One of our esteemed partners, Uliana Alekseevna Vinokurova, passed away on September 3, 2026. She was our major supporter in Yakutsk, connecting with local scholars and decision makers, guiding with wisdom and creativity. While being always busy with multiple obligations, students, projects, and family, she generously shared her time and wealth of knowledge.
Uliana Alekseevna was one of the first scholars masterfully weaving together Indigenous and Western sciences. Her understanding of the role of cold in cultures was one of foundations for the project’s conceptualization of “frozen commons”. She believed that specific cold conditions led to creation of a unique Arctic circumpolar civilization based on mutual support and collective efforts to survive and thrive in such environments. She looked deeply into human connections with cold, finding endless research opportunities for understanding its impact on human health, wellbeing, and worldviews, and human ingenuity to adapt and utilize cold as a resource.
Uliana Alekseevna will be remembered for her deep respect for diverse cultures, building connections and developing collaborations with Tatars, Buryats, Tyvans, Mongols, Sami, and others. For many of us, she served as a mentor, gently pointing to the areas of weaknesses for future development and highlighting the major strengths where the research had the most potential. Participating in multiple international initiatives, she worked tirelessly to elevate cultures of collaborators while preserving and contributing to her own Sakha culture. Traveling to as many places and communities as possible, she was also a gracious host for anyone visiting Yakutsk, the city that she contributed to development as an Arctic cultural capital.
Uliana Alekseevna Vinokurova leaves a legacy as a scholar who expanded understanding of the Arctic world, as an educator who nurtured future generations, and as a public figure who served her people with vision and conviction. Her life’s work continues to illuminate the path toward dialogue, dignity, ecological wisdom, and cultural continuity for the peoples of the North.