CV
Tripolarity is the professional website of Nicholas J. Parlato, a transdisciplinary researcher, legal geographer, philosopher of science, and Arctic inhabitant.
Core Competencies
Arctic Sociolegal Research Methodologies - Network Mapping - Qualitative Data Analysis - Policy Analysis - Trans/Interdisciplinary Collaboration - Critical Theory
Research
Experience
October 2022 - July 2025
Lead Researcher
Networked Institutions, Interests, and Legacies on Arctic Alaska Shores (NIILAAS)
PI: Dr. Amy Lauren Lovecraft, UAF
Funded by the University of Alaska Fairbanks-Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Coastal Marine Institute
February 2022 - September 2022
Researcher
Permafrost Grown
PI: Dr. Melissa Ward Jones, UAF INE
Funded by the National Science Foundation Navigating the New Arctic Program
July 2021 - March 2025
Regional Consultant and Researcher
Conceptualizing Indigenous-led Observation and Monitoring in the Bering Sea
PI: Dr. Lauren Divine, AIA
Funded by the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Ecosystem Conservation Office and the North Pacific Research Board
June 2020 - December 2022
Research Assistant
InteRFACE: Interdisciplinary Research for Arctic Coastal Environments
PI: Dr. Nicole Jeffrey, LANL
Funded by the US Department of Energy
Select Publications
Parlato, N., Middleton, A., Gordon, H.S.J., Madani, Z., Hancock, S. (2025). Reclaiming Science for Peace: Towards a Just and Interdependent Planetary Future. UArctic News. URL: https://www.uarctic.org/news/2025/11/reclaiming-science-for-peace-towards-a-just-and-interdependent-planetary-future/
Parlato, N., Lovecraft, A., Meek, C., and Payenna, H. (2024). Networked Governance, Institutional Change, and Governmental Coordination for a Dynamic Social-Environmental System: Coastal Management in Arctic Alaska, 1977-2023. BOEM CMI Report.
Parlato, N. and Ward Jones, M. (2025). The Law of Thaw: Understanding Subnational Land Use Policies for Permafrost-agroecosystems. Polar Record, 61, e3.
Parlato, N. and Madani, Z. (2024). Water Justice in the Arctic: Indigenous Rights, Legal Challenges, and the Future of Governance Amidst Climate Change, Current Developments in Arctic Law, 12, Publisher: University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, ISSN: 23433418, Lapin yliopisto.
Parlato, N. (2024). Donbass-Beringia: A Personal Journey Along the East-West Divide. In Kasten, E., I. Krupnik, G. Fondahl (eds.), A Fractured North- Facing Dilemmas. Fürstenberg/Havel: Kulturstiftung Sibirien.
Parlato, N. & Solovyeva, V. Has Avatar Colonized Us? Cultural Survival. URL: https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/has-avatar-colonized-us
Lovecraft, A., Lee, O., Parlato, N. (2022). System identity and transformation in petroleum jurisdictions: A multi-method approach for the North Slope Borough, Alaska. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation.
Fondahl, G., Parlato, N., Filippova, V., Savvinova, A. (2021). The Difference Place Makes: Regional Approaches to “Territories of Traditional Nature Use” in the Russian North. Arctic Review on Law and Politics, 12, 108-133.
Parlato, N., Fondahl, G., Filippova, V., Savvinova, A. (2021). The Evolution of Forming “Territories of Traditional Nature Use” in the Sakha Republic (Iakutia). Sibirica, 20(1), 1-27.
Education
2025
PhD, Government and Environmental Geography
University of Alaska Fairbanks ~ Fairbanks, AK, USA
Dissertation Title: Landfast Legalities and Institutional Erosion: Assembling Alaska Coastal Governance at the Melting Edge of the Anthropocene
Supervisor: Dr. Amy Lauren Lovecraft
2019
MA, Interdisciplinary Studies - Legal Geography
University of Northern British Columbia ~ Prince George, BC, Canada
Thesis Title: A Critical Legal Geography of “Territory of Traditional Nature-Use” Formation in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia
Supervisor: Dr. Gail Fondahl
BA, Russian & East European Studies
2012
Oberlin College ~ Oberlin, OH, USA
Thesis Title: A Comparative Analysis of Three 20th Century Translations of Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment
Supervisor: Dr. Tom Newlin