Josh
Wisniewski
University of Alaska Fairbanks

Josh Wisniewski is a PhD candidate with the UAF Department of Anthropology; he received his BA and MA in anthropology from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Wisniewski's research explores the complex sets of relations between Iñupiaq and Yup'ik societies and marine mammals through time and the ontological premises shaping local and traditional ecological knowledge constructions.

For the past five years his research has been focused in Shishmaref, Alaska, where he has worked with Iñupiaq hunters and elders exploring and documenting ecological knowledge of bearded seals and historic and contemporary hunting practices. Expanding the geographic scope of his ongoing research, Wisniewski will be learning from hunters and elders in the communities of Togiak and Emmonak. Here, he will document local and traditional ecological knowledge, experiences and observations of the interactions between marine mammals, and changing ice conditions in these settings.