Ontologies of Climate Change: Exploring the Entanglement of the Iñupiat and Climate Science in Utqiagvik, Alaska

Ontological anthropology has unsettled boundaries between nature and culture by constructing a comparative project of radical difference, crystallised in the division between dualism and non-dualism. Whilst dualistic scientific investigation seeks to master an inert nature, non-dualist actors are framed as extending sociality to the nonhuman through an embedded relationality. Such theorising has grown pertinent as environmental crises have sparked an increased focus on the equitability of relationships with nature. The research seeks to complicate this dichotomy by analysing how climate change becomes a reality in scientific field stations amongst indigenous populations in the North American Arctic, focusing specifically on the Barrow Arctic Research Centre and local Iñupiat. By ethnographically exploring dualism, the research will analyse how the production of climate science is impacted by the permeability of Artic field stations and the uncertainty of climate change. This will be situated alongside experiences of indigenous actors, exploring how climate change unsettles notions of relational becoming, presenting dilemmas lost in grand comparative schemas.
form the basis of investigating interaction, as Arctic field stations present the opportunity to examine the entanglement of those experiencing climate change from seemingly disparate ontological positions.