sea ice, SIKU will provide tools and services designed specifically to meet the unique needs of northern communities. AES runs a community-driven research network in eastern Hudson Bay region where it works closely with CEOS researchers such as professors Zou Zou Kuzyk and Jens Ehn, alongside graduate students like Rosemary (Annie) Eastwood and Vlad Petrusevich. The team conducts oceanographic research with Inuit hunters. This research is featured on the SIKU platform in near-real time, and the innovative Inuktitut terminology and tagging tools will allow Inuit communities to continue contributing their own knowledge to this research.  Read more....