skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Interviews with Water Sector Stakeholders in Rural Alaska, 2021-2022
This dataset includes anonymized interview data collected virtually and in-person with stakeholders from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta between November 2021 and August 2022. These interviews were designed to capture water sector stakeholders’ experiences and perceptions of their water infrastructure systems. Interview questions included, for example: “Can you walk us through a typical workday in your role?”; “Who do you interact with most often in your role?”; “What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your role in the water sector?”; and “How do you resolve issues that arise in the water system?” We conducted eight virtual interviews and nine in-person interviews with stakeholders between November 22, 2021 and August 5, 2022. Interviews were recorded (with permission), transcribed, checked for quality, and anonymized for archival.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2022666 2127353
PAR ID:
10445696
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
NSF Arctic Data Center
Date Published:
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
water infrastructure Alaska engineering
Format(s):
Medium: X Other: text/xml
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. This dataset includes anonymized interview data collected in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in August 2022. These interviews were designed to capture end-users' perceptions and experiences with their water infrastructure systems. Interview questions included, for example: Can you tell me how you use water in your household?; What do you like about your water or water system?; What are some of the concerns/challenges you deal with in your household water system?; Do you worry about whether your water is safe to drink? 10 semi-structured interviews with 12 end-users are included. These interviews were conducted from August 2nd to August 8th, 2022. All interviews were conducted in-person. Interviews were recorded (with permission), transcribed, checked for quality, and anonymized. 
    more » « less
  2. This dataset includes anonymized interview data collected in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in April 2022. These interviews were designed to capture end-users' perceptions and experiences with their water infrastructure systems. Interview questions included, for example: Can you tell me how you use water in your household?; What do you like about your water or water system?; What are some of the concerns/challenges you deal with in your household water system?; Do you worry about whether your water is safe to drink? Forty-one semi-structured interviews with 55 end-users are included. These interviews were conducted from April 21st to April 29th, 2022. Forty of the interviews were conducted in-person and one was conducted via teleconferencing. Interviews were recorded (with permission), transcribed, checked for quality, and anonymized. 
    more » « less
  3. This dataset includes anonymized interview data about the provision of water services in rural Alaska, focused on holistically understanding water service challenges using a systems approach. Eighteen semi-structured interviews with 19 stakeholders involved in the provision of water services in rural Alaska are included. These interviews were conducted from January 25th to June 28th, 2021. Interviews were conducted via teleconferencing or phone and were recorded (with permission), transcribed, checked for quality, and anonymized. Interview data was analyzed using a deductive-inductive qualitative content analysis. The data supported the following research objectives: 1) identify challenges within the financial, human, natural, and technical systems involved in the provision of water services in rural Alaska, and 2) use a systems thinking approach to identify interdependencies between systems. 
    more » « less
  4. This study initiated an exploration into how community members, specialists in housing issues, and social scientists might collaborate to address homelessness in Alaska. Through interviews and participant observation of planning meetings and related activities, the researchers are gathering insights from design experts, community organizers, and experts working on urban-rural homelessness in Alaska. This includes gathering information about cold weather design processes and issues facing urban-rural homelessness in Alaska, as well as the identification of possible research questions that can inform the development of a grant application for a multi-year research study. The study includes in-person as well as virtual research activities. Because of geographic distances, the majority of initial research activities were conducted virtually, but in-person field site visits began to take place June 15, 2021, and subsequent trips have taken place from August 2021-onward. These research trips involve site visits, participation in meetings, and in-person interviews when possible. Phase 1: 24 initial interviews were conducted with a range of stakeholders about housing insecurity in Alaska and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Includes interviewees from remote villages, from the Association of Alaskan Housing Authorities (AAHA), homeless advocates, designers, social scientists, engineers, and builders. Topics included myths about homelessness, homeless versus houseless terminology, research organizations, policies, impacts of pandemic, housing needs, and contrasting strategies. Analysis and synthesis with subsequent data is ongoing. 01: policy 02: interview with researcher 03: homelessness - Anchorage - rural communities - data sharing 04: design in rural communities 05: housing shortages in rural communities 06: technical issues in housing - collaborating with rural communities 07: homeless community in Fairbanks 08: history of Cold Climate Housing Research Center 09: design - homelessness - Anchorage 10: homelessness - rural/hub/urban - need for housing design repository 11: homelessness - Nome - Savoonga - designers need to visit villages 12: reverse interview - designer interviews researchers 13: homelessness - Anchorage - Bethel - housing costs 14: homelessness - rural/hub/urban spectrum - subsistence - houseless term 15: homelessness data and Bethel - impacts of pandemic - myths 16: homelessness data and Bethel - impacts of pandemic 17: ISERC (Integrated Security Education and Research Center) research 18: homelessness data and Bethel - CARES Act 19: homelessness data (gaps) and Bethel - CARES Act 20: homelessness data and Bethel 21: designer - public awareness and museum exhibits 22: veterans and community organizer 23: AAHA staff member 24: homelessness - Fairbanks - pandemic impacts on rescue missions Phase 2: 49 additional interviews were conducted with support from NSF funding (NSF 2103356: RAPID: COVID-19, Remote Ethnography, and the Rural Alaskan Housing Crisis). A meta-data description of the participants and topics are attached ('RAPID_interview_list___Descriptions'). 
    more » « less
  5. An initial exploratory study examined basic parameters of the sustainability mindset in an historically underrepresented group within engineering. An NSF water quality engineering research project engaged citizen scientists from vulnerable Latinx families in design, construction, and use of acrylic concrete structures for rainwater harvesting. During the start, middle, and end of the project, participants were asked to share their perceptions of sustainability through a series of exploratory focus groups questions: “How do you feel about droughts in the region; can you please tell me what you know about drought-resiliency; do you know ways a person might be able to conserve water during a drought; can you please tell me what you know about water quality testing?” Three coders (an environmental engineer, a civil engineer, and a sociologist) conducted a domain analysis of the focus group to determine emergent themes reflecting the sustainability mindset of the citizen scientists. Preliminary results show that between the onset and conclusion of the rainwater harvesting project, participants increasingly articulated their thoughts on sustainability in a future-oriented context requiring collective action in a broader, community sense. The preliminary findings have implications for sustainability- focused engineering outreach and crowdsourcing efforts. 
    more » « less