What is SILA?
The Inuit concept Sila can denote both the physical world and its climate, and a spiritual wisdom of living in that world and climate, shared across generations. This research also combines both climate and physical processes in southwestern Greenland as well as best practices for sharing knowledge of those processes.
As large ice sheets advance and retreat across land, they change landscapes, ecosystems, and water in profound ways. Deciphering variations in how streams transport nutrients off these landscapes can help inform understanding of downstream consequences and broader climate impacts.
Improved communication and community engagement are integral to this interdisciplinary study of the biological, geochemical, and hydrologic response of streams to ice sheet retreat. Insights will inform understanding of the effects of past glacial retreat and improve projections of responses to future warming.
WIGF Greenland
The 2019 Water Institute Graduate Fellow (WIGF) program at the University of Florida supports a novel interdisciplinary graduate training environment, focused on water through the lens of the Arctic. We aim to foster interdisciplinary research and outreach among researchers, practitioners, and students in geology, hydrology, microbiology, botany, ecosystem science, coastal hydrodynamics, and communications.
In addition to gaining scientific expertise, students in the cohort train in environmental civics, defined as the principles and practice of public engagement, including general audience communication skills, policy discourse, and civic leadership.
