The Backyard Buoys™ project enables Indigenous and coastal communities to gather and use wave data, enhancing their blue economy and hazard protection. Leveraging low-cost and scalable marine technology, Backyard Buoys offers a system for community-managed ocean buoys and web apps that simplify data access to complement Indigenous Knowledge.
What excites me about this project is bringing together diverse partners to support historically underserved Indigenous coastal communities to own and operate wave buoys that they steward, assisted by ocean scientists, fostering a community of practice.
Dr. Jan Newton
Executive Director, NANOOS, Project Investigator
Indigenous coastal communities continue to explore, rely upon, and caretake the ocean as their backyards for food and cultural practices, as they have since time immemorial.
Melissa Iwamoto
Director, PacIOOS, Project Investigator
This project has the ability to bridge local Indigenous knowledge and scientific data collection, making the information needed for ocean safety decisions more accessible.
Fuiava Bert Fuiava
Samoan Village Chief, NPAS, Project Partner
Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS), Quileute Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, Western Washington University
Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS), Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation (UIC) Science, Alaska Dept of Natural Resources, Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program
Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS), Marshall Islands Conservation Society, National Park of American Samoa, Hawai'i Sea Grant, Conservation International Hawai'i
Sofar Ocean, South Seas Consulting, Weston Solutions