Observe the Pacific walrus and the endangered Steller sea lion resting on boulder beaches of Round Island, a rocky, remote island in the Bering Sea.  Students will travel to the Walrus Islands Game Sanctuary and camp at an established campground on Round Island, forty miles from Togiak, Alaska, in Bristol Bay. This remote island is a long-term monitoring site for marine mammals and seabirds. The rich marine environment surrounding Round Island has been an important source of livelihood for Alaskan Natives for over 5,000 years with abounding evidence found on the island. It continues to play an important role within the culture.

Working alongside researchers from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and UAF, students will observe walruses and sea lions in their natural habitat, learn how they have adapted to life in the ocean, compare and contrast their maternal strategies for raising young, and see how research is conducted to study their movements and estimate population size. Students will also consider factors that may threaten each species and the potential impacts of a changing climate.
 
While on the island, students will also study the diversity of seabirds that nest along the rocky cliffs (species include horned and tufted puffins, pelagic cormorants, black-legged kittiwakes, common murres, parakeet auklets). These birds are reliant on the ocean for food, yet must come to land to nest and raise their young. Students will make direct observations of their nesting habitats and watch as they feed and tend their young.
 
Students signing up for this module should be prepared to live in a remote camp setting with limited amenities, where weather, wind and tides dictate the living and study conditions. Students will share cooking and cleaning responsibilities and spend most of each day outdoors, hiking, observing and studying the marine mammals, seabirds and archaeology of this beautiful, treeless, northern island. 

NOTE: Marine Mammals and Seabirds is a remote module with additional cost. The cost for this module is $1600.  Preference will be given in this module to mature students in higher grades.

This module is supported by Springboard, a program of the Juneau Economic Development Council.

I moved to Alaska to work for the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge in a wet, windy corner of Bristol Bay, studying Pacific walruses and harbor seals.  I fell in love with Alaska and the marine coastal environment during the 5 months I lived in a remote camp surrounded by marine mammals, seabirds, red fox, and marmots.  During winter, I became involved with Togiak Refuge’s Education Program, visiting schools in nearby villages to teach students about ongoing wildlife studies.  At this time I realized the effectiveness of hands-on education projects.  At the same time it became apparent how much I could learn from the locals that had subsisted off marine resources for generations.  I completed a Master’s Degree in Marine Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks studying harbor seal pupping phenology and demography.  I have been working as a Wildlife Biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game since that time, conducting field studies of harbor seals and Steller sea lions in Southeast Alaska, Kodiak Island, Bristol Bay, the Pribilof Islands, and the Aleutian Islands.  I’ve increasingly had a desire to work with students outdoors where they can learn about science and wildlife first-hand.  Besides working at remote field sites, other outdoor activities that I enjoy include backpacking in Southwest canyon country, learning about and harvesting edible wild plants, skiing, hiking, birding, and playing soccer. 

I earned my undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz and my Master's Degree in Science Education from Antioch University. My interest in the natural sciences reaches back many years and I am indebted to several inspiring mentors from both high school and college. Shortly after college graduation I spent a couple of years teaching science in public schools. It quickly became apparent that my preference lay in teaching science in an outdoor setting where students are able to make connections that simply cannot occur within the confines of a classroom. Before migrating north to Alaska, I lived and worked in remote field stations in Oregon and northern Minnesota, banding tree swallows, digging up fossils, tracking bats fitted with radio transmitters and mucking around in the mountains, rivers and lakes with children and adults of all ages.
After visiting friends in Haines and Juneau in the early ‘90's, Alaska set her teeth in me and would not let go. I have lived in Juneau since 1992, first working as a naturalist for Discovery Southeast, a non-profit organization offering natural science school programs and wilderness trips throughout southeast Alaska. I have been working with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as a Wildlife Education Specialist for six years now, and continue to be extremely fortunate in working with folks who generously share their knowledge and understanding about the complexities of this region, its land, its fish and wildlife and its people. When not working, I enjoy backpacking, skiing, canoeing and gardening with my husband, Andy and two fantastic children, Elias and Marlena.