The Role of Agent Types in Detecting and Responding to Environmental Change

Individuals have distinct roles within communities in the development of adaptive responses to environmental change. We articulate the phenomenon of different roles, or agent types, that people take in initiating, supporting, or opposing collective organization in remote, resource dependent communities. Based on both participant observations and interviews in Seward Peninsula communities, we categorize agents into three broad types: initiators or alpha (α) agents, supporters or beta (β) agents, and opportunists or gamma (γ) agents. Using semi-structured interviews with community members, we identified the primary agent type of individuals in the context of community responses to environmental changes affecting local water resources. Respondents were asked a series of questions that measured their perception of the quality and quantity of local water sources and their perception of change in those water sources. Community resilience for each of the five study communities was measured using the Arctic...