BRUNSWICK — A group of 11 Alaskan Iñupiat and Yup’ik hunters and leaders will gather on the Bowdoin College campus today through Sept. 20 for a series of meetings.

On Thursday they will participate in a panel discussion, “Navigating Alaskan Waters: Natives, Science and Politics.” George Noongwook, a representative of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, will be the keynote speaker. Representatives of the five Alaskan marine mammal commissions will join him in discussions moderated by Martin Robards of the Arctic Beringia Program.

The free public event is planned from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium in the Visual Arts Center.

The panelists are the heads of Alaska’s five marine mammal commissions (whale, beluga, polar bear, seal and walrus). They will talk about the challenges and opportunities their families and communities face in light of intensification of oil and gas development in Alaska, dramatic increases in ship traffic as ice disappears from northern waters and climate change. They will also reflect on the importance and difficulty of integrating traditional knowledge, science and policy when trying to safeguard marine mammal habitat and traditional cultural lifeways.

This gathering of Alaskan leaders is funded in part by the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center, whose current exhibition, “Animal Allies, Inuit Views of the natural World,” highlights traditional knowledge of Alaskan and Canadian northern hunters.

For more information about the panel discussion call 725-3062 or 725-3416.

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