Projects
​Yukon Kuskokwim Delta Environmental Risk Assessment
Alaskan Native villages are vulnerable to climate change, experiencing escalating rates of erosion, flooding, and failing infrastructures, with a cumulative cost in the millions of dollars. There is a critical need to develop short and long-term solutions that address the impacts of climate change and support Alaskans residing in environmentally threatened communities.
Blue Mussel Natural Resource Conservation Plan, Pilot Study, and Habitat Suitability Assessment
In Unalaska, the increase in algal blooms due to climate change has been causing blue mussel habitat to decline in quality and increases the instance of Paralytic Shellfish Toxins (PST) in mussels. As blue mussels are an important subsistence food for Unalaskan residents, increasing PST occurrences elevates the risk of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) in community members.
BIA Tribal Community Resilience Grant
The Tribal Community Resilience Grant, previously known as the Tribal Climate Resilience Grant, is a competitive program that provides financial support to Tribes and Tribal organizations to address current or future impacts on conservation practices, food sovereignty, infrastructure, economies, and public health. Priority is given to Alaska Native Villages where environmental hazards pose high-risk.
DOI Tribal Electrification Program (TEP)
The Tribal Electrification Program is administered by the Department of the Interior and funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. Funds from this program are given to recognized Tribes and tribal organization for the purpose of implementing zero-emissions electrification projects. Funding is given to both planning projects, and implementation projects.
DOI WaterSMART Program
TBEC was hired to aid in the preparation of the WaterSMART grant application. TBEC employees conducted a meeting with North Pole representatives to get the information needed to draft the grant proposal, attended a webinar, and conducted additional research to support the application.
USFWS Tribal Wildlife Grant
The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Tribal Wildlife Grant provides financial assistance to Tribes for conservation projects. Funds are awarded only to Tribal communities for projects that benefit fish and wildlife and their habitats. This includes subsistence species, as well as species of cultural importance to Tribal communities that are not harvested.
UAV Mapping
We were brought onto a job to help map out a contaminated site. This site was located on tribal land, with extremely limited access for work. TBEC arrived with our drone equipment and mapped out key locations with our multispectral imagery.
Generational Change in the Chugach
To go along with the interactive dashboard that TBEC created for the CRRC, a storymap was also created. The story map, titled “Generations of Change”, follows Lily, a 10-year-old living in Seward, the generations that preceded her, and the generations that will follow to analyze how climate change has and will impact Chugach communities.
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Storymap Link
CRRC Website
Kvichak River Erosion
By overlaying the imagery we gathered onto existing map imagery, we can showcase an immediate, up to date visualization of the changes happening. This method helps visualize the impacts in an easier to grasp way.
National Science Foundation (NSF SBIR Phase I)
National Science Foundation, Small Business Innovative Research Phase I Grant: The research objective was to develop an initial proof-of-concept method for synthesizing the large amounts of often conflicting climate data into meaningful and actionable data that can be combined with the community needs to identify the projected social, economic, cultural, and environmental risks due to disasters and extreme weather. We developed a prototype design for an innovative, forward-looking Community Impact Statement (CIS).
Levelock - Community Impact Statement
NOAA Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grant for an Alaskan Native Community.
Levelock Village Council (the Council) is the governing body of the Native Village of Levelock
(Levelock), a federally recognized sovereign nation and Alaska Native Village. This NOAA grant was to support resilience against volatile shoreline erosion and impacts from climate change.
Ketchikan - ICARIS
TBEC is partnering with the Ketchikan Indian Community (KIC), an Alaska Native Village and federally recognized sovereign nation, to conduct a Community Impact Statement (CIS) to assess climate impacts on Southeast Alaska region and co-develop a tailored and robust Integrated Community Adaptation & Resilience Impact Statement (ICARIS).
Metlakatla Indian Community Invasive Species Management Plan
For the Metlakatla Indian Community (MIC), TBEC assisted with updating of their 10-year Invasive Species Management Plan (ISMP) and the accompanying Environmental Assessment (EA). Collaborating with MIC’s Special Projects team and the Alaska Fish and Wildlife Department TBEC documented current invasive species/noxious weeds nearby the community, as well as identified species of concern in the region that the community may want to start addressing before an infestation occurs.
Makah Tribe Broadband Environmental Review and Categorical Exclusion
TBEC was tasked with conducting a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental review for this project. Before construction can begin, an environmental review must take place to ensure that project activities will not interfere with the surrounding environment, or if they do, that proper mitigation efforts are taken to ensure minimal disturbance.
DOT Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD)
TBEC helped the QTU prepare a RAISE (now known as BUILD) grant application for funds to construct a new dock in Iliuliuk Bay, Dutch Harbor and additional upland area to increase terminal capacity at this site. This would allow the terminal to accommodate both barge operations and ocean-going vessels at the same time, increasing efficiency, reliability, and safety of operations at the Dutch harbor terminal.
USFWS Zoonotic Disease Initiative (ZDI)
TBEC conducted client meetings to get a sense of what the community wanted to achieve with any funds received from the ZDI. TBEC also gathered additional information to further support the proposal, including information about Avian Flu and subsistence use trends in Unalaska. In addition to the proposal drafting, TBEC also completed necessary forms to be turned in alongside the proposal, and created a budget narrative that clearly showcases how much funds were being requested and where the funds would be applied over the course of the project.
DOT Promoting Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Program
The PROTECT Program was started under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help communities prepare their surface infrastructure for future natural hazard, such as flooding or extreme weather events. PROTECT grant activities can be grouped into 1 of 4 categories: (1) Planning, (2) Resilience Improvement, (3) Community Resilience and Evacuation Routes, and (4) At-risk coastal Infrastructure.
Chugach Climate Impacts Dashboard
TBEC was tasked with creating an interactive dashboard for the CRRC that assesses the impacts of future climates on the environmental, economic, social, and cultural processes of CRRC communities. The CRRC was hoping to provide its community members with a resource that shows them how their environment is changing and what to expect moving forward so that resource management and community planning may be more informed.
National Science Foundation (NSF SBIR Phase II)
National Science Foundation, Small Business Innovative Research Phase II Grant:
The Integrated Community Adaptation & Resiliency Impact Statement (ICARIS) builds on a CIS, combining geomatics, geodesign, projected future climates, socioeconomic vulnerabilities, and traditional knowledge to increase community biophysical, environmental, and socioeconomic climate resilience.
Hurricane Harvey - Gulf Coast
Following the catastrophic impacts of Hurricane Harvey, Jaimlyn collaborated with Texas A&M University, the City of Friendswood, and the Friendswood City Planning Council to investigate the role of sound walls (noise barriers) in exacerbating overland flooding in residential neighborhoods.
