About CSEA & Our Values
CSEA
Established in spring 2024, the Center for Sustainable Engagement in the Arctic is an innovative partnership between the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and the University Libraries at Virginia Tech.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Virginia Tech Center for Sustainable Engagement in the Arctic (CSEA) is to transform Arctic research through community-driven approaches that champion innovation in research and outreach. Guided by the Iñupiaq expression isagutilakput, which conveys the spirit of working together to initiate meaningful action, CSEA prioritizes Arctic communities’ leadership in identifying research priorities and co-developing solutions. Through collaboration, CSEA reimagines Arctic research to enhance both scientific knowledge and community-identified outcomes, strengthening Virginia Tech’s position as a leader in impactful, sustainable, and community-engaged research.
Vision Statement
The Center for Sustainable Engagement in the Arctic envisions advancing institutional policies and practices that uphold sustainability and innovation in Arctic research, further strengthening Virginia Tech’s position as a trusted global leader in research, education, and service, embodying the spirit of Ut Prosim (“That I May Serve”).
Values
The Center for Sustainable Engagement in the Arctic will work toward its mission and vision guided by the following values:
Center Community Priorities
Accountability to Communities and Stakeholders
Research Relationships that are Sustainable and Interdisciplinary
Effective and Responsive Evaluation
Stewardship of Land, Resources, and Capacities
CSEA Leadership
Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq, PhD
Founding Director
Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq (she/they) is an Iñupiaq scholar and a Tribal citizen of the Noorvik Native Community in Northwest Alaska. Her parents are Gladys I’yiiqpak Pungowiyi from the Wells family in Noorvik and the late Caleb Lumen Pungowiyi from Savoonga. She is an assistant professor of technical and scientific communication in the Department of English at Virginia Tech. Her work focuses on Arctic research, data governance, and research methodologies that support community-led initiatives and scientific innovation. She has extensive experience developing research methods, partnerships, and programs that facilitate collaboration between Arctic communities and research institutions. She is the academic lead for Arctic community-led, transdisciplinary initiatives that focus on language documentation, NLP, data literacy, digital archiving, and increasing local research capacities. She serves as a co-lead for the IARPC Tribal Consultation and Effective Practices (TCEP) collaborative team and as co-lead for the IASC ICARP IV RPT7 on Services, Infrastructure, Logistics, and Technology
Andrea L. Ogier (Andi) , MLIS
Deputy Director
Andi Ogier (she/her) is a librarian who has worked in libraries for over twenty years, and has worked at Virginia Tech since 2008. She currently serves as Assistant Dean for Data Services and Faculty Affairs in the University Libraries at Virginia Tech, where she supervises a team of 40 people, all while actively plotting her next trip to hang out in the Arctic.
Andi enjoys knitting, helping people find things, and hanging out in the Arctic. Although her expertise in library data services, digital resource management, and community-engaged Arctic research makes her a vital asset to the center’s operations, she also really likes colder climates and remote places where her knit scarves and hats are useful. She has eaten maktak in Alaska and Greenland, and really wants to learn how to cure and smoke salmon. She is slowly learning Iñupiaq words and phrases (but when pressed the only phrase she can reliably remember is Uvlaalluataq!), and she accidentally spent a lot of money on qiviut in Greenland but has absolutely no regrets.