For Immediate Release: March 8, 2022
Press Release by:
Tamara Paltin, Councilmember
Maui County Council
media@mauicounty.us
Community invited to free screening of “Ice Edge—The Ikaagvik Sikukun Story”
LĀHAINĀ, Hawai‘i—Councilmember Tamara Paltin announced today she will co-host a free screening of the movie “Ice Edge—The Ikaagvik Sikukun Story” with filmmaker Sarah Betcher, preceded by discussion on Maui County’s coastal-erosion issues on Friday at 6:45 p.m. at Waiola Church, 535 Wainee St.
Paltin said the discussion will include lessons learned from around the world in an effort to bridge local and Western scientific expertise and perspectives in tackling urgent challenges where the impacts of climate change are greatest. She said the film explores how the continuous loss of sea-ice has impacted marine life, threatening access for residents of Kotzebue Sound to marine resources they rely on for food and clothing.
“We have much to learn from the mechanisms and impacts of rapid changes taking place in the Arctic and how they are relevant to costal-erosion and climate-change issues we are experiencing here at home,” said Paltin, who is in her second term holding the council’s West Maui residency area seat. “The film also explores how local, Indigenous community involvement played a key role in crafting research questions, collecting observations and synthesizing findings that contributed to predictive assessment of the changing environment of Kotzebue Sound.”
Ikaaġvik Sikukun, meaning Ice Bridges in the Iñupiaq language, is a research project that couples state-of-the-art geophysical observations from unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) with a community-engaged research approach to bridge scientific and Indigenous understanding of sea ice change in the Alaskan Arctic, Paltin said.
Seating will not be provided. Participants are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets and sit in family or household groups to adhere to social distancing. This is a drug-, alcohol- and tobacco-free event. Attendees are requested to not park on the grass.
For more information, contact the Office of Councilmember Tamara Paltin at (808) 270-5504.
###
