Injury Vulnerability to Climate Change among Inuit in Greenland
Trainee/Student: Kim Wolfe, Department of Anthropology Graduate Degree Program

Abstract
The study will explore how Greenlandic Inuit communities are responding to changes in the sea ice and vulnerability to climate change related risk of unintentional injuries. Specifically, how local families, who engage in hunting activities, perceive the changing injury risk factors of travel across unreliable sea ice and the value of traditional ecological knowledge for managing injury-related risks will be explored. The long term goal is to identify climate-related conditions that represent hazards which can lead to injuries. Additionally, questions will address if there are increased numbers of injuries from travel on unstable ice, or instead, an increased awareness of the changing ice conditions, which may lead to decreased injuries within the community. Finally, how injury incidence affects family members as well as the community and their responses to these issues will be explored. The proposed hypothesis is that climate-related changes in sea ice conditions increase vulnerability to injury events during travel on sea ice for Greenlandic Inuit, which can have social, cultural and injury-related health implications. This work will address questions related to the kinds of injuries that occur and the kinds of changes that locals are making to accommodate to the changing sea ice conditions.