Kimberley Pikok

Nunaaqqit Savaqatigivlugich - Working with Iñupiaq Communities to understand a changing Arctic | Donna Hauser, Roberta G.T.B., & Kim Pikok

About the Speaker

My name is Kimberly Kivvaq Pikok and I am an Iñupiaq fisher from Utqiaġvik, Alaska. I am the granddaughter of Tommy Nipik and Rhoda Kivvaq Pikok. I come from a fishing family that loves to spend time inland hunting and camping. I enjoy camping and fishing at Pikok Camp, learning about Arctic vegetation, and traveling to different places to learn about different communities, ecology, wildlife, and culture. I graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in wildlife biology and I am now a graduate student at UAF in the Interdisciplinary Studies researching Utqiaġvik’s seasonal changes in spring whaling by centering local hunter and whaler observations and knowledge from the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub database (AAOKH), conducting interviews, and using community-based research methods. During my time at UAF, being a graduate student researcher for AAOKH, spending time camping and hunting, and interning at the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, I learned how important it is to have and center Indigenous people and youth in all aspects of research and in the decision-making process. I am always full of excitement, laughter, and smiles especially if I can teach people about camping, Arctic plants and animals, and Indigenous-led research.