FST's Maria Marco is one of four researchers involved in the "Navigating the New Arctic" project to support Inuit-led fermentation projects, in this College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences story by Jeffrey Day, November 30, 2021: 

Connections that UC Davis scholars built across campus and continents have led to a $298,000 National Science Foundation award to engage with Inuit fermenters in Greenland and support them in identifying the challenges and opportunities for creating a resurgence in Inuit fermented foods. Their research is part of “Navigating the New Arctic,” one of NSF's 10 Big Ideas.

Iginneq (seal fat) is the main fermented food of southern Greenland.

The project is co-directed by Jessica Bissett Perea, associate professor of Native American studies in the College of Letters and Science, and Maria Marco, professor of food science and technology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, in collaboration with Aviaja Lyberth Hauptmann, an assistant professor at the University of Greenland, Ilisimatusarfik, and Stephanie Maroney (Ph.D., cultural studies, ’18), Mellon Public Scholars Program manager at the UC Davis Humanities Institute.  

The team of four will travel to southern Greenland next fall to identify critical research needs as it pertains to food security and to reverse negative narratives about Inuit fermented foods. The main fermented food of the Inuit from the area is iginneq (seal fat). 

You can read the complete story, here: https://caes.ucdavis.edu/news/inuit-foodways-connect-colleges-and-continent