This dissertation explores various ecological, socioeconomic, sociopolitical,
and biophysical dimensions food security in Alaska. The context for this work is
dramatic climatic change and ongoing demographic, socioeconomic and cultural
transitions in Alaska's rural and urban communities. The unifying focus of the
papers included here are human health. I provide multiple perspectives on how
human health relates to community and ecosystem health, and of the roles of
managers, policy makers, and researchers can play in supporting positive health
outcomes. Topics include methylmercury (MeHg) contamination of wild fish, the
impacts of changes to Alaskan landscapes and seascapes on subsistence and
commercial activities, and on ways to design sustainable natural resource policies
and co-management regimes such that they mimic natural systems. The operating
premise of this work is that sustainability is ostensibly a matter of human health;
the finding is that human health can provide a powerful point of integration for
social and ecological sustainability research.