Message from the Dean

I am pleased to convey that the following individuals have accepted Chancellor White’s appointment to the new CFOS Advisory Council (AC):

• Robert Foy, Ph.D., Science and Research Director, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (ex officio)
• Molly McCammon, Executive Director, Alaska Ocean Observing System (3-year term, renewable for one additional term)
• Vera Metcalf, Director, Eskimo Walrus Commission, Kawerak, Inc (3-year term, renewable for one additional term)
• Stephanie Quinn-Davidson, Ph.D., Director, Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Tanana Chiefs Conference (3-year term, renewable for one additional term)
• Norman Van Vactor, CEO/President, Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (3-year term, renewable for one additional term)
• Doug Vincent-Lang, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ex officio)

With the exception of the ex officio seats, all candidates were nominated by our faculty and vetted through the CFOS Dean’s Advisory Committee. One of the first orders of business for the AC will be to consider additional council members to ensure a diverse and active membership, and to allow for staggered appointments. I will also propose that the council consider modifying the bylaws to include ex officio seats to represent Alaska tribal governance and local governance. I am delighted to welcome such a diverse, experienced and dedicated group to help support and advocate for the health and needs of our college.

As we wrap up this crazy year, I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the dedication and hard work of our students, staff and faculty—it is humbling and rewarding to be part of CFOS. Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday.

Finally, today marks the beginning of winter solstice—here comes the sun!

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is headed to Bellingham, Washington, for yearly maintenance. Next month, the ship will move to Seattle for a 5-week upgrade to the engineering machinery and alarm control system.

Activities and Accomplishments

CFOS faculty Schery Umanzor is facilitating the Nurdle Patrol in Juneau. This citizen science initiative aims to find and map sources of plastic pellets polluting the nation's coastline.

Undergraduate student Kortney Birch was awarded a 2021 Molly Ahlgren Scholarship from the Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society.

CFOS in the News

The Anchorage Daily News published an opinion piece written by Seth Danielson about the importance of long-term monitoring programs in Alaska’s oceans. The op-ed is also available on the CFOS Newsroom.

UAF News issued a press release about the Seward Marine Center’s 50th anniversary.

R/V Sikuliaq was featured in a Passagemaker Magazine story about sea ice and Jim Thomson’s 2019 CODA cruise.

Matthew Wooller’s work at the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility was mentioned in a UAF News story about a 57,000-year-old wolf pup preserved by permafrost in northern Canada.

Publications

Edwards, M.S., and B. Konar. 2020. Trophic downgrading reduces spatial variability on rocky reefs. Scientific Reports 10(1): 18079. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75117-2

Gabara, S.S., B.P. Weitzman, B. Konar, and M.S. Edwards. 2020. Macroalgal defense phenotype correlates with herbivore abundance. Marine Biology 167:179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03787-7

Meachen, J., M.J. Wooller, B.D. Barst, J. Funck, C. Crann, J. Heath, M. Cassatt-Johnstone, B. Shapiro, E. Hall, S. Hewitson, and G. Zazula. A mummified Pleistocene gray wolf pup. Current Biology 30(24): R1467–R1468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.11.011

Message from the Dean

This month marks the 50th anniversary of both the Seward Marine Center (SMC) and the Gulf of Alaska (GAK-1) time-series program. Established ten years after the formation of the legislatively mandated Institute of Marine Science in 1960, SMC has supported a diversity of research, teaching and outreach programs. From 1970 to 1980, Seward served as home port for the 80-foot R/V Acona; from 1980 to 2004 the 133-foot R/V Alpha Helix; and since 2015 has been home port for the 261-foot Global Class ice-capable R/V Sikuliaq.

A prime example of the seagoing research supported at SMC is the GAK-1 time-series. Located at the mouth of Resurrection Bay, temperature and salinity depth profiles have been collected continuously at GAK-1 since 1970, making it one of the longest-running oceanographic time-series in the North Pacific. The legacy of ocean observations at GAK-1 and along the Seward Line contributed to the foundation of the NGA LTER, which began in 2018.

Congratulations to the many faculty, staff and students who have worked at the Seward Marine Center—here’s to another productive 50 years!

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is transiting to Newport, Oregon, to mobilize for Hussain Abdulla’s (Texas A&M) research on marine peptide deamination. This project will use UAF’s MC-800 multicore and OSU’s “Big Bertha” gravity core to collect samples off the central California coast for determination of sedimentary carbon isotope signatures. This is the last scheduled and funded project for 2020, after which Sikuliaq will transit to the Puget Sound region for annual maintenance and equipment upgrades.

Activities and Accomplishments

Andrew McDonnell contributed to the Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Webinar series with a segment focused on zooplankton and marine particle size distributions during the NASA EXPORTS field campaign in the North Pacific Ocean.

Graduate student Jesse Gordon won the American Fisheries Society Student Subunit photography contest. His picture of Crescent Harbor in Sitka will be featured on the cover of the 2021 Student Research Calendar, which will also include images submitted by Katja Berghaus, Feyne Elmore, Courtney Hart (photo by Taylor White), Elizabeth Hinkle, Ben Lowin, Alexandra Reich, Isaac Reister, William Samuel (photo by William Samuel and Benjamin Meyer), Savannah Sandy, Emily Stidham, Marina Washburn, and Brooke Woods (photo by Leah Woods).

CFOS in the News

An article in the Frontiersman featured research on ocean carbon dynamics in the Bering Strait conducted by graduate student Stephanie O’Daly.

Publications

Wheat, C.G., C. Kitts, C. Webb, R. Stolzman, A. McGuire, T. Fournier, T. Pettigrew, and H. Jannasch. 2020. A new high-temperature borehole fluid sampler: the Multi-Temperature Fluid Sampler. Scientific Drilling 28:43–48. https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-28-43-2020

Grants and Awards for November 2020

New awards for November 2020:

• Grant G-13618 "Arctic Benthic Change in Motion" - Katrin Iken - NPRB - $20,000.00 (November 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13797 "Improving Preseason Forecasts with Artificial intelligence Methods and Ecosystem Information" - Curry Cunningham - University of Washington - $15,000.00 (January 6, 2020)

Grants that received incremental funding during November 2020:

• Grant G-12178 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Ship Operations CY 2018-2022" - S. Bradley Moran - NSF - Mod 8 - $2,500,000.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-13637 "2020 Northern Gulf of Alaska Applied Research Award for Molly Payne" - Peter Westley (Molly Payne) - UA Foundation - $1,872.00 (June 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13639 "The Importance of Seaweed Wrack Habitat and Resource" - Brenda Konar (Brian Ulaski) - UA Foundation - $1,872.00 (July 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13727 "Lingcod in Prince William Sound" - Trent Sutton (Katja Berghaus) - UA Foundation - $1,872.00 (July 1, 2020)

Grant controlled by another campus/department:

• Grant G-13539 "Establishing Baseline Measurements for Humpback Whales in Juneau, AK" - Shannon DeMaster - Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission - UAS - $11,160.00 (June 1, 2020)

Message from the Dean

CFOS benefits from a diversity of people, perspectives and programs. In this regard, and recognizing the heightened national attention to social inequality evident across many public and private institutions, I am pleased to convey that we will establish a new CFOS Diversity Committee.

The committee will provide recommendations to the CFOS Dean and Dean’s Advisory Committee on strategies, actions and priorities to ensure a diverse, equitable and inclusive college. For example, the committee will review and report annually on CFOS gender and ethnicity data to help guide recruitment, admission and retention of our students, staff and faculty. Committee members will serve on a voluntary basis as representatives of the CFOS community. Establishing this committee provides an opportunity to be more strategic and coordinated on important issues related to diversity, equity, inclusivity and social justice within the college; this effort also aligns with the university's goals to grow a culture of respect, diversity, inclusion and caring.

It is a pleasure to announce Gillian Braver is our new Campus Logistics and Science Liaison at the Seward Marine Center. Gillian brings experience in science education and outreach, and served as a Boat Ranger in the Kenai Fjords National Park. Gillian can be contacted by email at gibraver@alaska.edu. Please join me in welcoming Gillian to CFOS.

The CFOS 2020 Annual Report is complete and has been posted on our website; printed copies will soon be distributed by the Dean’s Office. I am delighted with this report in terms of its visual appeal and highlights of some of our academic, research and service activities over the past year. Please join me in thanking Alice Bailey for providing the content and Carol Kaynor for expert editing.

On Thursday, December 3, from 1–2 pm (AKST), our distinguished CFOS Fall Keynote Seminar speaker Dr. Richard (Rick) Spinrad will present The New Blue Economy: People, Products and Policies. Please mark your calendars for what promises to be a thoughtful and interesting talk on the blue economy, a subject that is central to the mission of our college. Please contact Heather McLeod at hlmcleod@alaska.edu for the Zoom link and password.

Wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is transiting to Newport, Oregon, to mobilize for Hussain Abdulla’s (Texas A&M) research on marine peptide deamination. This project will use UAF’s MC-800 multicore and OSU’s “Big Bertha” gravity core to collect samples off the central California coast for determination of sedimentary carbon isotope signatures.

For something completely different, Sikuliaq is also helping fictional scientists investigate strange noises coming from the ocean floor in the recent Tom Clancy novel, Shadow of the Dragon. Maybe a stocking stuffer?

Activities and Accomplishments

Shannon Atkinson served on a panel for the University of Alaska Southeast 2020 Power & Privilege Symposium, which discussed the film Picture A Scientist and the challenges that females face when pursuing academic careers.

Graduate students Katja Berghaus and Carolyn Hamman each received Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity awards to mentor CFOS undergraduate students Amanda Frantz, Molly Piscoya and Roger Maldonado.

In early November, graduate student Valentina Melica presented her research on whale hormones at an Alaska Wildlife Alliance Wildlife Wednesdays event and at the Gray Whales Pacific Coast Feeding Group Consortium Meeting.

EPSCoR Seed Grants were recently awarded to Elizabeth Hinkle for her project, "Arctic grayling movement and genetic relatedness in response to wildfire" and to Courtney Hart for her project, “Using harmful algal bloom monitoring to understand PSP risks and mitigate testing burdens at a shellfish farm in Southeast Alaska.”

CFOS in the News

Seth Danielson and Katrin Iken were featured in several media reports in UAF News, Science Daily, USARC Arctic Update, Science Codex and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner regarding their research aboard Norseman II that found a very active ecosystem in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Alaska Native News and The Guardian also covered the research, and Iken was interviewed by KUAC FM radio.

CFOS high-frequency (HF) radar research in the Bering, Beaufort and Chukchi Seas was featured by UAF News, Arctic Sounder, USARC Arctic Update, and KTUU; these reports mention the CFOS HR radar team comprised of Seth Danielson, Rachel Potter, Hank Statscewich and Jordi Maisch.

Research on ocean carbon dynamics in the Bering Strait conducted by graduate student Stephanie O’Daly was covered by UAF News, Alaska Business Magazine, Anchorage Press, and Juneau Empire.

A photograph of R/V Nanuq supporting UAF research and a highlighted publication by Seth Danielson appeared in the Gulf Watch Alaska quarterly newsletter.

Publications

Bluhm, B.A., M.A. Janout, S.L. Danielson, I. Ellingsen, M. Gavrilo, J.M. Grebmeier, R.R. Hopcroft, K. Iken, R.B. Ingvaldsen, L.L. Jørgensen, K.N. Kosobokova, R. Kwok, I.V. Polyakov, P.E. Renaud, and E.C. Carmack. 2020. The pan-Arctic continental slope: Sharp gradients of physical processes affect pelagic and benthic ecosystems. Frontiers in Marine Science 7:544386. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.544386

Bolt, C., A. Aguilar-Islas, and R. Rember. 2020. Particulate trace metals in Arctic snow, sea ice, and underlying surface waters during the 2015 US Western Arctic GEOTRACES Cruise GN01. 2020. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.0c0020

O’Daly, S.H., S.L. Danielson, S.M. Hardy, R.R. Hopcroft, C. Lalande, D.A. Stockwell, and A.M.P. McDonnell. 2020. Extraordinary carbon fluxes on the shallow Pacific Arctic shelf during a remarkably warm and low sea ice period. Frontiers in Marine Science 7:548931. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.548931

Okasaki, C., M.L. Keefer, P.A.H. Westley, and A.M. Berdahl. 2020. Collective navigation can facilitate passage through human-made barriers by homeward migrating Pacific salmon. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287:20202137. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2137

Whalen, M.A., R.D.B. Whippo, J.J. Stachowicz...W.W. Raymond, et al. 2020. Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117(45): 28160–28166. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2005255117

Message from the Dean

The 2020 CFOS Annual Report is in the final stages of editing and will soon be sent for printing. As with our prior reports, expect to see a visually appealing and interesting summary of some of our academic, research and service highlights over the past year. A big thank-you to Alice Bailey for providing the content and assembling the final product, and to Carol Kaynor for expert editing. We expect to distribute the report in the coming weeks.

As a reminder, nominations of candidates to serve on the CFOS Advisory Council, using this nomination form, are due November 15. The Dean’s Advisory Committee will review nominations and offer recommendations, and Chancellor White will make the formal appointments.

This Wednesday is Veteran’s Day. Please remember to take a moment to reflect on and honor the military veterans who served our country.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway in the Chukchi Sea for Robert Pickart’s (WHOI) Monitoring Mooring project. She is working her way south after spending almost two weeks in the Beaufort Sea ice and is scheduled to return to Seward on November 19.

Activities and Accomplishments

CFOS merchandise is once again available in the Sea Grant bookstore. We will be accepting online orders only and will be filling them weekly due to limited staff in the office.

On October 28, seagoing scientists using R/V Sikuliaq in Arctic waters presented their research findings and plans to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. Jim Thomson (UW/APL) discussed preliminary results from his recent Coastal Dynamics in the Arctic (CODA) cruise and updates from Robert Pickart’s ongoing mooring project, and Bernard Coakley (UAF) presented the field plan for his 2021 Chukchi Edges cruise.

Professor emeritus Gordon Kruse has been appointed to the North Pacific Research Board Science Panel.

Last week, Courtney Hart was a session chair and Brenda Konar, Hannah Myers, Brian Ulaski, Katie McCabe, and Amy Dowling gave presentations at the virtual Western Society of Naturalists marine ecology conference, which had more than 1,000 attendees.

CFOS in the News

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner featured Seth Danielson, Rachel Potter, Hank Statscewich and Jordi Maisch in a story about using high-frequency radar systems to map surface currents in the Arctic.

Our 5 percent increase in enrollment this year was mentioned by Chancellor White in an opinion piece that appeared in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Graduate student Michelle Trifari was featured in a UAF News story about mercury found in Aleutian steller sea lions, as well as in stories on KTVF Fairbanks, the Arctic Sounder, the Kodiak Daily Mirror, Alaska Business Magazine and News Break.

Publications

Frost, T.J., E.M. Yasumiishi, B.A. Agler, M.D. Adkison, and M.V. McPhee. 2020. Density‐dependent effects of eastern Kamchatka pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and Japanese chum salmon (O. keta) on age‐specific growth of western Alaska chum salmon. Fisheries Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1111/fog.12505

Grants and Awards for October 2020

New awards for October 2020:

• Grant G-13641 "High-resolution coupling of ocean physics and chemistry to plankton distribution" - Russ Hopcroft - MJ Murdock Charitable Trust - $325,700.00 (October 1. 2020)
• Grant G-13685 "UAF FY21 Support for Marine Scientist Hollmen" - Tuula Hollmen - AK SeaLife Center - $77,111.00 (October 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13727 "Lingcod in Prince William Sound: - Trent Sutton (Katja Berghaus) - UA Foundation - $3,750.00 (July 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13745 "Dynamics of Contemporary Genomic Evolution in Replicate Threespine Stickleback Populations" - Krista Oke - Stony Brook University - $86,603.00 (September 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13754 "DNA Mixture Lab Study (L4719)" - Megan McPhee - Humboldt State University - $77,719.00 (September 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13760 "Ocean Acidification and fisheries recruitment dynamics in the eastern Bering Sea" - Natalie Monacci - AOOS - $81,330.00 (October 1, 2020)

Grants that received incremental funding during October 2020:

• Grant G-12511 "RCN-UBE: The Research on STEM Education Network: Improving Research Inclusivity through a Grassroots Culture of Scientific Teaching" - Trent Sutton - University of Alabama-Birmingham - Mod 2 - $14,393.00 (August 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12861 "Model-based Fish Distribution and Habitat Descriptions for Arctic Cod, Saffron Cod and Snow Crab in the Alaskan Arctic" - Franz Mueter - BOEM - Mod 1 - $96,308.00 (July 17, 2019)

Message from the Dean

CFOS has many stakeholders and supporters, and it is important that they have a platform to help guide and support the college. In this regard, Chancellor White has approved the new CFOS Advisory Council. The purpose of the advisory council will be to provide critical input, advice and recommendations to the Dean and UAF Chancellor on matters related to academic programs, research, major facilities and development efforts of the college. Nominations of candidates to serve on the CFOS Advisory Council are welcome via our advisory council nomination form and are due by November 15. The Dean’s Advisory Committee will review nominations and make their recommendations to me, and I will then recommend candidates to Chancellor White for formal appointment.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway in the Beaufort Sea for Bob Pickart’s (WHOI) Monitoring Mooring project. He and his team will recover, service and deploy a subsurface mooring on the Beaufort Shelf, conduct a hydrographic survey of the boundary current, and do mooring work in the Canadian portion of the Beaufort Sea.

Activities and Accomplishments

Bradley Moran’s nomination by the US National Academies Ocean Studies Board to serve as vice president of the international Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Executive Committee was ratified last week during the annual SCOR meeting.

Thank you to everyone who donated to CFOS programs during UA Giving Day. In a UAF News story, the UAF interim director of development and alumni relations wrote, “UAF donors and supporters blow me away. Our first giving day event, ‘49 Hours for the 49th State,’ was humbling, inspiring and wonderful.”

CFOS in the News

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner mentioned CFOS as a UAF program that saw a 5 percent increase in enrollment this semester.

Message from the Dean

The first-ever UA System-wide “giving day” is set to begin at noon on Tuesday, October 20. On the CFOS Giving Day website, there will be a 49-hour (consistent with the 49^th state) time period to make a donation to two funding areas vital to student success: the CFOS Support Fund and the CFOS Graduate Student Support Fund. Your support will help our students achieve their potential to become future leaders in fisheries and marine science. To inspire participation, I have pledged a gift that will be “unlocked” after the first ten donations have been made. I encourage all alumni, friends and supporters to give.

Ensuring a robust shoreside facility in support of Sikuliaq and related seagoing research is a UAF and CFOS priority. In that regard, UAF Facilities Services is conducting significant repairs and maintenance on the D.W. Hood Laboratory, Orca Building, Mooring Shop, Machine Shop and Warehouse at the Seward Marine Center. This work includes installation of new heating systems, new piping for the potable water connection to Sikuliaq, new smoke detectors, and pressure testing the pavement heating system. These investments will bolster our efficient and effective shoreside operation in Seward.

It is a pleasure to welcome Michelle Warrenchuk as the new CFOS Procurement Technician and Administrative Generalist. Michelle was most recently an administrative assistant in the UAS College of Arts and Sciences, and effective today will be working out of our Lena Point facility in support of CFOS procurement. Please welcome Michelle to CFOS!

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is in Seward to unload moorings from Jim Thomson’s (UW/APL) Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic (CODA) project. Later this week, Robert Pickart’s (WHOI) personnel and gear will be loaded, and then Sikuliaq will depart for a monthlong Monitoring Mooring project in the Beaufort Sea.

Activities and Accomplishments

With the help of eCampus, Peter Westley launched a free six-week version of the UAF course Salmon, People, and Place. More than 500 students from around the world are participating.

Seth Danielson was appointed to serve on the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System Arctic Icebreaker Coordinating Committee, which provides planning and communications assistance to polar science projects.

CFOS in the News

Brenda Konar and Alaska Sea Grant’s Melissa Good contributed to a radio piece that was aired by Unalaska’s KUCB and Alaska Public Media about devastation to Aleutian Island reefs caused by sea urchins and climate change. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner also published a story about the research.

In their October newsletter, the Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium (ARICE) posted a webinar of preliminary results from the November 2019 GO-WEST cruise aboard R/V Sikuliaq. Franz Mueter was aboard the expedition, which investigated the association of young polar cod with newly forming sea ice.

The Cordova Times quoted Courtney Carothers in a story on Tamamta, CFOS’s graduate traineeship program that focuses on indigenous knowledge of fisheries and marine sciences.

Curry Cunningham was interviewed for a Bloomberg QuickTake video on Bristol Bay salmon ecosystems in association with Fat Bear Week.

Publications

Johnson, M., A. Mahoney, A. Sybrandy, and G. Montgomery. 2020. Measuring acceleration and short-lived motion in landfast sea-ice. Journal of Ocean Technology 15(3). https://www.thejot.net/article-preview/?show_article_preview=1190

Larsen Tempel, J.T., and S. Atkinson. 2020. Endocrine profiling of reproductive status and evidence of pseudopregnancy in the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). PLoS ONE 15(9): e0239218. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239218

Sutton, L., K. Iken, B.A. Bluhm, and F.J. Mueter. 2020. Comparison of functional diversity of two Alaskan Arctic shelf epibenthic communities. Marine Ecology Progress Series 651:1–21 (feature article). https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13478

Thorson, J.T., C.J. Cunningham, E. Jorgensen, A. Havron, P-J.F. Hulson, C.C. Monnahan, and P. von Szalay. 2020.The surprising sensitivity of index scale to delta-model assumptions: Recommendations for model-based index standardization. Fisheries Research 233:105745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2020.105745

Umanzor, S., Y. Li, and C. Yarish. 2020. Effect of direct “seeding” binders and embryonic sporophyte sizes on the development of the sugar kelp, Saccharina latissima. Journal of Applied Phycology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-020-02277-z

Wheat, C.G., R.A. Zierenberg, J.B. Paduan, D.W. Caress, D.A. Clague, and W.W. Chadwick Jr. 2020. Changing brine inputs into hydrothermal fluids: southern Cleft segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC009360

Grant Awards for September 2020

New awards for September 2020:

• Grant G-13607 "Using Genomics to Improve Stock Structure Resolution and Assess Recruitment Dynamics of Lake Whitefish in Lake Michigan" - Megan McPhee - Great Lakes Fishery Trust - $127,744.48 (July 31, 2020)
• Grant G-13637 "2020 Northern Gulf of Alaska Applied Research Award for Molly Payne" - Peter Westley - UA Foundation - $5,000.00 (June 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13639 "The Importance of Seaweed Wrack as Habitat and Resource" - Brenda Konar (Brian Ulaski) - UA Foundation - $12,500.00 (July 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13646 "A sustainable, integrated AMBON in the Chukchi Sea" - Katrin Iken - NASA - $50,000.00 (September 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13664 "Arctic Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Structure Data Analysis and Writing Retreat" - Seth Danielson - BOEM - $54,189.00 (September 14, 2020)
• Grant G-13683 "NRT: NNA: Tamamta (All of Us): Transforming Western and Indigenous Fisheries and Marine Sciences" - Courtney Carothers - NSF - $3,000,000.00 (September 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13696 "Investigating the impacts of oil exposure and changing snow cover on sea ice microbial communities" - Gwenn Hennon - BOEM - $149,831.00 (September 23, 2020)
• Grant G-13697 "Are expanding Pink Salmon populations in the Arctic produced from regional watersheds?" - Kristen Gorman - BOEM - $81,405.00 (September 23, 2020)

Grants that received incremental funding during September 2020:

• Grant G-1085 "NOSB Support" - Bradley Moran - UA Foundation - $2,375.00 (July 1, 2002)
• Grant G-11133 "Chukchi Sea Ecosystem Mooring" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 7 - $50,000.00 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-11158 "HFR Operations and Maintenance" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 7 - $156,000.00 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-11299 "An Arctic marine mammal observing system" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 6 - $65,000.00 (February 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11557 "CAREER: Imaging the global distribution and drivers of the ocean's biological carbon pump" - Andrew McDonnell - NSF - Mod 4 - $26,366.00 (July 1, 2017)
• Grant G-12127 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Oceanographic Technical Support-Year 1 of 5" - Ethan Roth - NSF - Mod 5 - $672,589.00 (June 15, 2018)
• Grant G-12178 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Ship Operations - CY 2018-2022" - Bradley Moran - NSF - Mod 7 - $700,000.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12500 "Bering Strait High-Frequency Radar" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 2 - $114,286.00 (October 1, 2018)
• Grant G-13024 "A sustainable, integrated AMBON in the Chukchi Sea" - Katrin Iken - NOAA - Mod 1 - $181,000.00 (September 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13129 "Impacts of Sedimentation and Drivers of Variability in the Boulder Patch Community, Beaufort Sea" - Katrin Iken - University of Texas at Austin - Mod 1 - $55,840.00 (September 18, 2019)
• Grant G-13223 "Underwater Autonomous Vehicle missions in support of an Ecosystem Based Approach to Alaska fisheries management" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 1 - $228,571.00 (January 1, 2020)

The following grant is controlled by another department and received incremental funding during September 2020:

• Grant G-13079 "Landfast Ice Climatology within the Arctic OCS" - GI - Seth Danielson - BOEM - Mod 1 - $124,123.00 (September 24, 2019)

Message from the Dean

This week UAF will host the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities site visit as part of the fall 2020 accreditation of the university. The visit will include virtual forums for students (Wednesday, September 30, 12–12:45 pm), staff (Thursday, October 1, 12–12:45 pm) and faculty (Thursday, October 1, 1–1:45 pm) to allow an opportunity to meet with the evaluators and share information about your UAF experience. It is important that we demonstrate good participation in these events and I encourage everyone to provide your input.

On Friday, September 18 I joined Interim President Pat Pitney for her tour of our Lena Point fisheries center. The President appreciated learning more about the Juneau facility and meeting with some of our students, staff and faculty, as well as collaborators at NOAA Fisheries. It is heartening that our new interim President is strongly supportive of CFOS. The tour was followed by a meeting with Interim Chancellor Karen Carey to discuss the UAF–UAS joint undergraduate program. Both the President and Chancellor recognized that CFOS and UAS faculty are working well together on the joint undergraduate program related to fisheries and that enrollment has been ticking up. Later, Chancellor Carey gave a tour of the Anderson Building and encouraged further collaboration with CFOS. Thanks to Franz Mueter and Gabrielle Hazelton for guiding the tour, and to President Pitney and Chancellor Carey for their time and support.

I hope everyone is taking time to get outside and enjoy Alaska’s spectacular fall colors.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway for Jim Thomson’s (UW/APL) Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic (CODA) cruise. The purpose of the CODA cruise in 2020 is to recover the moorings that were deployed by the ship in 2019 in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Seas. Sikuliaq will return to Seward on October 12 to swap gear and personnel, and then head back north to support Bob Pickart’s (WHOI) project in the Beaufort Sea.

Activities and Accomplishments

Trent Sutton has been named the Alaska Regional Management Unit Lead for the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative.

CFOS in the News

Brenda Konar and CFOS alum Ben Weitzman were mentioned in an article published by UAF News about devastation to Aleutian Island reefs caused by sea urchins and climate change. Konar was also quoted in a story by KTUU.

Courtney Carothers was interviewed by KTUU regarding Tamamta, CFOS’s graduate traineeship program that focuses on indigenous knowledge of fisheries and marine sciences.

CFOS was mentioned in SeafoodNews as part of a new US Economic Development Association Build to Scale award to support Alaska’s blue economy in collaboration with the Bering Sea Fishermen's Association, Alaska Ocean Cluster, UAF Alaska Blue Economy Center and other stakeholders.

Matthew Wooller’s work at the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility was mentioned in a UAF News story about sediment core samples on St. Matthew Island.

Publications

Clemens, B.J., H. Arakawa, C. Baker, S. Coghlan, A. Kucheryavyy, R. Lampman, M.J. Lança, C.S. Mateus, A. Miller, H. Nazari, G. Pequeño, T.M. Sutton, and S. Yanai. 2020. Management of anadromous lampreys: Common threats, different approaches. Journal of Great Lakes Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2020.09.005

George, J.C., L. Horstmann, S., Fortune, T. Sformo, R. Elsner, and E. Follmann. 2020. Thermoregulation and energetics. In: J.C. George and J.G.M. Thewissen (eds.). The bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus: Biology and human interactions. Academic Press. ISBN: 9780128189696

Horstmann, L. 2020. Anatomy and physiology of the gastrointestinal system. In: J.C. George and J.G.M. Thewissen (eds.). The bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus: Biology and human interactions. Academic Press. ISBN: 9780128189696

Stimmelmayr, R., L. Horstmann, B. Person, and J.C. George. 2020. Hematology, serum, and urine composition. In: J.C. George and J.G.M. Thewissen (eds.). The bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus: Biology and human interactions. Academic Press. ISBN: 9780128189696

Tempestini, A., A.I. Pinchuk, and F. Dufresne. 2020. Spatial genetic structure in Themisto libellula (Amphipoda: Hyperiidae) from the coastal Gulf of Alaska, Bering and Chukchi seas. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02745-9

Message from the Dean

I am delighted to convey that Dr. Richard Spinrad has agreed to deliver the CFOS keynote lecture for the fall semester. An internationally recognized ocean scientist and executive, Dr. Spinrad is currently Professor of Oceanography and Senior Adviser to the Vice President of Research at Oregon State University. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Spinrad was the head of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the National Ocean Service, served as co-lead of the White House Committee that developed the nation’s first set of ocean research priorities, and oversaw the revamping of NOAA’s research enterprise. In 2016, Dr. Spinrad retired as Chief Scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), having been appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014. I want to extend my gratitude to Dr. Spinrad for his willingness to serve as the CFOS keynote speaker. Please stay tuned for the date, time and details of Dr. Spinrad’s virtual presentation.

This week I will join Interim President Pat Pitney in Juneau for a tour of our Lena Point facility. President Pitney clearly understands the importance of Alaska’s vast aquatic resources and related research and academic programs and major facilities. In this regard, this tour is an opportunity to highlight some of the strengths and recent successes of CFOS, including continued growth of our undergraduate program, a robust graduate student body, new faculty hires, strong and diverse research programs, and our operation of Sikuliaq that is well regarded by the ocean sciences community and the National Science Foundation. I look forward to discussing with President Pitney ways to advance fisheries and ocean sciences research and academic programs through collaboration to meet the needs of Alaska and the nation.

I hope everyone is taking time to enjoy the spectacular fall colors in our great state. As always, please stay safe as we navigate these challenging times.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq finished the 100th occupation of the Gulf of Alaska Seward Line with profiling instrumentation, a significant accomplishment toward the collection of long-term ecological data. The first occupation was in April 1974, with prior samples only from discrete depths.

Today, Sikuliaq got underway for Jim Thomson’s (UW/APL) Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic (CODA) cruise. The CODA cruise was originally scheduled to depart from Nome, but now it will start and end in Seward because of the pandemic. Its purpose is to recover the moorings that were deployed in 2019. Thomson will also assist Spahr Webb (UC/LDEO) with deploying wave gliders near the Shumagin Islands to measure tectonic shifts from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on July 21, and will recover gliders in the Beaufort Sea for Luc Rainville (UW).

CFOS in the News

A study on the loss of Bering Sea ice coauthored by Matthew Wooller gained international attention in articles by Reuters, Daily Mail, and Phys.org in addition to a radio piece by Alaska Public Media and a UAF News press release. Seth Danielson’s comments on the context of the study appeared in Gizmodo.

UAF News mentioned Matthew Wooller and CFOS alum Casey Clark as coauthors on a study about the complex diets of early Interior Alaskans.

Brenda Konar and CFOS alum Ben Weitzman were mentioned as coauthors on a study published in Science Magazine showing that the loss of sea otters is accelerating the effects of climate change on reefs in the Aleutian Islands.

The Narwhal, a Canadian journal, featured Peter Westley in an article about salmon body-size declines. The research, which also involved Curry Cunningham and Krista Oke, also appeared in The Guardian and the Washington Post.

Publications

Beas-Luna, R., F. Micheli, C.B. Woodson, M. Carr, D. Malone, J. Torre, C. Boch, J.E. Caselle, M. Edwards, J. Freiwald, S.L. Hamilton, A. Hernandez, B. Konar, K.J. Kroeker, J. Lorda, G. Montaño-Moctezuma, and G. Torres-Moye. 2020. Geographic variation in responses of kelp forest communities of the California Current to recent climatic changes. Global Change Biology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.15273

Campbell, M.A., T.J. Buser, M.E. Alfaro, and J.A. López. 2020. Addressing incomplete lineage sorting and paralogy in the inference of uncertain salmonid phylogenetic relationships. PeerJ 8:e9389. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9389

Clark, C.T., L. Horstmann, and N. Misarti. 2020. Evaluating tooth strontium and barium as indicators of weaning age in Pacific walruses. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/2041-210X.13482?af=R

Westley, P.A. 2020. Documentation of en route mortality of summer chum salmon in the Koyukuk River, Alaska, and its potential linkage to the heatwave of 2019. Ecology and Evolution 00:1–9. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.6751

Grant Awards for August 2020

New awards for August 2020:

• Grant G-13543 "NASA IPA August 2020 - July 2022" - C. Geoff Wheat - NASA - $202,264.00 (August 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13545 "Evaluation of Spatio-temporal Methods for Standardizing Data from Multiple Fishery-Independent Surveys in the GOA and BSAI" - Curry Cunningham - UA Foundation PCCRC - $83,781.00 (August 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13562 "Lake Clark National Park & Preserve Oceanographic Assessment" - Tyler Hennon - National Park Service - $130,000.00 (August 12, 2020)

Grants that received incremental funding during the month of August:

• Grant G-8633 "Rasmuson Fisheries Research Center - Fellowships" - S. Bradley Moran - UA Foundation - $205,000.00 (April 1, 2013)
• Grant G-11073 "Time-Series Monitoring of Ocean Acidification in Alaska" - Brenda Konar - AOOS - Mod 8 - $29,000.00 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-11157 "Seward Line Monitoring" - Russ Hopcroft - AOOS - Mod 7 - $105,000.00 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-11557 "CAREER: Imaging the global distribution and drivers of the ocean's biological carbon pump" - Andrew McDonnell - NSF - Mod 3 - $123,507.00 (July 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11616 "LTER: Beaufort Sea Lagoons: An Arctic Coastal Ecosystem in Transition" - Katrin Iken - Mod 3 - University of Texas at Austin - $191,364.00 (August 1, 2017)
• Grant G-12178 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Ship Operations - CY2018-2022" - S. Bradley Moran - NSF - Mod 6 - $5,041,718.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12819 "Cooperative Training and Research for Alaska Fisheries Science" Alexei Pinchuk - NOAA - Mod 2 - $531,618.00 (July 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12361 "NOAA - Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO)" - Brenda Konar - AOOS - Mod 3 - $102,857.00 (June 1,2018)
• Grant G-12381 "Alaska Ocean Acidification Research: Autonomous Observations of Ocean Acidification in Alaska Coastal Seas" - Brenda Konar - AOOS - Mod 3 - $39,718.00 (June 1, 2018)

The following grant was set up on assumption in August 2020:

• Grant G-13532 "Exploring Radium Isotopes as tracers of groundwater inputs, flushing rates, and produced water in Cook Inlet" - William Burt - BOEM - $25,000.00 (August 15, 2020)

Message from the Dean

As we kick off the fall semester, it is a pleasure to welcome our new and current students. And while we are all experiencing unusually challenging times with the global pandemic, it is heartening that our faculty and staff stand ready to support your education, training and future success.

It is a pleasure to convey that Dr. Jessica Glass has accepted the offer for the tenure-track assistant professor position in the Department of Fisheries. Jessica completed her BS and PhD at Yale University, and is a CFOS alum (MS, 2014) who worked under Gordon Kruse. Jessica’s appointment is part of the “Fire and Ice” NSF EPSCoR program. Her research interests are on biological and physical drivers of evolution and sustainable management practices of commercially and recreationally important marine fishes. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. I want to thank Andres Lopez for chairing this search, and search committee members Jessie Gordon, Brenda Konar, Megan McPhee and Peter Westley. Jessica will be based at the Fairbanks campus and her start date is May 2021. Please join me in welcoming Jessica to CFOS.

On October 20, UAF will host its inaugural "Day of Giving" campaign, a social media push to encourage friends, alumni and our community partners to support the university’s schools and programs. CFOS is excited to participate in this effort to raise funds and awareness for the incredible students and programs that we support. Please mark your calendars and be on the lookout for more information in the coming weeks.

R/V Sikuliaq

On September 1, Sikuliaq will embark on the third and final Northern Gulf of Alaska Long Term Ecological Research cruise this year, this time with Russ Hopcroft and a team of staff and students. Afterward, the ship will transit to the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas for Jim Thomson’s (UW/APL) Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic (CODA) cruise. The cruise will begin and end in Seward, and will not stop in Nome in order to adhere to COVID-19 safety precautions.

Activities and Accomplishments

As recently communicated by Chancellor White in Cornerstone, the Murdock Charitable Trust has awarded funding to Russ Hopcroft (lead PI), Ana Aguilar-Islas, Will Burt, Seth Danielson, Gwenn Hennon, Andrew McDonnell and Suzanne Strom (Western Washington University) to support research on the high-resolution coupling of ocean physics and chemistry to plankton distributions. Congratulations!

CFOS in the News

SIT News and KINY radio ran stories on Shannon Atkinson’s research on humpback whales in Juneau during the coronavirus pandemic.

A study on salmon body-size declines coauthored by Peter Westley, Curry Cunningham, and postdoctoral fellow Krista Oke received international media attention, with articles in the New York Times, CNN, Reuters, Science Daily, Daily Mail, CBC News, Digital Journal, Yale Environment 360, and Oceanographic Magazine. Alaskan news coverage included UAF News, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the Juneau Empire and a radio piece by Alaska Public Media.

UAF News and the CFOS Newsroom released stories on Tamamta, a new fisheries and marine science program that focuses on Indigenous knowledge.

Publications

Baumann, T.M., I.V. Polyakov, L. Padman, S. Danielson, I. Fer, M. Janout, W. Williams, and A.V. Pnyushkov. 2020. Arctic tidal current atlas. Scientific Data 7(1): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00578-z

Danielson, S.L., D.F. Hill, K.S. Hedstrom, J. Beamer, and E. Curchitser. 2020. Demonstrating a high‐resolution Gulf of Alaska ocean circulation model forced across the coastal interface by high‐resolution terrestrial hydrological models. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 125:e2019JC015724.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015724

Gardner, C., R.A. Watson, A.D. Jayanti, S. Junaidi, M. AlHusaini, and G.H. Kruse. 2020. Crustaceans as fisheries resources: General overview. In: G. Lovrich and M. Thiel (eds). The Natural History of the Crustacea: Fisheries and Aquaculture volume 9, pp. 1–19. New York: Oxford University Press.

Litzow, M.A., M.J. Malick, N.A. Bond, C.J. Cunningham, J.L. Gosselin, and E.J. Ward. 2020. Quantifying a novel climate through changes in PDO–climate and PDO‐salmon relationships. Geophysical Research Letters 47(16): e2020GL087972. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087972

Marsh, J.M., F.J. Mueter, J.T. Thorson, L. Britt, and S. Zador. 2020. Shifting fish distributions in the Bering Sea. In: J. Richter-Menge and M.L. Druckenmiller (eds). State of the Climate in 2019. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 101(8): S254-S256. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0086.1

Oke, K.B., C.J. Cunningham, P.A.H. Westley, M.L. Baskett, S.M. Carlson, J. Clark, A.P. Hendry, V.A. Karatayev, N.W. Kendall, J. Kibele, H.K. Kindsvater, K.M. Kobayashi, B. Lewis, S. Munch, J.D. Reynolds, G.K. Vick, and E.P. Palkovacs. 2020. Recent declines in salmon body size impact ecosystems and fisheries. Nature Communications 11:4155. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17726-z

Message from the Dean

A key responsibility of CFOS is the management of major facilities in support of Alaska’s aquatic ecosystems research and academic programs. In this regard, last week Senators Dan Sullivan and Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) toured Sikuliaq at the JAG Alaska Inc, Seward Shipyard, where the ship was having her hull repainted. It was a pleasure to join the tour as the crew highlighted the capabilities of the ship to our elected officials. Hats off to the captain and crew, Doug Baird and Miles Baker for ensuring a safe and enjoyable tour. Afterward, Brian Mullaly brought the senators and a small entourage across Resurrection Bay back to Seward aboard Nanuq, which included a water view of the Seward Marine Center and dock. I want to personally thank Senator Sullivan and his staff for including Sikuliaq, Nanuq and SMC as part of his busy travel schedule in our great state.

This Friday we will host a CFOS new-student orientation to welcome and familiarize the incoming class with our academic programs and procedures. The event is being organized by our new student recruiter, Kyle Rivera, and will be held virtually. I look forward to welcoming our incoming students and wish the very best success for all of our students.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq’s hull has been repainted and she is ready to resume marine science operations. There is the possibility for a short-notice cruise to investigate the subduction zone at the epicenter of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred July 21 near the Shumagin Islands. In early September, Sikuliaq will embark for the third and final Northern Gulf of Alaska Long Term Ecological Research (NGA LTER) cruise this year.

Activities and Accomplishments

Geoff Wheat started a two-year, part-time Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) position in the NASA Astrobiology Program. The NASA Astrobiology Program supports research that leads to a better understanding of how life emerged and evolved on Earth, the environments in our universe capable of supporting life, and the possible distribution of habitable worlds.

CFOS in the News

The Alaska Ocean Acidification Network featured the research of Shelby Bacus, a CFOS graduate student (Amanda Kelly, advisor), which seeks to understand the impact of ocean acidification on Pacific Plate Limpets in Kachemak Bay.

Peter Westley’s course Salmon, People, and Place was mentioned in a UAF News press release about UAF partnering with the learning platform edX to increase access to courses that feature Arctic research.

Shannon Atkinson’s research on humpback whales in Juneau was featured in stories by NOAA Fisheries and UAF News.

Publications

Alabia, I.D., J.G. Molinos, S.-I. Saitoh, T. Hirata, T. Hirawake, and F.J. Mueter. 2020. Multiple facets of marine biodiversity in the Pacific Arctic under future climate. Science of the Total Environment 744: 140913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140913

Nielsen, J.K., F.J. Mueter, M.D. Adkison, T. Loher, S.F. McDermott, and A.C. Seitz. 2020. Potential utility of geomagnetic data for geolocation of demersal fishes in the North Pacific Ocean. Animal Biotelemetry 8(1): 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-020-00204-0

Message from the Dean

One of the goals in our CFOS Decadal Plan is to support entrepreneurialism and economic diversification within Alaska. The Alaska Mariculture Initiative has been identified as a growth opportunity, with a goal of increasing Alaska's mariculture industry from $1 million to $1 billion over the next thirty years. As a leader in aquatic ecosystems research, CFOS has an important role to play in fostering this burgeoning blue economy industry.

In this regard, it is a pleasure to welcome research faculty Schery Umanzor to the CFOS Department of Marine Biology. Schery’s research focuses on optimizing kelp mariculture from hatchery stages to harvest, in particular the interaction of kelp farms and their surroundings as analogous to kelp forests and their ecosystems. She is currently part of three ARPA-E MARINER research projects: Seaweed Hatchery and Selective Breeding Technologies; Scalable Coastal and Offshore Macroalgal Farming; and Assessing Kelp Nutrient Bioextraction Capacity in Aquaculture Farms in the US. Based at our Lena Point facility, this new research faculty position is generously supported by a Chancellor’s Award. Please join me in welcoming Schery to CFOS!

As we approach the start of fall semester, we can be proud that our student enrollment continues to tick upward, diverse field research projects are being conducted, and two successful LTER cruises have been executed aboard Sikuliaq since the beginning of 2020. It is worth taking a moment to reflect that despite the pandemic, our academic and research programs continue to thrive and bring tremendous value to Alaska and beyond.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq has been lifted onto a drydock at the Seward Marine Industrial Center to apply ice-resistant paint to her hull. We expect the ship to be floating again next week, when preparations will begin for investigating the epicenter of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred on July 21 near the Shumagin Islands.

Activities and Accomplishments

During the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission meeting last week, Seth Danielson presented results from 2017 and 2018 Sikuliaq cruises in the Arctic. Researchers using Sikuliaq in 2020 and 2021 in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas presented their proposed activities to the commissioners in order to avoid conflicts with subsistence hunting activities.

CFOS in the News

Andy Seitz was featured in a video produced by the Alaska Center for Energy and Power about interactions between salmon and hydrokinetic turbines.

In an article published by UAF News, Katherine (Kate) Hedstrom and Seth Danielson were mentioned as coauthors of a paper published in the journal Biogeosciences about ocean acidification in the Gulf of Alaska.

Publications

Padula, V., A.H. Beaudreau, B. Hagedorn, and D. Causey. 2020. Plastic-derived contaminants in Aleutian Archipelago seabirds with varied foraging strategies. Marine Pollution Bulletin 158:111435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111435

Rebert, A.L., G.H. Kruse, J.B. Webb, S.L. Tamone, D. Oxman, and K.W. McNeel. 2020. Evaluation of a direct age determination method for terminally molted male snow crab Chionoecetes opilio (Fabricius 1788) (Decapoda: Brachyura: Oregoniidae). Journal of Crustacean Biology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcbiol/ruaa043

Zanotti, L., Z. Ma, J.L. Johnson, D.R. Johnson, D. Yu, M. Burnham and C. Carothers. 2020. Sustainability, resilience, adaptation, and transformation: tensions and plural approaches. Ecology and Society 25(3): 4. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11642-250304

Grant Awards for July 2020

New awards for July 2020:

• G-13443 "Quantifying phytoplankton biomass and productivity in the Gulf of Alaska surface waters at unprecedented spatial scales" - William Burt - NPRB - $174,907.00 (July 1, 2020)
• G-13451 "Measuring the pulse of the Gulf of Alaska: Oceanographic observations along the Seward Line: 2019-2021" - Russell Hopcroft - NPRB - $116,283.00 (July 1, 2020)
• G-13469 "Zooplankton Monitoring Along Coastal Regions and Tidewater Glacier Fjords of Glacier Bay and Wrangell-St. Elias National Parks & Preserves" - Jennifer Questel - National Park Service - $72,316.00 (June 30, 2020)
• G-13481 "Assessing Effects of Supplementation on Fitness of Sockeye Salmon in Auke Creek, Alaska–Final Phase" - Megan McPhee - Pacific Salmon Commission - $42,245.00 (April 1, 2020)
• G-13482 "Relaxed selection in salmon hatcheries" - Milo Adkison - Pacific Salmon Commission - $128,516.00 (May 1, 2020)

Awards that received incremental funding during the month of July:

• G-10539 "Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) Continuation" - C. Geoff Wheat - University of Southern California - Mod 10 - $52,924.00 (October 1, 2015)
• G-11630 "Arctic Integrated Ecosystem Survey (IES) Phase II" - Franz Mueter - BOEM - Mod 3 - $216,908.00 (July 1, 2017)
• G-11709 "LTER: Resilience in the Environmental Mosaic of the Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA) Shelf Ecosystem" - Russell Hopcroft - NSF - Mod 3 - $1,127,000.00 (September 1, 2017)
• G-12726 "Investigating microbial biodegradation of crude oil in Arctic marine sediments via shotgun metagenomics and compound-specific hydrocarbon analyses" - Alexis Walker (Sarah Hardy) - Oil Spill Recovery Institute - Mod 1 - $30,000.00 (April 1, 2019)
• G-12819 "Cooperative Training and Research for Alaska Fisheries Science" - Alexei Pinchuk - NOAA - Mod 1 - $180,000.00 (July 1, 2019)
• G-12935 "Collaborative Research: Characterization of Subduction Channel Processes - Borehole Sampling at Active Serpentinite Mud Volcanoes on the Mariana Forearc" - C. Geoff Wheat - NSF - Mod 1 - $182,548.00 (September 1, 2019)

Message from the Dean

For the second consecutive year, the University of Alaska Fairbanks has been cited as the top U.S. university in Times Higher Education’s 2020 Impact Rankings for quality education, noting in particular our high-quality programs in fisheries and marine science. Congratulations to UAF and CFOS for this point of pride!

Last week, Doug Baird and I welcomed back to Seward the captain, crew and science party aboard Sikuliaq after they completed another successful LTER cruise. Managing seagoing science requires significant effort to mitigate the COVID-19 virus, and once again the LTER cruise was executed using the highest safety standards. We also discussed ongoing efforts to improve the Seward Marine Center, including recent investments by Chancellor White for dock engineering, upgrades to the Hood laboratory and related infrastructure improvements in support of our shoreside operation. This work is being coordinated between CFOS and UAF Facilities Services.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq completed the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research (NGA LTER) project with a science team from CFOS and Western Washington University, including Ana Aguilar-Islas, Will Burt, Seth Danielson and Russ Hopcroft from UAF/CFOS. Sikuliaq is now preparing for a shipyard drydocking to paint the hull.

Activities and Accomplishments

Ph.D. student Janessa Esquible-Hussion was recently awarded the 2020 Emerging Leaders Mentorship Award (ELMA) from the American Fisheries Society.

CFOS in the News

The journal Science mentioned R/V Sikuliaq in a story about U.S. research vessels resuming operations after developing procedures to reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19.

Seth Danielson was mentioned as a coauthor on a paper in Frontiers in Marine Science showing that Arctic Ocean changes are driven by subarctic seas, in a story run by UAF News and WUWT.

Alaska Business and UAF News ran a story about a paper in Global Change Biology on Chinook salmon declines relating to changes in habitat, naming Curry Cunningham as a contributor to the paper.

Publications

Cates, K.A., S. Atkinson, A.A. Pack, J.M. Straley, C.M. Gabriele, and S. Yin. 2020. Corticosterone in central North Pacific male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): Pairing sighting histories with endocrine markers to assess stress. General and Comparative Endocrinology 296:113540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2020.113540

Jones, L.A., E.R. Schoen, R. Shaftel, C.J. Cunningham, S. Mauger, D.J. Rinella, and A. St. Saviour. 2020. Watershed‐scale climate influences productivity of Chinook salmon populations across southcentral Alaska. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15155

Koehn, L.E., T.E. Essington, P.S. Levin, K.N. Marshall, L.G. Anderson, A. Bundy, C. Carothers, F. Coleman, J.H. Grabowski, E. Houde, O.P. Jensen, C. Möllmann, and A.D.M. Smith. 2020. Case studies demonstrate capacity for a structured planning process for ecosystem-based fisheries management. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 77(7): 1256–1274. https://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2019-0202

Olsen, D.W., C.O. Matkin, F.J. Mueter, and S. Atkinson. 2020. Social behavior increases in multipod aggregations of southern Alaska resident killer whales (Orcinus orca). Marine Mammal Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12715

Polyakov, I.V., M.B. Alkire, B.A. Bluhm, K.A. Brown, E.C. Carmack, M. Chierici, S.L. Danielson, I. Ellingsen, E.A. Ershova, K. Gårdfeldt, R.B. Ingvaldsen, A.V. Pnyushkov, D. Slagstad, and P. Wassmann. 2020. Borealization of the Arctic Ocean in response to anomalous advection from sub-Arctic seas. Frontiers in Marine Science 7:491. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00491

Message from the Dean

As we are now in the second half of the year, I hope that everyone had a safe and relaxing Fourth of July holiday weekend.

July 2020 marks a historic moment in the history of CFOS as Alaska Sea Grant (ASG), the Marine Advisory Program (MAP) and the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center will no longer be administered by CFOS. The formation of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences in 1987 was originally envisioned by former Alaska Sea Grant director Ron Dearborn and Institute of Marine Science director and SFOS inaugural dean Vera Alexander. There has since been a close collaboration between CFOS and ASG/MAP faculty and staff in serving the needs of Alaska’s coastal communities. The all-hands faculty and staff retreat in 2016 is but one recent example of this collaboration in developing the CFOS Decadal Plan. While no longer part of CFOS, we look forward to future collaborations with ASG/MAP.

Brenda Norcross has officially retired from CFOS after 31 years of outstanding faculty service. A prolific researcher, student advisor and instructor, Brenda's intellectual focus on fisheries ecology and fisheries oceanography has been a mainstay of Alaska’s fisheries. She has served on numerous state, national and international governmental science committees, including 25 years of service on the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Groundfish Management Team. In 2001, Brenda was honored for her research and outreach efforts by being named an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow and a Harriman Scholar. Please join me in wishing Brenda the very best for her future.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway for the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research (NGA LTER) project with a science team from CFOS and Western Washington University, including Seth Danielson, Russ Hopcroft, Ana Aguilar-Islas, and Will Burt.

Activities and Accomplishments

M.S. student Nina Lundstrom was selected for a 2020 North Pacific Research Board Graduate Student Research Award to support her research on climate change impacts on nearshore fish communities.

Ph.D. student Courtney Hart was awarded a scholarship from the 2020 Kathryn E. and John P. Doyle Scholarship fund of The Alaska Community Foundation (ACF) to support her research on geoduck clams and harmful algal blooms. Ph.D. student Veronica Padula also was awarded a Doyle scholarship in support of her research on the effects of plastics and plastic-derived chemicals on marine ecosystems and subsistence-dependent communities in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands.

CFOS in the News

Dean Stockwell and Gay Sheffield were mentioned in the Nome Nugget in a story about spruce pollen washing up on arctic shores.

UAF News featured Jeff Falke and his Ph.D. student Chris Sergeant in a press release about three new tools that will help predict the effect of climate change on freshwater fish. The CFOS Newsroom, the Alaska Sea Grant Fishlines newsletter, and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ran a longer version of the story.

Publications

Danielson, S.L., O. Ahkinga, C. Ashjian, E. Basyuk, L.W. Cooper, L. Eisner, E. Farley, K.B. Iken, J.M. Grebmeier, L. Juranek, G. Khen, S. Jayne, T. Kikuchi, C. Ladd, K. Lu, R. McCabe, G.W.K. Moore, S. Nishino, S.R. Okkonen, F. Ozenna, R.S. Pickart, I. Polyakov, P.J. Stabeno, K. Wood, W.J. Williams, R.A. Woodgate, and T.J. Weingartner. 2020. Manifestation and consequences of warming and altered heat fluxes over the Bering and Chukchi Sea continental shelves. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2020.104781

Fergusson, E., T. Miller, M.V. McPhee, C. Fugate, and H. Schultz. 2020. Trophic responses of juvenile Pacific salmon to warm and cool periods within inside marine waters of Southeast Alaska. Progress in Oceanography 186:102378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102378

Mueter, F., C. Bouchard, H. Hop, B. Laurel, and B. Norcross. 2020. Arctic gadids in a rapidly changing environment. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02696-1

Rosengard, S.Z., R.W. Izett, W.J. Burt, N. Schuback, and Philippe D. Tortell. 2020. Decoupling of ΔO₂∕Ar and particulate organic carbon dynamics in nearshore surface ocean waters. Biogeosciences 17(12): 3277–3298. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3277-2020

Grant Awards for June 2020

The following grants received incremental funding during June:

• Grant G-11387 "Collaborative Research: Global Estimation of Lagrangian Characteristics" - Harper Simmons - Mod 1 - NSF - $18,472.00 (April 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022" - Ginny Eckert - Mod 15 - NOAA - $43,800.00 (February 1, 2018)*
• Grant G-12726 "Investigating microbial biodegradation of crude oil in Arctic marine sediments via shotgun metagenomics and compound-specific hydrocarbon analyses" - Alexis Walker (Sarah Hardy) - Mod 1 - $30,000.00 (April 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13021 "Nurturing the Successful Growth and Maturation of a Domestic Seaweed Aquaculture Industry: Identifying and Removing Barriers and Promoting Opportunities" -  Melissa Good - Mod 1- University of Connecticut - $40,655.00 (September 1, 2019)*
• Grant G-13328 "Telemetry and genetic identity of Chinook salmon in Alaska" - Andrew Seitz - Mod 1 - Department of the Navy - $219,191.00 (April 1, 2020)

* As of July 1, 2020, these grants are no longer controlled by CFOS. The Sea Grant Omnibus has been transferred to the Provost office. MAP department grants also have been transferred.

Message from the Dean

Last Friday was Juneteenth, a date recognized across our nation in commemoration of the end of slavery. This date reverberates in 2020 with the tragic death of George Floyd, and again I encourage everyone to stand against all forms of racism.

It has been a year and a half since the second CFOS faculty retreat was held in Anchorage. A primary outcome of that gathering was to expand the face-to-face and synchronous distance delivery of our academic curriculum to include asynchronous modality, for two reasons. First, online instruction will extend our academic reach and enable the next generation of fisheries and ocean scientists to access our outstanding degree programs within Alaska and beyond. Second, we have the opportunity to increase student enrollment while generating additional revenue to support our mission.

In light of the global pandemic, asynchronous instruction has emerged as a key modality for student learning in higher education. What does this mean for CFOS and UAF? While there is currently no master’s degree program in marine science in the nation available by online asynchronous delivery, CFOS will soon offer our Master of Marine Studies and Blue MBA degree programs online; this also presents an opportunity to grow our undergraduate degree program in fisheries and marine sciences. By embracing this opportunity, CFOS will continue to be an innovative leader in fisheries, marine biology and ocean sciences instruction.

I want to personally thank the following faculty for their willingness to engage in this work: Courtney Carothers, Quentin Fong, Russ Hopcroft, Lara Horstmann, Katrin Iken, Andrés López, Andrew McDonnell and Trent Sutton. I also want to thank Owen Guthrie and eCampus for support and resources, and Trent Sutton for his work in helping our faculty advance this important effort.

As we are now past summer solstice, I hope everyone is taking time to enjoy the beautiful Alaska summer.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is alongside the pier in Seward performing routine maintenance and enhanced cleaning while waiting for the UNOLS Council fleet stand-down to expire on July 1. Beginning July 1, Sikuliaq will start mobilizing for her second cruise of 2020, in the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research area.

Activities and Accomplishments

The following CFOS graduate students received the North Gulf of Alaska Research Award for research connected to fisheries management and of interest to fisheries managers and regulatory bodies: Brian Ulaski, Molly Payne, Katja Berghaus, and Donny Arthur. The students will consult with scientists at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game or the National Marine Fisheries Service.

CFOS in the News

Trent Sutton and CFOS alumna Katie Shink’s research on Arctic lamprey migrations on the Yukon River was featured in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Bradley Moran was interviewed by Channel 11 News in Fairbanks on World Oceans Day to talk about the importance of oceans and the benefits they provide for humankind.

The Alaska Ocean Observing System spring newsletter focused on research operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, mentioning UAF research in the Bering Strait and featuring a story on Sikuliaq’s cruise along the Seward Line in the northern Gulf of Alaska.

Gay Sheffield from Alaska Sea Grant was quoted in a KNOM article about the effect of COVID-19 on research in the Bering Strait area. Communities are taking extra precautions and restricting travel from outside the region.

The National Science Foundation featured Russ Hopcroft and R/V Sikuliaq in a story about maintaining vital research in the Gulf of Alaska during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bradley Moran wrote an opinion piece published in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on how a potential merger between the University of Alaska Southeast and the University of Alaska Fairbanks could present an opportunity to combine the UAS and UAF programs in fisheries, marine biology and ocean sciences to better support Alaska’s health and economy.

Publications

Connors, B., M.J. Malick, G.T. Ruggerone, P. Rand, M. Adkison, J.R. Irvine, R. Campbell, and K. Gorman. 2020. Climate and competition influence sockeye salmon population dynamics across the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 77(6): 943–949. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2019-0422

DeHart, H.M, L. Blanco-Bercial, M. Passacantando, J.M. Questel, and A. Bucklin. 2020. Pathways of pelagic connectivity: Eukrohnia hamata (Chaetognatha) in the Arctic Ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science 7:396. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00396

Khalsa, N.S., J. Smith, K.A. Jochum, G. Savory, and J.A. López. 2020. Identifying under-ice overwintering locations of juvenile Chinook salmon by using environmental DNA. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10444

McKinney, G., M.V. McPhee, C. Pascal, J.E. Seeb, and L.W. Seeb. 2020. Network analysis of linkage disequilibrium reveals genome architecture in chum salmon. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics 10(5): 1553–1561. https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.119.400972

Ohlberger, J., D.E. Schindler, R.J. Brown, J.M.S. Harding, M.D. Adkison, A.R. Munro, L. Horstmann, and J. Spaeder. 2020. The reproductive value of large females: consequences of shifts in demographic structure for population reproductive potential in Chinook salmon. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2020-0012

Taylor, N., C.T. Clark, N. Misarti, and L. Horstmann. 2020. Determining sex of adult Pacific walruses from mandible measurements. Journal of Mammalogy. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaa051

Message from the Dean

Last week during the UA Board of Regents meeting, President Johnsen announced that Professor Franz Mueter has been appointed as a prestigious UA President’s Professor of Quantitative Fisheries and Ecosystems. In making this appointment, President Johnsen noted Franz’s exceptional work with students, research on the influence of climate variability on the productivity and spatial dynamics of fish populations, and service on the Science and Statistical Committee of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. I would like to thank President Johnsen for his continued strong support of CFOS. Congratulations, Franz!

I am pleased to convey that Robert (Bob) Cruise is the new Port Engineer for Sikuliaq ship operations. Bob has previously worked aboard the Alaska ferries for more than 23 years (13 years as a chief engineer), more recently as a relief chief engineer aboard R/V Atlantic Explorer and R/V Oceanus, and as port engineer for a private firm. Please join me in welcoming Bob to CFOS.

To reiterate my message sent last week regarding the senseless death of George Floyd, I encourage everyone to stand against all forms of racism that we are experiencing and commit to a concerted and lasting effort to bring about positive change.

Wishing everyone a happy World Oceans Day!

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is alongside the pier in Seward, performing routine maintenance and enhanced cleaning and preparing to calibrate the EK-80 echosounder and patch test the two multibeam echosounder systems. The UNOLS Council fleet stand-down order is scheduled to expire on July 1. Resumption of science operations will be in accordance with UNOLS risk assessment guidelines. We are planning to resume science operations and assist in the collection of oceanographic data and recovery of deployed gear, though with a reduced number of science personnel aboard. We will continue to take precautions to prevent exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Activities and Accomplishments

The University of Alaska Fairbanks produced a publication on Arctic Research with articles about R/V Sikuliaq’s role in long-term ecological research and Alaska Sea Grant’s assistance with kelp farming and preventing paralytic shellfish poisoning.

UA News published an article about Franz Mueter’s appointment as President’s Professor of Quantitative Fisheries and Ecosystems.

CFOS in the News

Sea Technology magazine ran a story about R/V Sikuliaq’s cruise in the Gulf of Alaska in May, highlighting the health precautions taken and the research that was accomplished.

The University of Washington College of Engineering Newsletter prominently featured R/V Sikuliaq’s role in exploring the changing Arctic.

CFOS graduate student Hannah Myers was interviewed by Maine Public Radio about U.S. and Canadian lobster catches in the Gulf of Maine.

Publications

Chiaramonte, L.V., K.A. Meyer, P.R. Branigan, and J.B. Reynolds. 2020. Effect of pulsed DC frequency on capture efficiency and spinal injury of trout in small streams. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10440

Donkersloot, R., J.C. Black, C. Carothers, D. Ringer, W. Justin, P.M. Clay, M.R. Poe, E.R. Gavenus, W. Voinot-Baron, C. Stevens, M. Williams, J. Raymond-Yakoubian, F. Christiansen, S.J. Breslow, S.J. Langdon, J.M. Coleman, and S.J. Clark. 2020. Assessing the sustainability and equity of Alaska salmon fisheries through a well-being framework. Ecology and Society 25(2): 18. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11549-250218

Myers, H.J., and M.J. Moore. 2020. Reducing effort in the U.S. American lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery to prevent North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) entanglements may support higher profits and long-term sustainability. Marine Policy 118:104017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104017

Reynolds, J.B., and J.C. Dean. 2020. Development of electrofishing for fisheries management. Fisheries 45(5): 229–237. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10440

Grant Awards for May 2020

New awards that were set up and awarded in May:

• Grant G-13353 "Spatiotemporal dynamics of chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea" - Megan McPhee - UA Foundation PCCRC - $87,151.00 (May 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13354 "Nutritional consequences of changes in phytoplankton community structure" - Sarah Hardy - UA Foundation PCCRC - $34,777.00 (April 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13397 "Subtidal Habitat Mapping in the Cook Inlet Lease Area for Current and Predictive Sea Otter Associations with Habitat" - Elizabeth Hasan - Oil Spill Recovery Institute - $30,000.00 (April 1, 2020)

The following grant was set up on assumption and controlled by another department in May:

• Grant G-13379 "NMREC Infrastructure Upgrades" - Andrew Seitz - University of Washington - $200,000.00 (April 7, 2020)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of May:

• Grant G-10583 "Flow and turbulence in the wakes of abrupt topography" - Harper Simmons - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute - Mod 8 - $56,441.00 (April 25, 2015)
• Grant G-11157 "Seward Line Monitoring" - Russell Hopcroft - AOOS - Mod 6 - $110,693.00 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-12114 "Inertial and Turbulent Processes in the Iceland Basin: A proposal to the Near Inertial Shear and Kinetic Energy in the North Atlantic Experiment (NISKINE) Departmental Research Initiative" - Harper Simmons - ONR - Mod 3 - $198,278.00 (April 15, 2018) 

Message from the Dean

Ensuring student success is fundamental to the mission of our college. In this regard, last week CFOS hosted for the first time its own graduation ceremony to celebrate our more than 30 undergraduate and graduate students. Congratulations to all our graduates, and to Trent Sutton, Courtney Carothers and Christina Sutton for organizing this wonderful event—and hopefully the beginning of a new CFOS tradition. The CFOS event was followed by the first UAF virtual graduation held on Saturday. Congratulations again to all CFOS 2020 graduates!

As many of you may now be aware, Robbie Hamilton has tendered her resignation from CFOS, effective May 29. Over the past 18 years, Robbie has worked as a fiscal and procurement technician for CFOS in support of our research and academic mission. She will be greatly missed as a valued employee and important staff member of CFOS. Please join me in wishing Robbie the very best in her future endeavors.

After working at UAF for more than 30 years, Steve Hartz has tendered his retirement as Science Operations Manager for Sikuliaq, effective June 30. As many will know, Steve has been an essential employee for our successful marine operations, dating back to his work in support of R/V Alpha Helix in the 1980s through the first few years of research operations aboard R/V Sikuliaq. Please join me in wishing Steve the very best going forward. Marine Technician Ethan Roth will be the Interim Science Operations Manager.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is alongside the pier in Seward for another few weeks performing routine maintenance and enhanced cleaning while waiting out the UNOLS Council fleet stand-down.

Activities and Accomplishments

Congratulations to Kayla Drumm, our first graduate of the joint UAS/UAF Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Ocean Sciences degree program. KINY radio (Juneau) wrote a piece about her trailblazing accomplishment.

CFOS in the News

Gordon Kruse’s feature article based on his keynote address at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea symposium Shellfish: Resources and Invaders of the North was featured on the ICES website.

CFOS researchers on Sikuliaq’s recent LTER cruise in the northern Gulf of Alaska were featured in an Eos article about social distancing at sea. The LTER program also referred to the cruise on its website in an article about the importance of the Seward Line time series.

KNOM radio mentioned Gay Sheffield in a story about changes in bowhead whale migrations.

Publications

Barnes, C.L., A.H. Beaudreau, M.W. Dorn, K.H. Holsman, and F.J. Mueter. 2020. Development of a predation index to assess trophic stability in the Gulf of Alaska. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2141

Khalsa, N.S., J. Smith, K.A. Jochum, G. Savory, and J.A. López. 2020. Identifying under‐ice overwintering locations of juvenile Chinook salmon by using environmental DNA. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10444

McKinney, G.M., M.V. McPhee, C. Pascal, J.E. Seeb, and L.W. Seeb. 2020. Network analysis of linkage disequilibrium reveals genome architecture in chum salmon. G3: Genes, Genomes, and Genetics 10(5): 1553–1561. https://www.g3journal.org/content/10/5/1553

Ressel, K.N., D.G. McNicholl, and T.M. Sutton. 2020. Capelin Mallotus villosus population differentiation among and within regions using relative warps. Environmental Biology of Fishes. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-020-00970-z

Ulaski, B.P., B. Konar, and E.O. Otis. 2020. Seaweed reproduction and harvest rebound in Southcentral Alaska: Implications for wild stock management. Estuaries and Coasts. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00740-1

Message from the Dean

As we conclude the spring 2020 semester, please note two important upcoming events. On Saturday, May 23, UAF will hold a virtual Commencement 2020—congratulations to our graduates. And on Thursday, May 21, CFOS will host its own virtual graduation ceremony. Details on how to connect to the CFOS event will be forthcoming.

It is a pleasure to recognize the CFOS staff members who were honored last week at the annual UAF Staff Recognition event. These individuals and all of our hardworking staff help to ensure that CFOS operates efficiently and effectively. Please join me in congratulating the following employees for their dedicated service to CFOS and to the university: Eric Danielson, Edward DeCastro, Scott Lonergan, Ethan Roth, Jeffrey Simonson, Rob Worrad (5 years of service); Elizabeth Dobbins, John Haverlack, Hank Statscewich (10 years of service); Dave Partee (20 years of service); and Steve Hartz (30 years of service).

Be safe and enjoy the sunshine.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq just completed a seven-day Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research (NGA LTER) cruise. The ship will stay alongside the pier in Seward for another few weeks while waiting out the UNOLS Council stand-down of the US Academic Research Fleet due to the coronavirus. Welcome back!

Activities and Accomplishments

2020–2021 Rasmuson Fisheries Research Center Fellowship Recipients:

• Katja Berghaus – PhD Fisheries (Advisor Trent Sutton)
• Matthew Callahan – MS Fisheries (Advisor Anne Beaudreau)
• Becca Cates – MS Fisheries (Advisor Ginny Eckert)
• Kelly Cates – PhD Fisheries (Advisor Shannon Atkinson)
• Austin Flanigan – MS Fisheries (Advisor Andy Seitz)
• Kevin Siwicke – PhD Fisheries (Advisor Andy Seitz) – new
• Mary Spanos – MS Fisheries (Advisor Trent Sutton) – new
• Marina Washburn – PhD Fisheries (Advisor Amanda Kelley)

Noah Khalsa, one of our graduating undergraduate students, was awarded a 2020 Brina Kessel Medal for Excellence in Science.

The CFOS Ocean Acidification Research Center (OARC) has established a new advisory committee. Its members are Will Burt, Seth Danielson, Gwenn Hennon, Amanda Kelley, Brenda Konar and Mat Wooller. Led by Natalie Monacci, the OARC Advisory Committee will focus on increasing student engagement, broadening internal and external collaborations, diversifying funding and strengthening communications.

Alaska Sea Grant has developed a collection of state and local COVID-19 resources aimed to help Alaska seafood, mariculture and fishing businesses, which includes a recorded webinar. In conjunction, Gabe Dunham and Melissa Good produced a bulletin of local, state, and federal resources including information from the National Sea Grant Law Center.

CFOS in the News

R/V Sikuliaq’s first cruise since the COVID-19 pandemic began was featured twice in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and twice by Alaska Public Media, and also appeared in UAF News, KUAC, KTOO, and Sitnews. Russ Hopcroft referenced the cruise in a Science article about the challenges of reopening labs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

University of Montana News and UAF News released articles about a paper coauthored by Megan McPhee, Chris Sergeant and others and published in Science about Canadian mining pollution threatening rivers in Alaska.

Kyle Dilliplaine, CFOS alum (MS) and incoming PhD student, was featured in an Anchorage Daily News article about how the UAF virology lab is helping with coronavirus testing in Fairbanks.

Jeff Falke coauthored a paper about a new Fish and Climate Change Database tool called FiCli that first appeared in Nature Scientific Data, and then gained significant media attention with articles in USGS, Futurity, Sciencenewsnet, Science Daily, and Phys.org.

Hank Statscewich was mentioned in a New York Times article about science in Antarctica.

Gay Sheffield and Alaska Sea Grant were mentioned in the KNOM Radio story, “Subsistence Whaling Undisrupted by COVID-19, Regional Hunters Successful.”

Alaska Sea Grant released an article about how COVID-19 is affecting Alaska mariculture, which appeared in UAF News and Ketchikan’s Sitnews. More information on the survey is available on the Sea Grant website.

Katrin Iken contributed to the Oceanography supplemental booklet New Frontiers in Ocean Exploration with an article about the 2019 R/V Sikuliaq cruise led by UAF scientists that explored seamounts in the Northern Gulf of Alaska.

Publications

Forster, C.E., B.L. Norcross, and I. Spies. 2020. Documenting growth parameters and age in Arctic fish species in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Deep-Sea Research II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2020.104779

Forster, C.E., B.L. Norcross, F.J. Mueter, E.A. Logerwell, and A.C. Seitz. 2020. Spatial patterns, environmental correlates, and potential seasonal migration triangle of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) distribution in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02631-4

Krabbenhoft, T.J., B.J.E. Myers, J.P. Wong, C. Chu, R.W. Tingley III, J.A. Falke, T.J. Kwak, C.P. Paukert, and A.J. Lynch. 2020. FiCli, the Fish and Climate Change Database, informs climate adaptation and management for freshwater fishes. Scientific Data 7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0465-z

Sawyer, A.C., J.W. Moore, D.E. Schindler, and P.A.H. Westley. 2020. Connecting salmon science in an era of global change. Fisheries 45:214–215. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10432

Grant Awards for April 2020

New awards set up and awarded in April:

• Grant G-13304 "Gulf of Alaska Cruise 2020: Ocean Acidification in Alaska's Coastal Seas" - Natalie Monacci - AOOS - $87,229.00 (October 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13323 "University of Alaska Fairbanks / Sikuliaq Oceanographic Instrumentation" - Ethan Roth - NSF - $367,800.00 (April 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13328 "Telemetry and genetic identity of Chinook salmon in Alaska" - Andrew Seitz - Dept. of the Navy - $221,839.00 (April 15, 2020)
• Grant G-13339 "CoPe RCN: PEople on the MOve in a Changing Climate (PEMOCC)" - Davin Holen - University of Georgia - $79,977.00 (February 1, 2020)

New award set up on assumption in April:

• Grant G-13326 "Ocean migration and behavior of steelhead kelts in multiple Alaskan OCS oil and gas lease areas, examined with satellite telemetry" - Andrew Seitz - BOEM - $85,000.00 (April 3, 2020)

The following grant is controlled by another department and opened in April:

• Grant G13302 "Tamamta Iqallupet Anirtungnaqlluki: Conceptualizing Indigenous Approaches to Salmon Science and Management in Alaska" - Courtney Carothers - CRCD - NSF - $354,423.00 (April 1, 2020)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of April:

• Grant G-11400 "Long Term Monitoring: Ecological Communities in Kachemak Bay, Phase 2" - Katrin Iken - PWSSC Mod 3 - $52,000.00 (February 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11408 "Environmental Drivers: Seward Line" - Russell Hopcroft - PWSSC Mod 3 - $131,200.00 (February 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11485 "Long Term Monitoring of the Alaska Coastal Current" - Seth Danielson - PWSSC Mod 3 - $115,200.00 (February 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11498 "Riverine Carbon Contributions to Alaskan Arctic Coastal Margins" - Stephen Okkonen - WHOI Mod 4 - $50,172.00 (March 16, 2017)
• Grant G-12127 "University of Alaska Fairbanks / Sikuliaq Oceanographic Technical Support Year 1 of 5" - Steven Hartz - NSF Mod 3 - $600,000.00 (June 15, 2018)
• Grant G-12178 "University of Alaska Fairbanks / Sikuliaq Ship Operations 2018-2022" - Bradley Moran - NSF Mod 5 - $4,000,000.00 (July 1, 2018)

Message from the Dean

The spring 2020 semester will certainly be remembered as one for the ages. The emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic has disrupted nearly all aspects of our personal and work lives, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The outbreak of the virus in turn triggered a global collapse of oil prices, which unfortunately is expected to have a significant impact on the state economy and hence our university. In other words, a global scale one-two punch to Alaska.

Despite these unprecedented external forces, the entire university community adapted efficiently and effectively. For CFOS, we continued our academic mission using distance-delivery instruction methods that were already in place prior to the pandemic; this is an excellent example of the potential to grow our academic programs through online instruction. And while our many research programs have been similarly challenged, we are doing our best to advance on this front. For example, we are continuing to conduct essential research to the extent possible, and plans are in place to lead the nation’s first research cruise since the stand-down of the Academic Research Fleet through July 1, with Sikuliaq supporting the NGA LTER program next month. Well done, CFOS.

It is a pleasure to convey that several CFOS faculty were successful in the most recent UAF promotion and tenure process. Please join me in congratulating Andy Seitz (promotion to professor), Gabe Dunham and Peter Westley (promotion to associate professor with tenure), and Melissa Good (promotion to research associate professor).

Last, while the pandemic prevented the annual State of the College event, I would like to reiterate my strong appreciation to our dedicated students, staff and faculty for your perseverance, patience and collaborative approach in advancing the mission of CFOS during these challenging times.

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2020 Dean’s Recognition Awards:

• Dr. Sarah Hardy: Outstanding Advisor
• Dr. Franz Mueter: Outstanding Instructor
• Dr. Ginny Eckert: Outstanding Public Service
• Dr. Seth Danielson: Outstanding Researcher
• Ms. Heather McLeod: Outstanding Staff
• Ms. Shelly Song: Outstanding Sikuliaq Crew Member
• Mr. Noah Khalsa: Outstanding Undergraduate Student
• Ms. Annie Raymond: Outstanding Graduate Student

Congratulations to our spring 2020 graduates:

• Kristin Brown. MS Fisheries, Major Advisor: Shannon Atkinson
• Michael Knutson. MS Fisheries, Major Advisor: Ginny Eckert
• Rachel Lekanoff. MS Oceanography, Major Advisor: Eric Collins
• Fletcher Sewall. Ph.D. Oceanography, Major Advisor: Brenda Norcross
• Lauren Wild. Ph.D. Fisheries, Major Advisor: Franz Mueter
• Christine Ann Zinkann. Ph.D. Marine Biology, Major Advisor: Katrin Iken
• Kate Ariola. BS Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (Concentration: Ocean Science)
• Dennis Barril. BS Fisheries
• Heidi Ingram. BS Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (Concentration: Fisheries Science
• Noah Khalsa. BS Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (Concentration: Fisheries Sciences)
• Kelsie Maslen. BS Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (Concentration: Fisheries Science)
• Justin Ming. BS Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (Concentration: Ocean Science)
• Deidra Neeley. BS Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (Concentration: Fisheries Science)

Outstanding undergraduate student awards:

• Kyleigh McArthur: Outstanding Freshman
• Jennifer Tusten: Outstanding Sophomore
• Brian Zhang: Outstanding Junior
• Monroe Morris: Outstanding Senior
• Noah Khalsa: Outstanding Leadership

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is alongside the UAF pier in Seward. Sikuliaq crew are continuing enhanced cleaning measures of the ship, good personal hygiene practices, and routine maintenance. After conducting a COVID-19 virus risk assessment and implementing several mitigation measures, Sikuliaq has received the green light to conduct a reduced North Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research (NGA LTER) cruise for Dr. Russ Hopcroft the first week of May.

Activities and Accomplishments

CFOS alum Michael Garvin (Ph.D., 2013) is doing pioneering research on COVID-19, which was recently published in the journal bioRxiv.

Hannah Myers was awarded the prestigious 2020 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship Award. Congratulations, Hannah!

CFOS students Becca Cates and Kelly Cates, together with alumna Elizabeth Figus and former employee Lars Powers, are helping construct PPE for Southeast Alaska health care workers. The Juneau Empire and the Anchorage Press ran stories on the project.

CFOS in the News

The Anchorage Daily News ran an opinion piece by Peter Westley and Curry Cunningham about salmon fisheries management during COVID-19.

Russel Hopcroft commented in a Science article about COVID-19 affecting long-term scientific research, noting work on Sikuliaq.

Megan McPhee and Chris Sergeant were among several coauthors of a letter published in Science about Canadian mining practices that threaten downstream ecosystems and fisheries in Alaska and other states.

Publications

Donkersloot, R., J. Coleman, C. Carothers, D. Ringer, and P. Cullenberg. 2020. Kin, community, and diverse rural economies: Rethinking resource governance for Alaska rural fisheries. Marine Policy 117: 103966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.103966

Grant Awards for March 2020

The new award for March is as follows:

• Grant G-13304 "Gulf of Alaska Cruise 2020: Ocean Acidification in Alaska's Coastal Seas" - Natalie Monacci - AOOS - $87,229.00 (October 1, 2019)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of March:

• Grant G-11625 "Modeling of Near Surface Stratification Processes in the Bay of Bengal: A proposal to the MISO-DRI" - Harper Simmons - ONR - Mod 3 - $111,839.00 (August 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022" - Ginny Eckert - NOAA - Mod 14 - $1,630,289.00 (February 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12044 "Development of Scalable Coastal and Offshore Macroalgal Farming ARPA-E" - Michael Stekoll - Department of Energy - Mod 5 - $2,628,000.00 (April 11, 2018)
• Grant G-12804 "Coastal Marine Institute Program Administration 2019-2024" - Brenda Konar - BOEM - Mod 1 - $152,911.00 (May 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12871 "Cooperative Monitoring of Harmful Algal Blooms and Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning on Kodiak Archipelago: Advancing Tribal Resilience and Subsistence Food Security" - Julie Matweyou - Kodiak Area Native Association - Mod 1 - $9,220.00 (February 6, 2019)

Message from the Dean

Over the weekend we received positive news that the Governor’s office recognized the need for continuity of UAF’s important research mission during these uncertain times. This news is particularly timely in that many of our graduate students need to conduct fieldwork as part of their thesis research. We owe thanks to Chancellor White and his team for advocating on our behalf and to President Johnsen for helping to advance our diverse research programs and major facility operations.

It is a pleasure to convey that Kyle Rivera has accepted the position of CFOS student recruiter. Kyle earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in health, physical education and administration from Murray State University in Kentucky, where he also worked as a student recruiter and athletic director. Kyle will begin working remotely on Monday, April 13. Please join me in welcoming Kyle to our college.

With increasing daylight, warmer temperatures and trees budding, we are overdue to usher in spring after one of our coldest and snowiest winters in decades. Enjoy and be safe.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq completed her 14-day quarantine at sea and has docked at the UAF pier in Seward. Crew are continuing enhanced cleaning measures and routine maintenance of the ship while we wait for the green light to resume science operations.

Activities and Accomplishments

We recently launched the new CFOS website. This was a significant effort to migrate the prior website to OU Campus as well as conduct a major update in content, and we are still working to fine-tune our many web pages. A big thank-you to CFOS web editor Carol Kaynor and Sherrie Roberts of University Relations for their collective effort and expertise. Well done!

Courtney Carothers was appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on the Use of Limited Access Privilege Programs in Mixed-Use Fisheries.

Congratulations to Noah Khalsa and Hanna Myers, who received Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation, and to Kyle Dilliplaine, who received an honorable mention.

CFOS in the News

R/V Sikuliaq was mentioned in a Mirage News article about using life on research vessels as a successful example of living and working in close quarters during COVID-19 restrictions.

The disruption of R/V Sikuliaq operations and seagoing research due to the COVID-19 pandemic was featured in an article in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Publications

Clark, C.T., L. Horstmann, and N. Misarti. 2020. Zinc concentrations in teeth of female walruses reflect the onset of reproductive maturity. Conservation Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coaa029

Ulaski, M.E., H. Finkle, and P.A.H. Westley. 2020. Direction and magnitude of natural selection on body size differs among age classes of seaward migrating Pacific salmon. Evolutionary Applications. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12957

Copeman, L., M. Spencer, R. Heintz, J. Vollenweider, A. Sremba, T. Helser, L. Logerwell, L. Sousa, S. Danielson, A.I. Pinchuk, and B. Laurel. 2020. Ontogenetic patterns in lipid and fatty acid biomarkers of juvenile polar cod (Boreogadus saida) and saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis) from across the Alaska Arctic. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02648-9

Message from the Dean

While we adapt to the current disruptions and uncertainties in our work and personal lives, it is heartening that the many dedicated CFOS staff and faculty continue to focus on the success of our students. In that regard, following the extended UAF Spring Break, the delivery of CFOS courses has proceeded essentially without interruption using online distance delivery, a teaching modality in which we are well versed. I am also very pleased that our faculty have offered to assist other UAF units as they transition to distance delivery teaching. Well done CFOS!

R/V Sikuliaq

R/V Sikuliaq is en route from Seattle to her homeport in Seward. During this transit, Sikuliaq successfully recovered two Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Observatory moorings associated with the NGA-LTER and Gulf Watch Alaska programs, and also conducted CTD work.

The crew is taking precautions and undergoing a quarantine at sea for 14 days, per guidance from the CDC, WHO and State of Alaska, to prevent transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Crew are cleaning the ship daily, and some often-used parts such as handrails twice a day. The ship’s medical officer is monitoring the crew by checking temperatures twice a day and examining for any symptoms of the coronavirus. Sikuliaq will not dock in Seward if any of the crew are symptomatic. We will continue to comply with all state and federal mandates regarding crew travel to and from the ship. The current plan is to moor at the UAF pier in Seward on April 4, and then wait for the green light to resume science operations.

Activities and Accomplishments

Franz Mueter gave a presentation at UAF’s Northwest Campus in Nome as part of the Strait Science series, sharing how changing sea ice conditions will affect the future of Arctic cod and other ice-associated fish.

CFOS in the News

Russ Hopcroft was featured in a Smithsonian article about the potential effect of the novel coronavirus on long-running research, including the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long Term Ecological Research project.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ran a story about Anne Beaudreau’s research on glacial retreat and Pacific salmon.

Publications

Kadko, D., A. Aguilar-Islas, C.S. Buck, J.N. Fitzsimmons, W.M. Landing, A. Shiller, C.P. Till, K.W. Bruland, E.A. Boyle, and R.F. Anderson. 2020. Sources, fluxes and residence times of trace elements measured during the U.S. GEOTRACES East Pacific Zonal Transect. Marine Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2020.103781

Krieger, J.R., A.H. Beaudreau, R.A. Heintz, and M.W. Callahan. 2020. Growth of young-of-year sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) in response to temperature and prey quality: Insights from a life stage specific bioenergetics model. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 526: 151340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151340

Litzow, M.A., M.E. Hunsicker, N.A. Bond, B.J. Burke, C.J. Cunningham, J.L. Gosselin, E.L. Norton, E.J. Ward, and S.G. Zador. 2020. The changing physical and ecological meanings of North Pacific Ocean climate indices. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1921266117

Maniscalco, J.M., A.M. Springer, K. Counihan, T. Hollmen, H.M. Aderman, and M. Toyukak Sr. 2020. Contemporary diets of walruses in Bristol Bay, Alaska suggest temporal variability in benthic community structure. PeerJ 8:e8735. http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8735

Message from the Dean

We could all use a bit of positive news at this time, and in that regard I will not provide in this message any further updates on COVID-19 that are being communicated by UA leadership. Rather, the CFOS Dean’s Office has undergone a significant staff turnover in recent months, and I am very pleased to convey that we have now assembled an exceptional new team in terms of experience and energy to serve our students and faculty. In this regard, it is a pleasure to announce that Eric Sanchez has accepted the position of CFOS HR Coordinator. Eric brings significant experience from his extensive career in the military supporting human resource operations across multiple departments and locations. Eric’s first day at CFOS will be Monday, March 23. Please join me in welcoming Eric to our college.

R/V Sikuliaq

Following a recommendation from UNOLS [PDF] to NSF and ONR, the Academic Research Fleet is suspending research cruises for the next 30 days. This week Sikuliaq is scheduled to transit from the GSA Federal Center South pier in south Seattle to home port in Seward.

Activities and Accomplishments

Faculty and students from CFOS and OARC participated in a Fairbanks homeschool event by facilitating fun activities and demonstrations to showcase our programs and help foster the students’ interest in STEM.

CFOS in the News

Anne Beaudreau was featured in UAF News for research she and others are conducting on how glacial retreat will affect Pacific salmon.

KTVF, a Fairbanks subsidiary of NBC, ran a story about William Burt and his use of ocean optics to study plankton.

Gary Freitag’s work monitoring non-native Botryllids in Ketchikan was featured in the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center ITunicate Newsletter.

Publications

Edwards, M., B. Konar, J-H. Kim, S. Gabara, G. Sullaway, T. McHugh, M. Spector, and S. Small. 2020. Marine deforestation leads to widespread loss of ecosystem function. PLoS ONE 15 (3): e0226173. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226173

Pitman, K.J., J.W. Moore, M.R. Sloat, A.H. Beaudreau, A.L. Bidlack, R.E. Brenner, E.W. Hood, G.R. Pess, N.J. Mantua, A.M. Milner, V. Radić, G.H. Reeves, D.E. Schindler, and D.C. Whited. 2020. Glacier retreat and Pacific salmon. BioScience 70 (3): 220–236. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa015

Wild, L.A., F.J. Mueter, B. Witteveen, and J.M. Straley. 2020. Exploring variability in the diet of depredating sperm whales in the Gulf of Alaska through stable isotope analysis. Royal Society Open Science 7 (3). http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191110

Message from the Dean

In support of our mission to educate the next generation of fisheries and ocean scientists, we will soon roll out the new CFOS website, which is designed to enhance student recruitment and success. Our students conduct field and laboratory studies, disseminate new research discoveries at scientific meetings and in peer-reviewed scientific articles, and engage the public—they are essential to the many successful academic, research and outreach programs in CFOS.

In this regard, on Thursday the Chancellor will recognize several of our faculty for excellence in instruction and outreach. It is a pleasure to recognize and celebrate their success, along with our students and staff who support this critical part of our mission.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is alongside the GSA Federal Center South pier in south Seattle undergoing routine maintenance. Over the past two weeks, Sikuliaq passed both the NSF ship condition inspection and the regulatory USCG/ABS annual certificate of inspection.

Activities and Accomplishments

Marilyn Sigman’s book, Entangled: People and Ecological Change in Alaska's Kachemak Bay, published by UA Press, will receive the 2020 John Burroughs Medal for distinguished natural history writing. 

As a member of the Marine Arctic Ecosystem Study (MARES), the Ocean Acidification Center (OARC) was awarded the 2019 NOPP Excellence in Partnering Award by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Natalie Monacci represented OARC at the award ceremony at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in San Diego. 

Kristen Gorman was honored with an outreach award at the Copper Basin Symposium for the successful Copper River Salmon Harvesters Roundtable, which she helped organize in Tazlina on February 21. She presented her research on spawning migration habits of sockeye salmon at the symposium and the Copper River Salmon Science Synthesis Workshop. 

Gwenn Hennon attended the EPSCoR States meeting in Washington, DC, and met with our congressional delegation to advocate for EPSCoR. 

CFOS in the News

Seth Danielson, Katrin Iken, and Dean Stockwell were coauthors on a paper about transformations in arctic ecosystems that was published by Nature Climate Change. The paper has received significant international media attention, appearing in Newsweek, Phys.org, El País (in Spanish), UAF News, Alaska Public Media, and other news outlets. 

UAF News ran a story about William Burt’s use of optical equipment to measure phytoplankton and zooplankton in the Northern Gulf of Alaska.  

Julie Matweyou’s research and work in communities was mentioned in a story in Grist about toxic shellfish in Alaska.

Publications

Catterson, M.R., D.C. Love, T.M. Sutton, and M.V. McPhee. 2020. Interactions between marine growth and life history diversity of steelhead from the Situk River, Alaska. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 40 (1): 242–255. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10405

Clark, S.C., J. Granger, A. Mastorakis, A. Aguilar‐Islas, and M.G. Hastings. 2020. An investigation into the origin of nitrate in Arctic sea ice. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 34 (2): e2019GB006279. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GB006279  

Huntington, H.P., S.L. Danielson, F.K. Wiese, M. Baker, P. Boveng, J.J. Citta, A. De Robertis, D.M.S. Dickson, E. Farley, J.C. George, K. Iken, D.G. Kimmel, K. Kuletz, C. Ladd, R. Levine, L. Quakenbush, P. Stabeno, K.M. Stafford, D. Stockwell, and C. Wilson. 2020. Evidence suggests potential transformation of the Pacific Arctic ecosystem is underway. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0695-2

Koehn, L.E., T.E. Essington, P.S. Levin, K.N. Marshall, L.G. Anderson, A. Bundy, C. Carothers, F.C. Coleman, J.H. Grabowski, E. Houde, O.P. Jensen, C.Möllmann, and A.D.M. Smith. Case studies demonstrate capacity for a structured planning process for ecosystem-based fisheries management. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2019-0202

Sergeant, C.J., J.A. Falke, R.A. Bellmore, J.R. Bellmore, and R.L. Crumley. 2020. A classification of streamflow patterns across the coastal Gulf of Alaska. Water Resources Research 56 (2): e2019WR026127. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026127

Valk, O., M.M. Rutgers van der Loeff, W. Geibert, S. Gdaniec, S.B. Moran, K. Lepore, R.L. Edwards, Y. Lu, V. Puigcorbé, N. Casacuberta, R. Paffrath, W. Smethie, and M. Roy-Barman. 2020. Decrease in 230Th in the Amundsen Basin since 2007: far-field effect of increased scavenging on the shelf? Ocean Science 16:221–234. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-221-2020

Grant Awards for February 2020

The new awards for February are as follows:

• Grant G-13224 "Knauss Fellowship for Ann Zinkann" - Ginny Eckert - NOAA - $59,000.00 (February 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13259 "2020 UAF Port Valdez Environmental Studies" - Arny Blanchard - Alyeska Pipeline Service Company - $69,000.00 (January 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13260 "Port Valdez Environmental Studies: Retrospective Analysis of Chemical Data, 1998-2019" - Arny Blanchard - Alyeska Pipeline Service Company - $24,000.00 (January 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13265 "Thresholds in a changing ocean environment: Bioeconomic implications to inform adaptation decisions for Alaska's salmon fisheries" - Amanda Kelley - University of Wyoming - $73,813.00 (November 1, 2019)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of February:

• Grant G-2218 "Administration of PCCRC" - Keith Criddle - UA Foundation - $45,000.00 (January 1, 2005)
• Grant G-3163 "Ted Stevens Distinguished Professor of Marine Policy" - Keith Criddle - UA Foundation - $225,000.00 (April 1, 2006)
• Grant G-4710 "Marine Research, Training and Technology Program" - Shannon DeMaster - UA Foundation - $9,000.00 (March 5, 2008)
• Grant G-12500 "Bering Strait High-Frequency Radar" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 1 - $114,286.00 (October 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12684 "Belmont Forum Collaborative Research (BiodivERsA): De-icing of Arctic Coasts: Critical or new opportunities for marine biodiversity and Ecosystem Services ACCES" - Katrin Iken - NSF- Mod 1 - $57,784.00 (March 15, 2019)

Message from the Dean

It is a pleasure to welcome two new staff to the CFOS Dean’s Office. Starting today, Deborah (Debby) Queen will begin work as the CFOS executive officer. Debby brings significant professional experience from her prior work at the UA Office of Information Technology, as executive assistant in the UAF Chancellor’s office, and most recently with the Fairbanks healthcare industry. The new CFOS financial manager is Tatiana Krupina. A UAF alum, Tatiana brings years of experience working in the private sector and was most recently senior accountant for Fountainhead Development Inc. Tatiana’s first day at CFOS will be Wednesday, February 26. Please join me in welcoming Debby and Tatiana to our college.

I also want to thank Heather McLeod for managing more than her usual workload during this staff transition. We will host a Coffee with the Dean on Friday, February 28, to allow folks to meet and greet Debby and Tatiana and to thank our staff for their good work.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is alongside the GSA Federal Center South pier in south Seattle, performing routine maintenance and preparing for the NSF ship inspection.

Activities and Accomplishments

Last weekend CFOS hosted the 23rd Alaska Tsunami Bowl in Seward. Fifteen teams competed, and the winner was "Southern Oscillation" from South Anchorage High School. Kudos to the Seward Marine Center staff and the City of Seward for their time and effort in making this year’s event a success.

Will Burt was accepted into the RBR2020 Cohort, a new two-year accelerator program to support innovative early-career ocean scientists. The program is funded by RBR, a Canadian company that designs and manufactures oceanographic instruments.

On February 5, Alice Bailey and Doug Baird participated in the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission Research Communications Working Group in Anchorage.

UAF Provost Anupma Prakash and the Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services, Julie Queen, recently toured the Seward Marine Center to learn more about CFOS programs and facilities.

A paper coauthored by Lara Horstmann on whale gut microbiomes was voted among the 20 best papers in 2019 in the ISME journal.

CFOS in the News

Gordon Kruse was featured in UAF Cornerstone for receiving the Terry Quinn II Distinguished Scientist Award from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

The Nome Nugget covered a recent presentation in the UAF Northwest Campus Strait Science series, hosted by Gay Sheffield, which featured CFOS alum Jackie Grebmeier’s research on the impacts of decreasing sea ice on the arctic food chain.

Publications

Atkinson, S., D. Gendron, T.A. Branch, K.L. Mashburn, V. Melica, L.E. Enriquez-Paredes, and R.L. Brownell Jr. 2020. Pregnancy rate and biomarker validations from the blubber of eastern North Pacific blue whales. Marine Mammal Science 36 (1): 6–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12616

Fryer, P, C.G. Wheat, T. Williams, C. Kelley, K. Johnson, J. Ryan, W. Kurz, J. Shervais, E. Albers, B. Bekins, B. Debret, J. Deng, Y. Dong, P. Eickenbusch, E. Frery, Y. Ichiyama, R. Johnston, R. Kevorkian, V. 
Magalhaes, S. Mantovanelli, W. Menapace, C. Menzies, K. Michibayashi, C. Moyer, K. Mullane, J.-W. Park, R. Price, O. Sissmann, S. Suzuki, K. Takai, B. Walter, R.
Zhang, D. Amon, D. Glickson, and S. Pomponi. 2020. Mariana serpentinite mud volcanism exhumes subducted seamount materials: Implications for the origin of life. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 378 (2165). http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2018.0425

Harried, B.L., D.J. Daugherty, D.J. Hoeinghaus, A.P Roberts, B.J. Venables, T.M. Sutton, and B.K. Soulen. 2019. Population contributions of large females may be eroded by contaminant body burden and maternal transfer: a case study of alligator gar. North American Journal of Fisheries Management . https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10382

Hennon, G.M.M., and S.T. Dyhrman. 2020. Progress and promise of omics for predicting the impacts of climate change on harmful algal blooms. Harmful Algae 91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2019.03.005

Johnston, T.M.S., M.C. Schönau, T. Paluszkiewicz, J.A. MacKinnon, B.K. Arbic, P.L. Colin, M.H. Alford, M. Andres, L. Centurioni, H.C. Graber, K.R. Helfrich, V. Hormann, P.F.J. Lermusiaux, R.C. Musgrave, B.S. Powell, B. Qiu, D.L. Rudnick, H.L. Simmons, L. St. Laurent, E.J. Terrill, D.S. Trossman, G. Voet, H.W. Wijesekera, and K.L. Zeiden. 2019. FLEAT: A multiscale observational and modeling program to understand how topography affects flows in the western North Pacific. Oceanography 32 (4): 10–21. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2019.407

Merrifield, S.T., P.L. Colin, T. Cook, C. Garcia-Moreno, J.A. MacKinnon, M. Otero, T.A. Schramek, M. Siegelman, H.L. Simmons, and E.J. Terrill. 2019. Island wakes observed from high-frequency current mapping radar. Oceanography 32 (4): 92–101. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2019.415

Ravelo, A.M., B.A. Bluhm, N. Foster, and K. Iken. 2020. Biogeography of epibenthic assemblages in the central Beaufort Sea. Marine Biodiversity 50 (1): 8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-019-01036-9

Simmons, H.L., B.S. Powell, S.T. Merrifield, S.E. Zedler, and P.L. Colin. 2019. Dynamical downscaling of equatorial flow response to Palau. Oceanography 32 (4): 84–91. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2019.414

St. Laurent, L., T. Ijichi, S.T. Merrifield, J. Shapiro, and H.L. Simmons. 2019. Turbulence and vorticity in the wake of Palau. Oceanography 32 (4): 102–109. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2019.416

Wheat, C.G., K. Becker, H. Villinger, B.N. Orcutt, T. Fournier, A Hartwell, and C. Pau. 2020. Subseafloor cross-hole tracer experiment reveals hydrologic properties, heterogeneities, and reactions in slow-spreading oceanic crust. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 21 (1): e2019GC008804. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008804

Yeh, H.D., J.M. Questel, K.R. Maas, and A. Bucklin. 2020. Metabarcoding analysis of regional variation in gut contents of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus in the North Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Research Part II . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2020.104738

Message from the Dean

An article in yesterday’s edition of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on the value of university research noted the importance of Alaska’s blue economy, which encompasses both traditional maritime sectors and emerging innovation and technology-driven opportunities. By supporting a broad portfolio of cutting-edge research projects and training the next generation of scientists and technicians, CFOS and its partner Alaska Sea Grant are at the forefront of Alaska’s maritime economic development. We can take pride that our work and that of the entire university is recognized for bringing significant positive economic impact to the state.

The annual Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) held last week in Anchorage featured numerous insightful presentations by CFOS students and faculty that reflect extremely well on our diverse research, education and public outreach programs. Kudos to Alice Bailey for showcasing our many programs and facilities at the CFOS booth, and for communicating the many opportunities for students, postdocs and faculty to connect with the College. There was also strong interest in our new coastal research vessel, Nanuq; thanks to Brian Mullaly for promoting this new research asset.

Several active searches for CFOS staff positions are progressing well. We are hoping to conclude the search for a new executive officer and financial manager in the next week; we are also focused on filling the HR coordinator and student recruiter positions.

Warmer temperatures and more daylight remind us that spring is just around the corner. Until then, best to enjoy the beauty of Alaska’s winter.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is at the University of Washington pier in Seattle for repairs, routine maintenance, and to prepare for the NSF ship inspection next month. Once the Ballard Locks close, the ship will move to a pier on the Duwamish River in South Seattle.

Activities and Accomplishments

The AMSS award for best PhD oral presentation went to Scott Gabara, who studied under Brenda Konar on kelp deforestation along the Aleutian Islands.

Last week, the Coastal Marine Institute and the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center held their annual symposia in Anchorage.

Laura Horstmann and Nicole Misarti presented their walrus research and led an experiment at the Museum of the North Walrus Family day, which had more than 200 participants.

CFOS Professor Emeritus Gordon Kruse was awarded the inaugural Terry Quinn II Distinguished Scientist Award, which was established by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council. Congratulations, Gordon!

Steven Hartz was recognized by UNOLS for his 30 years of contributions to seagoing research.

Publications

Shink, K.G., T.M. Sutton, J.M. Murphy, and J.A. López. 2019. Utilizing DNA metabarcoding to characterize the diet of marine-phase Arctic lamprey ( Lethenteron camtschaticum ) in the eastern Bering Sea. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences 76 (11): 1993–2002. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2018-0299

Ressel, K.N., J. Bell, and T.M. Sutton. 2020. Distribution and life history of spawning capelin in subarctic Alaska. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 149 (1): 43–56. https://doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10207

Zanotti, L., C. Carothers, C. Aqpik Apok, S. Huang, J. Coleman, and C. Ambrozek. 2020. Political ecology and decolonial research: Co-production with the Iñupiat in Utqiaġvik. Journal of Political Ecology 27 (1). https://doi.org/10.2458/v27i1.23335

Spencer, M.L., C.D. Vestfals, F.J. Mueter, and B.J. Laurel. 2020. Ontogenetic changes in the buoyancy and salinity tolerance of eggs and larvae of polar cod ( Boreogadus saida ) and other gadids. Polar Biology . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02620-7

Grant Awards for January 2020

The new awards for January are as follows:

• Grant G-13184 "Hilcorp Arctic Fisheries Study 2021" - Trent Sutton - Hilcorp Alaska LLC - $37,764.00 (January 1, 2020)
• Grant G-13218 "F/ASGARD Fish Arctic Shelf Growth, Advection, Respiration and Deposition Rates Year 4" - Brenda Norcross - NPRB - $25,599.00 (October 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13219 "Technical review of Yukon River Canadian–origin Chinook salmon Interim Management Escapement Goal" - Curry Cunningham - Bering Sea Fisherman's Association - $75,972.00 (October 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13223 "Underwater autonomous vehicle missions in support of an ecosystem-based approach to Alaska fisheries management" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - $280,952.00 (January 1, 2020)

The following grant is controlled by another department and received funding during the month of January:

• Grant G-13148 "NNA Track 1: Pursuing Opportunities for Long-term Arctic Resilience for Infrastructure and Society (POLARIS)" - CNSM/CDR - Davin Holen (Co-PI) - Penn State University - $241,955.00 (November 1, 2019)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of January:

• Grant G-1085 "NOSB Support" - S. Bradley Moran - UA Foundation - $22,871.00 (July 1, 2002)
• Grant G-9023 "Alaska Young Fishermen's Summit" - Victoria Baker - UA Foundation - $23,000.00 (September 1, 2013)
• Grant G-9156 "Alaska Young Fishermen's Summit CoBank" - Victoria Baker - UA Foundation - $4,000.00 (September 1, 2013)
• Grant G-11291 "Hilcorp Arctic Fisheries Study (UA Foundation)" - Trent Sutton - UA Foundation - $90,000.00 (January 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11498 "Riverine Carbon Contributions to Alaskan Arctic Coastal Margins" - Stephen Okkonen - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute - Mod 3 - $50,173.00 - (March 16, 2017)
• Grant G-11744 "Synthesizing Optically- and Carbon Export-Relevant Particle Size Distributions for the EXPORTS Field Campaign" - Andrew McDonnell - University of California Santa Barbara NCEAS - Mod 3 - $86,340.00 (September 15, 2017)
• Grant G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022" - Ginny Eckert - NOAA - Mod 13 - $50,000.00 (February 1, 2018)

Message from the Dean

As we kick off the spring 2020 semester, this is a good time to reflect on the key goals for the College this coming year, which were transmitted today in the 2020 CFOS Goals and Priorities memorandum. Increasing enrollment at CFOS is a top priority and we are actively working to bolster our student body; as Chancellor White recently conveyed, we are all in the enrollment business. We are also making good progress in hiring new staff to support the CFOS mission. And in the coming months we look forward to hiring new faculty in fisheries, mariculture and aquatic ecosystem dynamics.

Next week, we look forward to many interesting presentations by our students and faculty at the 2020 Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage. During the poster sessions, CFOS will have a booth with plenty of swag, so please stop by and check it out.

It is a pleasure to welcome back our current and new CFOS students and acknowledge the fall 2019 graduates. CFOS faculty and staff are here to support you, and we wish you great success. In that regard, in 2019 we had a record number of Chancellor's and Dean's List students. The Chancellor’s list included Noah Khalsa, Ronald Sheldon, and Brian Zhang. The Dean’s list included Tim Adickes, Talia Davis, Feyne Elmore, Heidi Ingram, Roger Maldonado, Alex Mathews, Nana Matsui, Kyleigh McArthur, Monroe Morris, Sadie Oswald, Jennifer Tusten, and Tazia Wagner.

Congratulations to our fall 2019 undergraduate class:

• Tibor Dorsaz - BS Fisheries
• Adrienne Stansberry - BS Fisheries
• Alyx Hoover - BS Fisheries
• Diego Madrid - BS Fisheries

Congratulations to our graduating Master’s and PhD students:

• Cheryl Barnes - PhD Fisheries, Advisor: Anne Beaudreau
• Madison Kosma - MS Fisheries, Advisors: Megan McPhee and Jan Straley
• Stephanie O'Daly - MS Oceanography, Advisor: Andrew McDonnell
• Kirsten Ressel - MS Fisheries, Advisor: Trent Sutton

We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new graduate students:

• Stephanie O'Daly - PhD Oceanography, Advisor: Andrew McDonnell
• Janessa Esquible - PhD Fisheries, Advisor: Courtney Carothers
• Lindsey Stalder - MS Marine Biology, Advisor: Katrin Iken
• Taylor Cubbage - MS Fisheries, Advisor: Jeff Falke
• Emily Stidham - MS Oceanography, Advisor: Russ Hopcroft
• Elizabeth Hasan - MS Marine Biology, Advisor: Brenda Konar
• Tamsen Peeples - MS Fisheries, Advisor: Mike Stekoll
• Erika King - MS Fisheries, Advisor: Megan McPhee and David Tallmon

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is docked at the UW pier in Seattle for repairs, routine maintenance, and to prepare for the NSF ship inspection next month.

Activities and Accomplishments

Elizabeth Hinkle was awarded an Alaska EPSCoR seed grant to study the post-wildfire response of stream habitat and macroinvertebrate assemblage.

CFOS in the News

Katrin Iken was interviewed by KTVF Channel 11 (Fairbanks) about receiving the 2020 Usibelli Distinguished Research Award. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner also ran a story about the Usibelli awards.

Publications

Esquible, J.A., K. Burek-Huntington, S. Atkinson, A.C. Klink, E. Bortz, T.A. Goldstein, K. Beckmen, K. Pabilonia, and R. Tiller. 2019. Pathological findings and survey for pathogens associated with reproductive failure in perinatal Steller sea lions Eumetopias jubatus. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 137 (2): 131–144. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03421

Hulme, S.M., and C.G. Wheat. 2019. Subseafloor fluid and chemical fluxes along a buried‐basement ridge on the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 20 (11): 4922–4938. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008408

Lovvorn, J.R., A.R. Rocha, S.L. Danielson, L.W. Cooper, J.M. Grebmeier, and K.S. Hedstrom. 2020. Predicting sediment organic carbon and related food web types from a physical oceanographic model on a subarctic shelf. Marine Ecology Progress Series 633:37–54. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13163

Prentice, C., K.L. Poppe, M. Lutz, E. Murray, T.A. Stephens, A. Spooner, M. Hessing-Lewis, R. Sanders-Smith, J.M. Rybczyk, J. Apple, F.T. Short, J. Gaeckle, A. Helms, C. Mattson, W.W. Raymond, and T. Klinger. 2020. A synthesis of blue carbon stocks, sources and accumulation rates in eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows in the Northeast Pacific. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GB006345

Shalev, N., T.R.R. Bontognali, C.G. Wheat, and D. Vance. 2019. New isotope constraints on the Mg oceanic budget point to cryptic modern dolomite formation. Nature Communications 10 (1): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13514-6

Schuler, A.R., S. Piwetz, J. Di Clemente, D. Steckler, F. Mueter, and H.C. Pearson. 2019. Humpback whale movements and behavior in response to whale-watching vessels in Juneau, AK. Frontiers in Marine Science 6:710. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00710

Wheat, C.G., J.S. Seewald, and K. Takai. 2019. Fluid transport and reaction processes within a serpentinite mud volcano: South Chamorro Seamount. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 269:413–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2019.10.037

Message from the Dean

Happy New Year! It is a pleasure to wish everyone a warm welcome after what was hopefully an enjoyable winter break spent with friends and family. I wish everyone a productive and safe 2020.

As we transition into the new year, we also have two important staff transitions. Effective today, Jennifer Harris will begin her new role with the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, and Tara Borland will start her new position with Alaska EPSCoR. Please join me in wishing Jennifer and Tara the best going forward.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq was very successful in finding storm waves for Dr. Thomson’s cruise in December, reporting seas up to 17 meters (55 feet). Sikuliaq is now moored in Seattle for repairs, maintenance and preparation for the biennial NSF inspection.

Activities and Accomplishments

Ocean Acidification Research Center (OARC) members Natalie Monacci and Amanda Kelley coauthored a poster, Ocean Acidification in Alaska: Chemistry, Clams, Cod, and Crabs, at the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting in San Francisco. Natalie also gave a flash talk on ocean acidification at AGU that was recorded by UAF and posted on YouTube.

Chris Maio, who has been working on a long-term coastal erosion project funded in part by Alaska Sea Grant, also gave a flash talk at AGU that was recorded by UAF and posted on YouTube.

Franz Mueter contributed to a special section of the 2019 NOAA Arctic Report Card that describes and compares rapid community and population shifts in the Bering and Barents seas. The Report Card was unveiled during a press conference at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco and generated extensive coverage by the media.

Katrin Iken was awarded the 2020 Emil Usibelli Distinguished Research Award. This is wonderful news that reflects Katrin’s tremendous contribution to research for the state of Alaska, the nation, and our international science community.

CFOS in the News

Nature Research Ecology and Evolution described how William Burt’s research with ocean optics validated satellite measurements of zooplankton.

The Anchorage Daily News ran an article about the growth of Alaska’s seaweed industry and mentioned Alaska Sea Grant as one of the organizations facilitating mariculture training.

Franz Mueter’s research with arctic cod was featured in a story by Ice In Motion.

Publications

Thoman, R., U. Bhatt, P. Bieniek, B. Brettschneider, M. Brubaker, S. Danielson, Z. Labe, R. Lader, W. Meier, G. Sheffield, and J. Walsh. 2020. The record low Bering Sea ice extent in 2018: Content, impacts, and an assessment of the role of anthropogenic climate change. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, S18–19. http://ametsoc.net/eee/2018/10_Thoman0175.pdf

Marsh, J.M., and F.J.Mueter. 2019. Influences of temperature, predators, and competitors on polar cod ( Boreogadus saida ) at the southern margin of their distribution. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02575-4

Marsh, J.M., F.J. Mueter, and T.J. Quinn II. 2019. Environmental and biological influences on the distribution and population dynamics of polar cod ( Boreogadus saida ) in the US Chukchi Sea. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02561-w

Ormseth, O.A., M.M. Baker, R.R. Hopcroft, C. Ladd, C.W. Mordy, J.H. Moss, F.J. Mueter, S.K. Shotwell, and S.L. Strom. 2019. Introduction to understanding ecosystem processes in the Gulf of Alaska, volume 2. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 165:1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2019.06.019

Schuler, A., S. Piwetz, J. Di Clemente, D. Steckler, F.J. Mueter, and H.C. Pearson. 2019. Humpback whale movements and behavior in response to whale-watching vessels in Juneau, AK. Frontiers in Marine Science 6:710. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00710

Thorson, J.T., M. Fossheim, F.J. Mueter, E. Olsen, R.R. Lauth, R. Primicerio, B. Husson, J. Marsh, A. Dolgov, and S.G. Zador. 2019. Comparison of near-bottom fish densities show rapid community and population shifts in Bering and Barents Seas. In Arctic Report Card 2019, J. Richter-Menge, M.L. Druckenmiller and M. Jeffries (eds.). Department of Commerce, NOAA, http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card.

Grenier, M., R. Francois, M. Soon, M.M. Rutgers van der Loeff, X. Yu, O. Valk, C. Not, S.B. Moran, R.L. Edwards, Y. Lu, K. Lepore, and S.E. Allen. 2019. Changes in circulation and particle scavenging in the Amerasian basin of the Arctic Ocean over the last three decades inferred from the water column distribution of geochemical tracers. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 124. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015265

Grant Awards for December 2019

The new awards for December are as follows:

• Grant G-13142 "Tracing the Fate of Phytoplankton-Derived Carbon in Chukchi Shelf Sediments Part A" - Sarah Hardy - NPRB - $158,888.00 (December 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13143 "Tracing the Fate of Phytoplankton-Derived Carbon in Chukchi Shelf Sediments Part B" - Sarah Hardy - NPRB - $23,604.00 (December 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13157 "Ecosystem monitoring and detection of wind and ice-mediated changes through a year-round physical and biogeochemical mooring in the Northeast Chukchi Sea" - Seth Danielson - NPRB - $176,000.00 (December 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13175 "RII Track-4: Using otolith geochemistry to understand the ocean ecology of a changing Alaskan salmon system" - Kristen Gorman - NSF - $162,010.00 (December 15, 2019)

The following grant received incremental funding during the month of December:

• Grant G-11157 "Seward Line Monitoring" - Mod 5 - Russ Hopcroft - AOOS - $100,000.00 (June 1, 2016)

Message from the Dean

An overarching priority of the Alaska Governor’s Mariculture Task Force is to “boost the mariculture industry, including aquatic farming and enhancement of fisheries in Alaska.” In this regard, CFOS collaborating faculty Mike Stekoll is leading one of several innovative projects supported by the Department of Energy ARPA-E MARINER program. Phase II (pending) of the Alaska MARINER project is a model partnership between academia and industry: UAF/CFOS, University of Connecticut, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Biological Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, Blue Evolution, and C.A. Goudey & Associates. The project goal is to develop scalable coastal and offshore macroalgal farming techniques, and will utilize our Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center.

Along these lines, CFOS is exploring ways to enhance the MARINER program and related mariculture research in Alaska. For example, Mike Stekoll is using our Lena Point facility to support his mariculture program, and CFOS leadership is discussing how to best utilize the Chancellor’s award to support a new mariculture faculty hire. Mariculture holds significant promise to bolster Alaska’s blue economy, and CFOS remains focused on supporting this opportunity.

A reminder that we will hold a CFOS Coffee with the Dean on Thursday, December 12, from 10–11 am in the CFOS Dean’s Office. Please stop by for some coffee, tea and pastries.

R/V Sikuliaq

On November 27, Sikuliaq disembarked personnel in Nome via small boat. According to the harbormaster, this was the latest open-water transfer by boat in Nome's approximately 120 years of documented history. Sikuliaq is currently in the Gulf of Alaska supporting Dr. Jim Thomson’s (UW/APL) Breaking Bubbles project. Thomson’s team will be using Surface Wave Instrument Float with Tracking (SWIFT) buoys equipped with motion sensors, turbulence profilers and cameras for bubble recording.

Activities and Accomplishments

Congratulations to our students who participated in the CFOS Fall Undergraduate Symposium last Friday.

Gwenn Hennon and Will Burt received seed funding from the Murdock Trust to enhance the capability of the Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Observatory (GEO).

Jennifer Questel was a visiting scientist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, where she gave a seminar in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology and worked on DNA sequencing of cnidarians and ctenophores collected during the 2019 NOAA Gulf of Alaska Seamounts cruise.

Franz Mueter, Alexei Pinchuk, Jared Weems and fisheries alumna Lorena Edenfield successfully deployed and fished an under-ice net from Sikuliaq along the Beaufort and Chukchi slope and basin. Operating in 90–100% ice cover, the net caught Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) and a variety of zooplankton, including some unexpected species. The joint CODA/GO-WEST cruise was funded by NSF, ARICE, BOEM and UAF.

The American Fisheries Society Alaska Chapter Student Subunit was awarded a $750 grant from the Associated Students of the University of Alaska Fairbanks to continue a student-led research project focused on the ecotoxicology of burbot.

CFOS in the News

Will Burt coauthored a paper published in Nature about daily vertical migrations of ocean animals.

Jennifer Reynolds’ work mapping hydrocarbon seeps on Alaska’s seafloor appeared in UAF Cornerstone and Petroleum News.

Franz Mueter was interviewed by Ice in Motion regarding the CODA/GO-WEST cruise. The Nome Nugget also mentioned Mueter in an article about Arctic cod research on the cruise.

Alaska Public Media reported on free how-to training for would-be seaweed farmers in Alaska, cosponsored by Alaska Sea Grant. Melissa Good is quoted in the story, which also aired on KFSK (Petersburg), KTUU-TV (Anchorage), and KATH-TV (Juneau), and was mentioned by Pacific Fishing online.

KHNS-FM interviewed Davin Holen for a story on the Skagway Traditional Council joining a growing number of Alaska tribes monitoring ocean acidification levels.

Publications

Armstrong, J.B., D.E. Schindler, C.J. Cunningham, W. Deacy, and P. Walsh. 2019. Watershed complexity increases the capacity for salmon–wildlife interactions in coastal ecosystems. Conservation Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12689

Behrenfeld, M.J., P. Gaube, A. Della Penna, R.T. O’Malley, W.J. Burt, Y. Hu, P.S. Bontempi, D.K. Steinberg, E.S. Boss, D.A. Siegel, C.A. Hostetler, P.D. Tortell, and S.C. Doney. 2019. Global satellite-observed daily vertical migrations of ocean animals. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1796-9

Miller, C.A., H.C. Holm, L. Horstmann, J.C. George, H.F. Fredricks, B.A.S. Van Mooy, and A. Apprill. 2019. Coordinated transformation of the gut microbiome and lipidome of bowhead whales provides novel insights into digestion. ISME Journal. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-019-0549-y

Rose, C.S., J.K. Nielsen, J.R. Gauvin, T. Loher, S.A. Sethi, A.C. Seitz, M.B. Courtney, and P. Drobny. 2019. Survival outcome patterns revealed by deploying advanced tags in quantity: Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) survivals after release from trawl catches through expedited sorting. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 76 (12): 2215–2224. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2018-0350

Smé, N.A., S. Lyon, F. Mueter, V. Brykov, Y. Sakurai, and A.J. Gharrett. 2019. Examination of saffron cod Eleginus gracilis (Tilesius 1810) population genetic structure. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02601-5

Smith, J., S. Karpovich, L. Horstmann, J. McIntyre, and D.M. O’Brien. 2019. Seasonal differences in foraging and isotopic niche width related to body size in Gulf of Alaska harbor seals. Canadian Journal of Zoology 97 (12): 1156–1163. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2019-0108

Grant Awards for November 2019

New awards for November are as follows:

• Grant G-13101 "Western Beaufort and Chukchi Sea Surface Current Analysis" - Seth Danielson - BOEM - $77,640.00 (November 6, 2019)
• Grant G-13129 "Impacts of Sedimentation and Drivers of Variability in the Boulder Patch Community, Beaufort Sea" - Katrin Iken - University of Texas at Austin - $53,083.00 (September 18, 2019)
• Grant G-13130 "Auke Creek Coho Jack Study" - Megan McPhee - UA Foundation - $28,500.00 (November 1, 2019)

The following grants are controlled by other departments and were set up in November:

• Grant G-12795 "NIST/MEP" - Quentin Fong - UAA Business Enterprise Institute - Department of Commerce - $178,373.00 (July 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13079 "Landfast Ice Climatology within the Arctic OCS" - Seth Danielson - GI Snow & Ice & Permafrost - BOEM - $121,117.00 (September 24, 2019)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of November:

• Grant G-12178 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Ship Operations CY 2018-2022" - S. Bradley Moran - Mod 4 - NSF - $3,000,000.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12361 "NOAA - Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO)" - Brenda Konar - Mod 2 - AOOS - $69,050.00 (June 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12381 "Alaska Ocean Acidification Research: Autonomous Observations of Ocean Acidification in Alaska Coastal Seas" - Brenda Konar - Mod 2 - AOOS - $197,550.00 (June 1, 2018)

Message from the Dean

As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, I ask that every CFOS student, staff and faculty reflect on the importance of our collective work, and of the responsibility we hold as stewards of Alaska’s vital aquatic resources. In that regard, I offer a few recent examples of the importance of our research, training and outreach, and how our activities benefit Alaska and the nation.

First, following a recent White House summit on partnerships in ocean science and technology, the President issued a memorandum directing federal agencies to develop national strategies to map the United States Exclusive Economic Zone and the Alaska coastline. These actions will benefit Alaska and the nation’s economy, advance our understanding of our oceans and coastlines, and promote efficient ocean exploration activities. Implicit in these actions is the need for strengthened collaboration between agencies, our UAF partners, and CFOS researchers and major facilities.

Last week at the University–National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) Annual Meeting, Gay Sheffield gave a revealing account of the dramatic environmental changes occurring within the Bering Strait region, and the impact of these changes on Alaska’s communities and economy. During the Q&A, numerous individuals remarked on how CFOS is literally at the front lines studying Alaska’s changing aquatic ecosystems—this is central to our mission.

To expand on this further, the fascinating work and value of CFOS is showcased in the 2019 CFOS Annual Report, which is now complete and posted on our website.

As many of you are now aware, Wendy Huesties has accepted a position with the University of Alaska statewide system. Since 2014, Wendy has played an important role as the CFOS Financial Manager. Please join me in thanking Wendy for her good work and wishing her the best in her new position.

Wishing everyone a pleasant and safe Thanksgiving with family and friends.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas to support Dr. Franz Mueter’s (UAF/CFOS) and Dr. Hauke Flores’ (Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research) GO-WEST project. The project will look at polar cod, ice-associated fauna, sea-ice habitat properties, and hydroacoustic profiles of zooplankton and fish in the western Beaufort Sea. The goal is to sample across the marginal ice zone during sea-ice formation and potential entrainment of juvenile polar cod. The GO-WEST project is funded by the Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium (ARICE) and the CFOS Alaska Sikuliaq Program.

Activities and Accomplishments

Shannon Atkinson, Jenell Larsen, and Sonia Ibarra participated in the Southeast Sea Otter Stakeholder Meeting in Juneau on November 6, 2019. Hosted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the meeting focused on sea otter interactions with fisheries and Alaska Native communities and recommendations for future research and management efforts.

Gordon Kruse served as one of three conveners of the ICES/PICES/NAFO symposium, entitled “Shellfish – Resources and Invaders of the North," held in Tromsø, Norway, November 5–7, 2019. Gordon also gave the keynote presentation, "Dynamics of snow crab in the eastern Bering Sea and US portions of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas under climate change," which was coauthored by CFOS alumni Joel Webb and Lauren Divine and graduate student Laura Slater. Symposium papers will be published in a special issue of the ICES Journal of Marine Research.

Gay Sheffield gave the keynote presentation at the 2019 UNOLS Annual Meeting in Alexandria, Virginia, entitled “Bering Strait: A regional perspective on Arctic marine science.”

CFOS in the News

The Nome Nugget highlighted Sikuliaq research and featured Seth Danielson.

An Associated Pressstory about low sea ice in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas featured Sikuliaq scientists studying wave action and coastal erosion. The story appeared locally, nationally and internationally, from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, and Japan News.

Gay Sheffield was featured in an Anchorage Daily News story about seabird and marine mammal die-offs in the Bering Sea.

The Frontiersman ran a story about a keynote presentation co-delivered by Courtney Carothers at the 2019 Mat-Su Salmon Science and Conservation Symposium in Palmer.

Franz Mueter was interviewed in a KNOM Radio Mission story about Arctic cod and current changes in Chukchi and Beaufort Sea ecosystems.

Rachel Potter was interviewed by KNOM about the use of high-frequency radar systems to monitor and track ocean currents in the Bering Strait region.

Publications

Carothers, C., T.L. Sformo, S. Cotton, J.C. George, and P.A.H. Westley. 2019. Pacific salmon in the rapidly changing Arctic: Exploring local knowledge and emerging fisheries in Utqiaġvik and Nuiqsut, Alaska. Arctic 72 (3): 273–88. https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic68876

Message from the Dean

The UAF Expedited Program Review of our fisheries, marine biology and oceanography academic programs has been finalized and submitted to the university review committee. I want to thank the department chairs and faculty for their time and effort preparing these reports. Regarding next steps and the eventual outcome of this process, it is important to refer to Chancellor White’s recent message: “The primary purpose of program reviews is to evaluate the quality of our programs, their effectiveness, efficiency, and their alignment with UAF’s mission.” Stay tuned for further details.

The 2019 CFOS Annual Report has been completed and sent for printing. As with last year’s report, expect to see a visually appealing and interesting summary of some of our academic, research and service program highlights over the past year. A big thank-you to Lauren Frisch for providing the content and Carol Kaynor for assembling the final product with expert editing. We expect to distribute the report in the coming weeks.

Today is Veteran’s Day. Please take a moment to reflect on and honor the military veterans who served our country.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is in Nome staging for Dr. Jim Thomson’s (UW/APL) Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic (CODA) project. Also aboard are Dr. Franz Mueter (UAF/CFOS) and Dr. Hauke Flores (Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research) in support of the GO-WEST project, which will investigate distributions of polar cod, ice-associated fauna and hydroacoustic profiles of zooplankton and fish in the western Beaufort Sea.

Activities and Accomplishments

CFOS recently hosted the 2019 Research Vessel Technical Enhancement Committee (RVTEC) meeting at the UAF campus. The University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) holds this meeting at a different member institution each year, and this year over 100 attendees participated from institutions across the nation. Thank you to the many individuals who helped make this a highly productive meeting.

CFOS in the News

Dr. Suzie Teerlink, a CFOS alumna now working at NOAA Fisheries, appeared in a KINY (Juneau) story about whales past and present in Southeast Alaska.

Rachel Potter was featured in an Alaska Public Media story about the use of high-frequency radar systems to monitor and track ocean currents in the Bering Strait region.

The Juneau Empire ran a story on the annual Spooktacular Dive and Underwater Pumpkin Carving event, hosted by CFOS and the Scuba Tank.

Grant Awards for October 2019

The new awards for October are as follows (with actual start date in parentheses):

• Grant G-13021 "Nurturing the Successful Growth and Maturation of a Domestic Seaweed Aquaculture Industry: Identifying and Removing Barriers and Promoting Opportunities" - Melissa Good - University of Connecticut - $39,383.00 (September 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13024 "A sustainable, integrated AMBON in the Chukchi Sea" - Katrin Iken - NOAA - $420,000.00 (September 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13025 "Habitat Use of Arctic Seals & Whales via Satellite Tracking & Ocean Sensing" - Stephen Okkonen - Alaska Department of Fish & Game - $61,424.25 (July 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13041 "Collaborative Oceanographic Monitoring in Southeast Alaska Parks" - Seth Danielson - National Park Service - $133,643.00 (September 25, 2019)
• Grant G-13053 "Assessing the potential for pollock growth and productivity in the northern Bering Sea" - Michael Litzow - UA Foundation PCCRC - $122,494.00 (September 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13054 "Chancellor's Unrestricted Award FY20" - S. Bradley Moran - UA Foundation - $2,450.00 (July 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13073 "Application of a quantitative molecular method to characterize abundance and distribution of Alexandrium Cysts for NOAA's HAB Forecasting" - Julie Matweyou - University of Washington - $41,691.00 (September 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13078 "Catalyzing a Cross-Pacific regional collaborative hub to advance Indigenous aquaculture practice and enhance marine food production for cultural-ecological benefits" - Ginny Eckert - University of Washington Sea Grant - $97,134.00 (September 1, 2019)

The following grants are controlled by other departments and were set up in October:

• Grant G-12834 "Alaska INBRE - 4 One Health" - Mod 19 Pilot - Kristen Gorman - AK INBRE Department - National Institutes of Health (NIH) - $98,615.00 (August 1, 2019)
• Grant G-13064 "UAF Technical Support at Amchitka Island Underground Nuclear Test Site for AK Department of Environmental Conservation" - CNSM Department - Seth Danielson - $15,000.00 (July 1, 2019)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of October:

• Grant G-4710 "Marine Research, Training and Technology Program" - Shannon DeMaster - UA Foundation - $2,000.00 (March 5, 2008)
• Grant G-11073 "Time-Series Monitoring of Ocean Acidification in Alaska" - Brenda Konar - Mod 7 - AOOS - $29,000.00 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-11075 "Apsens Alaska Sea Grant State Fellowship" - Ginny Eckert - Mod 5 - National Park Service - $25,000.00 (September 1, 2016)
• Grant G-11133 "Chukchi Sea Ecosystem Mooring" - Seth Danielson - Mod 5 - AOOS - $100,000.00 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-11158 "HFR Operations and Maintenance" - Seth Danielson - Mod 6 - AOOS - $156,000.00 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-11255 "ASGARD: Arctic Growth, Advection, Respiration, and Deposition Rate Experiments" - Seth Danielson - Mod 4 - $15,000.00 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-11299 "An Arctic marine mammal observing system" - Seth Danielson - Mod 5 - AOOS - $50,000.00 (February 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11625 "Modeling of Near Surface Stratification Processes in the Bay of Bengal: A proposal to the MISO-DRI" - Harper Simmons - Mod 1 and 2 - $60,000.00 and $171,528.00 (August 1, 2017)

The following grant was set up on assumption during October:

• Grant G-13083 "UAF FY20 Support for Marine Scientist Hollmen" - Tuula Hollmen - AK Sea Life Center - $88,596.00 (October 1, 2019)

Message from the Dean

The OCEANS 2019 conference takes place this week in Seattle. The theme of this conference is Blue Sea, Blue Sky, Blue Tech. In this regard, with over half of the nation’s coastline and approximately one-third of the nation's Exclusive Economic Zone, Alaska has tremendous potential to help grow the nation’s blue economy. The Alaska Blue Economy Center was established to help foster Alaska’s blue economy, and a good example of the potential of this center is Washington State’s Maritime Blue initiative.

Alice Bailey has accepted the position of CFOS Public Information Officer and Sikuliaq Science Liaison. Alice brings a wealth of experience working with Alaskan indigenous communities and fisheries scientists, and communicating environmental science to diverse stakeholders. She is an accomplished photographer and a UAF alum (MFA 2014). Her first day of work will be November 4. Please join me in welcoming Alice to CFOS.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is en route to Nome to complete staging for Dr. Jim Thomson’s (UW/APL) Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic (CODA) project. The CODA project will investigate wave-ice-ocean interactions along the Arctic coast of northern Alaska. Also aboard Sikuliaq during this upcoming cruise are Dr. Franz Mueter (UAF/CFOS) and Dr. Hauke Flores (Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research) in support of the GO-WEST project. Funded in part by the international Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium (ARICE) and the Alaska Sikuliaq Program, the GO-WEST project will investigate distributions of polar cod, ice-associated fauna and hydroacoustic profiles of zooplankton and fish in the western Beaufort Sea.

Activities and Accomplishments

PhD student Sonia Ibarra received recognition and an award during the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Conference earlier this month in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sonia accompanied eight high school and college youth from Hydaburg and Kake to attend and present local research. Sonia was inducted as a Sequoyah Fellow for her work mentoring indigenous youth throughout Southeast Alaska, and was awarded 2nd place for Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation for her dissertation research, “Facilitating greater representation and equity in the voices and data of science: Sea otter impacts on customary and traditional foods.”

CFOS in the News

Articles about Madison Kosma’s research on humpbacks (see publications) recently appeared in The Guardian, Smithsonian, and Science.

Publications

Kosma, M.M., A.J. Werth, A.R. Szabo, and J.M. Straley. 2019. Pectoral herding: an innovative tactic for humpback whale foraging. Royal Society Open Science 6. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191104

Kowalik, Z., and J. Luick. 2019. Modern Theory and Practice of Tide Analysis and Tidal Power. Eden Hills, South Australia: Austides Consulting, 220 pp. https://www.uaf.edu/cfos/files/Kowalik/Book2019_tides.pdf

Uchiyama, T., F.J. Mueter, and G.H. Kruse. 2019. Multispecies biomass dynamics models reveal effects of ocean temperature on predation of juvenile pollock in the eastern Bering Sea. Fisheries Oceanography. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fog.12433

Message from the Dean

As outlined in the CFOS Decadal Plan, an important part of our mission is the operation of major facilities in support of aquatic ecosystems research, training and outreach. In that regard, following the inaugural research cruise this summer with our new coastal research vessel Nanuq, Seth Danielson and his team led an expedition in support of the GAK1 time-series, collecting physical and biogeochemical data in the northern Gulf of Alaska. It is encouraging that Nanuq is already being put to good use.

Along this line, an important CFOS staff position is the Sikuliaq Science Liaison. This unique position was developed in partnership with the National Science Foundation to ensure best practices are adhered to among seagoing scientists, subsistence hunting organizations, and Sikuliaq operations. While it has taken longer than anticipated, the search for a new PIO/Sikuliaq Science Liaison is progressing, and candidate interviews will end this week. We hope to make a hiring decision for this search in the near future.

Speaking of Sikuliaq, next week CFOS will host the Research Vessel Technical Enhancement Committee (RVTEC) annual meeting to facilitate the coordination of marine technology for science operations in support of the US Academic Research Fleet and oceanographic facilities. Approximately 100 participants will attend this year’s meeting from across the nation. Kudos to John Haverlack and his team for organizing this important event.

Next week, the Consortium for Ocean Leadership (COL) will host its annual fall meeting in Washington, DC, to discuss ocean science priorities, programs and budgets of regional, national and international importance. An Industry Forum will follow, focused on offshore wind development. As a full voting member and trustee of COL, CFOS will have the opportunity at this meeting to engage with ocean sciences institutions and leaders from across the country.

I am happy to convey that Heather McLeod and her family welcomed a new baby boy. Congratulations!

If you haven't already, it’s time to get your snow tires on soon—please drive safely!

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway off the coast of Oregon and Washington for Dr. Ed Dever’s (OSU) OOI Coastal Endurance Array project. The Endurance Array is a multi-scaled array utilizing fixed and mobile assets to observe cross-shelf and along-shelf variability in the coastal upwelling region of the Oregon and Washington coasts.

Activities and Accomplishments

The NOAA Auke Bay Laboratories Division has a new permanent director, our own Dr. Dana Hanselman. Dana is a ‘00 and ‘04 alumnus of the CFOS Department of Fisheries.

CFOS MS student Donald Arthur received an Honorable Mention (and plaque) for the John E. Skinner Memorial Fund Award at the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada, earlier this month.

Gwenn Hennon attended the all hands Fire and Ice EPSCoR meeting that was held October 3–4 at UAF. Brenda Konar presented and directed discussions on next year’s field season for the coastal margins team.

Research professor emeritus Stephen Jewett has received the 2019 Scientific Diving Lifetime Achievement award from the American Academy of Underwater Sciences. The award is presented biennially to an individual from the scientific diving community who has made a significant contribution in advancing underwater science and technology. Stephen received his award last week at the joint symposium of the American and Canadian Academies of Underwater Sciences, where he was the keynote speaker.

CFOS in the News

Stephen Jewett’s lifetime achievement award, noted above, was covered in UAF Cornerstone.

Publications

Atkinson, S., M. Branson, A. Burdin, D. Boyd, and G.M. Ylitalo. 2019. Persistent organic pollutants in killer whales (Orcinus orca) of the Russian Far East. Marine Pollution Bulletin 149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110593

Atkinson, S., D. Gendron, T.A. Branch, K.L. Mashburn, V. Melica, L.E. Enriquez-Paredes, and R.L. Brownell Jr. 2019. Determination of pregnancy rates and biomarkers from the blubber of eastern North Pacific blue whales. Marine Mammal Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12616

Carone, E., M.A. Pardo, S. Atkinson, K. Mashburn, H. Perez-Puig, L. Enriquez-Paredes, and D. Gendron. 2019. Sex steroid hormones and behavior reveal seasonal reproduction in a resident fin whale population. Conservation Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coz059 (in production)

Esquible, J., and S. Atkinson. 2019. Stranding trends of Steller sea lions Eumetopias jubatus 1990–2015. Endangered Species Research, in press. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00945

Esquible, J.A., K. Burek-Huntington, S. Atkinson, A.C. Klink, E. Bortz, T.A. Goldstein, K. Beckmen, K. Pabilonia, and R. Tiller. 2019. Pathological findings and survey for pathogens associated with reproductive failure in perinatal Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, in press. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03421

Green, K.M., S. Fletcher, A.H. Beaudreau, and S.M. Whiting. 2019. Iñupiaq values in subsistence harvesting: Applying the community voice method in Northwest Alaska. Society and Natural Resources. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2019.1660935

McConnell, C.J., S. Atkinson, M.V. McPhee, D. Oxman, and P.A.H. Westley. 2019. Is blood cortisol or vateritic otolith composition associated with natal dispersal or reproductive performance on the spawning grounds of straying and homing hatchery-produced chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) in Southeast Alaska? Biology Open 8. https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.042853

Vander Naald, B.P., C.J. Sergeant, and A.H. Beaudreau. 2019. Public perception and valuation of long-term ecological monitoring. Ecosphere 10(10): e02875. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2875

Grant Awards for September 2019

The new awards for September are as follows (with actual start date in parentheses):

• Grant G-12930 "2019 Exploring New Aquaculture Opportunities" - Melissa Good - NOAA - $99,751.00 (September 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12935 "Collaborative Research: Characterization of Subduction Channel Processes - Borehole Sampling at Active Serpentinite Mud Volcanoes on the Mariana Forearc" - C. Geoff Wheat - $247,444.00 (September 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12936 "Marine Mammal Stranding Response and Reporting in Western Alaska" - Gay Sheffield - NOAA - $55,944.00 (September 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12972 "Kelp Restoration in the Boulder Patch" - Katrin Iken - BOEM - $138,844.00 (September 12, 2019)
• Grant G-12999 "Toward Shipside Salmon Stock Identification: Is Nanopore Sequencing Accurate Enough?" - Megan McPhee - UA Foundation PCCRC - $70,993.00 (September 1, 2019)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of September:

• Grant G-10539 "Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) Continuation" - C. Geoff Wheat - Mod 8 - University of Southern California - $24,732.00 (October 1, 2015)
• Grant G-11616 "LTER: Beaufort Sea Lagoons: An Arctic Coastal Ecosystem in Transition" - Katrin Iken - Mod 3 - University of Texas at Austin - $204,433.00 (August 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022" - Ginny Eckert - Mod 9 - NOAA - $50,000.00 (February 1, 2018)
• Grant G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022" - Ginny Eckert - Mod 12 - NOAA - $39,959.00 (February 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12178 "University of Alaska Fairbanks / Sikuliaq Ship Operations CY 2018-2022" - S. Bradley Moran - Mod 3 - NSF - $45,743.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12727 "University of Alaska Fairbanks / Sikuliaq SSSE 2019" - Steven Hartz - Mod 1 - NSF - $15,000.00 (May 1, 2019)

Message from the Dean

With all the recent attention being paid to the university structure and budget, it is important to remain focused on the mission of CFOS and how our work benefits Alaska and the nation.

For example, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released the first-ever Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, which highlights dramatic changes occurring worldwide. The contents of this report are echoed in the Congressional Research Service report, Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, which notes in particular that the diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to an increase in human activities in the Arctic. These reports underpin the importance of our work in advancing our understanding, prediction and management of aquatic ecosystems, particularly in subarctic and Arctic Ocean waters.

The North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) recently held its annual fall meeting in Anchorage. Discussions focused on Core Program research areas, updates from the 2019 and final field season of the Arctic Integrated Ecosystem Research Program, student support, and strategic planning, including strategies to leverage NPRB funds through partnerships. As part of the new rolling proposal submission process, funding decisions for Core Program research proposals and Outreach awards were also made and will be communicated by NPRB. Thanks to NPRB executive director Betsy Baker and her team for hosting a productive meeting.

The weather is getting chilly—another beautiful Alaska winter is now just around the corner.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway to support Dr. Kris Newhall’s (WHOI) Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) research at Ocean Station Papa, including the deployment of a dual profiler mooring, two flanking subsurface moorings, and three gliders. Sikuliaq will then return to Newport, Oregon, to mobilize for Dr. Ed Dever’s (OSU) OOI Coastal Endurance Array project. The Endurance Array is a multi-scaled array utilizing fixed and mobile assets to observe cross-shelf and along-shelf variability in the coastal upwelling region off Oregon and Washington.

Activities and Accomplishments

The international Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition got underway Friday, September 20. Five UAF researchers, including Ana Aguilar-Islas and graduate student Rachel Lekanoff of CFOS, are among more than 600 scientists who will spend part of the coming year on the German icebreaker Polarstern, frozen in the central Arctic sea ice and drifting past the North Pole toward the Atlantic Ocean. With 17 participating nations, this is the largest-ever Arctic research expedition. Read about the journey, follow the ship drift route, or follow @ArcticMosaic on Twitter or @MOSAiCuaf on Facebook.

CFOS in the News

Ana Aguilar-Islas and Rachel Lekanoff were featured in UAF Cornerstone regarding their participation in the MOSAiC expedition during the next year.

Russ Hopcroft and Jennifer Questel were featured in a Teacher at Sea blog post about their research on the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project.

Gay Sheffield co-authored a New York Times op-ed on “Where the Sea Ice Recedes, So Does an Alaska Way of Life.”

Publications

Falke, J.A., L.T. Bailey, K.M. Fraley, M.J. Lunde, and A.D. Gryska. 2019. Energetic status and bioelectrical impedance modeling of Arctic grayling Thymallus arcticus in interior Alaska rivers. Environmental Biology of Fishes. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-019-00910-6.

Raymond, W.W., M.T. Tinker, M.L. Kissling, B. Benter, V.A. Gill, and G.L. Eckert. 2019. Location‐specific factors influence patterns and effects of subsistence sea otter harvest in Southeast Alaska. Ecosphere. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2874.

Rosellon-Druker, J., M. Szymkowiak, C.J. Cunningham, S. Kasperski, G.H. Kruse, J.H. Moss, and E.M. Yasumiishi. 2019. Development of socio-ecological conceptual models as the basis for an integrated ecosystem assessment framework in Southeast Alaska. Ecology and Society 24(3):30. https://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-11074-240330.

Message from the Dean

CFOS is renowned for its high-quality academic programs in fisheries, marine biology and ocean sciences. In this regard, CFOS was one of two colleges recently reported to have increased student enrollment at UAF. We can be proud of this achievement for a number of reasons, but particularly in light of the recent budget challenges facing the university. It is a pleasure to thank associate dean for academics Trent Sutton and his team for the good work growing our student body.

We will soon begin a search for our second EPSCoR tenure-track faculty hire. The scientific expertise of this new faculty position will be in fisheries genomics. Anne Beaudreau has agreed to chair the search committee. In addition to recently hiring two research faculty, this will be the sixth tenure-track faculty hire within CFOS in the past two years.

It is a pleasure to convey that Johan Bergenas, Senior Director of Public Policy at Vulcan Inc., will present the fall keynote lecture as part of the 2019 Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (FOS) seminar series. Johan’s seminar is entitled “Five Challenges to Ocean Health.” The seminar will be held from 3:30 to 4:30 pm in O’Neill 201 on Wednesday, October 9. A separate announcement will be forthcoming; please mark your calendars for this open keynote presentation.

Finally, as many of you are aware, Charla Bodle will be leaving CFOS this Friday, September 20, to work in the University of Alaska Statewide Human Resources Office. Please join me in thanking Charla for her excellent service and wishing her the very best going forward.

R/V Sikuliaq

After demobilizing ROV Jason, which recovered 45 ocean bottom seismometers in the Gulf of Alaska, Sikuliaq is moored in Yaquina Bay, Oregon, loading gear and stores for her next cruise. Dr. Kris Newhall (WHOI) will lead the next NSF–sponsored Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) cruise to deploy a dual profiler mooring, subsurface moorings and gliders at Ocean Station Papa.

Activities and Accomplishments

Cheryl Barnes (PhD student) received the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists’ W.F. Thompson Best Student Paper Award for: Barnes, C.L., A.H. Beaudreau, M.E. Hunsicker, and L. Ciannelli. 2018. Assessing the potential for competition between Pacific Halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and Arrowtooth Flounder (Atheresthes stomias) in the Gulf of Alaska. PLoS ONE 13(12). Congratulations, Cheryl!

CFOS in the News

As noted in the Dean’s message above, CFOS was mentioned in an article about UAF enrollment that appeared in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

A video about Amanda Kelley’s research on ocean acidification was featured in UAF Cornerstone.

Publications

Clemens, B.J., L. Weitkamp, K. Siwicke, J. Wade, J. Harris, J. Hess, L. Porter, K. Parker, T. Sutton, and A.M. Orlov. 2019. Marine biology of the pacific lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-019-09578-8

Cyr, A.P., J.A. López, M.J. Wooller, A. Whiting, R. Gerlach, and T. O'Hara. 2019. Ecological drivers of mercury concentrations in fish species in subsistence harvests from Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. Environmental Research 177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.108622

Johnson, J.L., L. Zanotti, Z. Ma, D.J. Yu, D.R. Johnson, A. Kirkham, and C. Carothers. 2018. Interplays of sustainability, resilience, adaptation and transformation. In: W. Leal Filho, R. Marans, and J. Callewaert (eds.), Handbook of Sustainability and Social Science Research, World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham, pp. 3–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67122-2_1

Litzow, M.A., L. Ciannelli, C.J. Cunningham, B. Johnson, and P. Puerta. 2019. Nonstationary effects of ocean temperature on Pacific salmon productivity. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2019-0120

Lutnesky, M.M.F., K.R. Cradock, and J.B. Reynolds. 2019. Immobilization threshold and fish conductivity of two small fishes. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 39(4): 788–792. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10319

Grant Awards for August 2019

The new awards for August are as follows (with actual start date in parentheses):

• Grant G-12895 "NNA Track 2: Atautchikkun Ilitchisukluta: Coming together to learn: Co-producing knowledge across the Northwest Passage" - Courtney Carothers - NSF - $249,793.00 (August 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12900 "Hilcorp Arctic Fisheries Study 2020" - Trent Sutton - Hilcorp Alaska LLC - $82,939.00 (July 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12922 "Utilization of the under-ice habitat by Arctic Cod in the western Arctic Ocean: a multidisciplinary collaborative study" - Franz Mueter - BOEM - $258,539.00 (August 20, 2019)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of August:

• Grant G-5766 "Alaska SeaLife Center-SAAMS" - S. Bradley Moran - UA Foundation- $44,092.00 (July 1, 2009)
• Grant G-8633 "Rasmuson Fisheries Research Center - Fellowships" - S. Bradley Moran - UA Foundation - $250,000.00 (April 1, 2013)
• Grant G-10804 "Measuring Wave Forces Along Alaska's Coastal Sea ice" - Mark Johnson - Mod 4 - BOEM - $46,709.00 (May 15, 2016)
• Grant G-11494 "High-frequency characterization of the physicochemical parameters of Cook Inlet, Alaska" - Amanda Kelley - Mod 2 - BOEM - $18,277.00 (May 15, 2017)
• Grant G-11557 "CAREER: Imaging the global distribution and drivers of the ocean's biological carbon pump" - Andrew McDonnell - NSF - Mod 2 - $192,620.00 (July 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11653 "Coastal hydrographic physical dynamics and oceanography assessments" - Seth Danielson - NPS - Mod 2 - $80,000.00 (August 2, 2017)
• Grant G-11709 "LTER: Resilience in the Environmental Mosaic of the Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA) Shelf Ecosystem" - Russell Hopcroft - NSF - Mod 3 - $1,127,000.00 (September 1, 2017)
• Grant G-12044 "Development of Scalable Coastal and Offshore Macroalgal Farming" - Michael Stekoll/Sherry Tamone - Mod 3 - $7,000.00 (April 11, 2018)

The following grant is controlled by another department/campus:

• Grant G-12795 "NIST/MEP" - Quentin Fong (co-PI) - Department of Commerce - UAA Grant - $178,373.00 (CFOS funds only) - (July 1, 2019)

The following grants were set up on assumption during August:

• Grant G-12903 "Measuring the pulse of the Gulf of Alaska: Oceanographic observations along the Seward Line 2019-2024" - Russell Hopcroft - NPRB - (July 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12932 "Bowhead Whale Harvest Sampling - Kaktovik Fall 2019" - Gay Sheffield - North Slope Borough - (August 10, 2019)

Message from the Dean

As we kick off the fall semester, it is a pleasure to congratulate our summer graduates and welcome our new and current students. Our faculty and staff are here to support your education, training and future success.

It is also a pleasure to welcome three new tenure-track faculty to CFOS this semester: Gwenn Hennon (oceanography), Will Burt (oceanography) and Curry Cunningham (fisheries). Gwenn’s husband, Tyler, has also joined CFOS as postdoctoral researcher working with Seth Danielson. Welcome aboard!

Last week, several CFOS faculty and staff engaged in university-wide meetings to discuss strategies to reduce duplication and improve cost efficiencies related to academic and research programs in the context of a One UA institution. A number of interesting ideas and recommendations have been put forth as we work to reimagine a One UA structure. This is an evolving discussion, and I encourage CFOS faculty, staff and students to respond to President Johnsen’s request for input regarding a new University of Alaska, which will be a topic of discussion at the Board of Regents meeting on September 12–13.

Wishing everyone a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend.

Summer 2019 Graduates

• Jesse Coleman, PhD Fisheries, Major Advisor: Courtney Carothers
• Philip Joy, PhD Fisheries, Major Advisor: Mark Wipfli
• Kofan Lu, PhD Oceanography, Major Advisors: Seth Danielson and Tom Weingartner
• Joshua Russell, MS Fisheries, Major Advisors: Megan McPhee and David Tallmon
• Alicia Rinaldi Schuler, MS Fisheries, Major Advisor: Heidi Pearson
• Michelle Stratton, MS Fisheries, Major Advisor: Peter Westley
• Johnathan Napier, BS Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Concentration: Fisheries Science

New Graduate Students, Fall 2019

Oceanography

• Delaney Coleman, MS, Advisor: Russ Hopcroft
• Amelia McCarthy, MS, Advisor: Russ Hopcroft
• Emily Ortega, MS, Advisor: Ana Aguilar-Islas
• Savannah Sandy, MS, Advisor: Seth Danielson
• Issac Reister, PhD, Advisor: Seth Danielson

Fisheries

• Becca Cates, MS, Advisor: Ginny Eckert
• Austin Flanigan, MS, Advisor: Andy Seitz
• Carolyn Hamman, MS, Advisor: Trent Sutton
• Luke Henslee, MS, Advisor: Andy Seitz
• Sonia Kumar, MS, Advisor: Heidi Pearson
• Molly Payne, MS, Advisor: Peter Westley

Marine Biology 

• Shelby Bacus, MS, Advisor: Amanda Kelley
• Amy Dowling, MS, Advisor: Brenda Konar
• Hannah Myers, MS, Advisor: Brenda Konar
• James Schloemer, MS, Advisor: Katrin Iken

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is moored in Womens Bay, Kodiak, preparing to transit across the Gulf of Alaska with the ROV Jason aboard to retrieve a seismic borehole instrument for Dr. John Collins (WHOI). The instrument string is in the Cascadia Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kit (CORK) Observatory at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program hole U1364A, located offshore Vancouver Island, British Columbia, at the Clayoquot Slope node of the Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) Observatory. After recovery of the borehole instrument string, Sikuliaq will hold station at Barkley Canyon to allow Jason to connect deployed instruments for ONC and retrieve a vertical profiler at ONC’s NEPTUNE Observatory. STEMSEAS students are aboard to assist with this work.

Activities and Accomplishments

Brandy Pedersen has decided to leave the Office of Proposal Development to take a new position outside UAF. We wish Brandy the very best in her future endeavors.

CFOS in the News

A Cordova District Fishermen United scholarship has been awarded to incoming CFOS freshman Reid Williams, which was reported in the Cordova Times.

The new coastal research vessel Nanuq was featured in Maritime Global News. A website is being developed for Nanuq, as well as other social media profiles; in the meantime, Facebook is a good way to introduce Nanuq to the world: https://www.facebook.com/rvnanuq/

CFOS Publications

Ershova, E.A., R. Descoteaux, O.S. Wangensteen, K. Iken, R.R. Hopcroft, C. Smoot, J.M. Grebmeier, and B.A. Bluhm. 2019. Diversity and distribution of meroplanktonic larvae in the Pacific Arctic and connectivity with adult benthic invertebrate communities. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00490

Kohan, M.L., F.J. Mueter, J.A. Orsi, and M.V. McPhee. 2019. Variation in size, condition, and abundance of juvenile chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) in relation to marine factors in Southeast Alaska. Deep Sea Research II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 165:340–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2017.09.005

Konar, B., T.J. Mitchell, K. Iken, H. Coletti, T. Dean, D. Esler, M. Lindeberg, B. Pister, and B. Weitzman. 2019. Wasting disease and static environmental variables drive sea star assemblages in the Northern Gulf of Alaska. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151209

Message from the Dean

This week, a number of university-wide meetings will take place to discuss strategies for combining academic and research units in preparation for a transition to a single “One UA” institution, with the goal of reducing administrative costs and program duplication. Several CFOS faculty and staff will participate in these meetings, and our recent all-hands faculty and staff discussion of the strengths and opportunities of CFOS was both productive and timely. Based on our internal discussions and input from the larger university meetings, I will outline for President Johnsen and the Board of Regents opportunities for CFOS and partners to work together to help strengthen and grow academic, research and outreach programs focused on aquatic ecosystems. As we discussed, CFOS can be considered a poster child for a college that fully integrates academic, research and outreach programs and works collaboratively across the state without duplication.

The Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center (PCCRC) board is meeting in Juneau today and tomorrow to review current funded projects and establish priorities for the next proposal solicitation. This meeting also provides an opportunity to reinforce our collaborative relationships with one of our key stakeholders. It is a pleasure to thank Keith Criddle for expertly chairing the meeting and Gabrielle Hazelton for facilitating the meeting logistics.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway in the Gulf of Alaska with the ROV Jason aboard to retrieve 45 ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) for Dr. Spahr Webb’s (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment (AACSE). These are the same OBSs that were deployed by Sikuliaq in summer 2018, which means they were in place during the 7.1 M earthquake that struck Southcentral Alaska on November 30, 2018.

After retrieving these instruments, Sikuliaq will dock in Kodiak for the first time. There will be a personnel exchange for more Jason dives and for STEMSEAS students to join the next leg.

Activities and Accomplishments

Davin Holen has graciously agreed to serve as head of the Marine Advisory Program, taking over from Sunny Rice. Thank you both for your service.

CFOS in the News

Peter Westley was featured in an NPR story about summer chum salmon die-offs in the Koyukuk River. Peter was also highlighted in a story in Hakai Magazine on whether salmon make decisions as a group.

The new CFOS coastal research vessel Nanuq was featured in Maritime Executive.

Publications

Hilborn, R., C.M. Anderson, G.H. Kruse, A.E. Punt, M. Sissenwine, C. Oliver, J.N. Ianelli, R.J. Trumble, D.J. Agnew, and N. Baker. 2019. Pramod et al. methods to estimate IUU are not credible. Marine Policy, in press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103632

Cyr, A.P., J.A. López, M.J. Wooller, A. Whiting, R. Gerlach, and T. O’Hara. 2019. Ecological drivers of mercury concentrations in fish species in subsistence harvests from Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. Environmental Research 177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.108622

Message from the Dean

I recently encouraged CFOS faculty, staff and students to respond to President Johnsen’s request for input regarding the structure of the new University of Alaska, which the President is expected to present to the Board of Regents on September 12–13. Taking this one step further, we will soon hold an all-hands CFOS faculty and staff meeting to allow for an internal discussion of the importance and benefits of CFOS to the new UA. This meeting will provide an opportunity to articulate how our strengths in academics, research and public outreach can help rebuild the new UA. Associate Dean Trent Sutton will be engaging our students for their input as part of this process. We will record this meeting and make it available to President Johnsen. Stay tuned for the meeting invitation.

This week, UA government relations staff and CFOS will host staff from the National Science Foundation, the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Murkowski’s office, and Glosten Inc. on a tour of Sikuliaq and the Seward Marine Center. This is an important and welcome opportunity to showcase the operations capability of our major facilities and programs.

Hang in there CFOS, and above all, continue forward with our important mission for the benefit of Alaska and the nation.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway in Resurrection Bay to calibrate the recently installed Simrad EK80 scientific wide band echo sounder. Later this week, Sikuliaq will load the large ROV Jason to facilitate the retrieval of an array of ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) deployed around the Alaska Peninsula in summer 2018 in support of Dr. Spahr Webb’s (Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory) Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment (AACSE).

Activities and Accomplishments

CFOS Marine Biology PhD student Ann-Christine Zinkann is one of the 2020 finalists for the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship in Washington, D.C. Congratulations, Ann!

Fisheries professor Milo Adkison organized and spoke at a public-focused fisheries science symposium in Dillingham. Adkison's topic was web-based fisheries management games. PhD student Chris Sergeant discussed transboundary mines, and visiting professor Alexander Bonk from Kamchatka State Technical University gave an overview of salmon fisheries in Kamchatka.

R/V Nanuq is on her maiden voyage near the Copper River Delta, where Seth Danielson and Hank Statscewich are investigating the influence of fresh water on the circulation of the Gulf of Alaska.

CFOS in the News

Anne Beaudreau was quoted in a story about potential benefits of diversification for Alaska fishermen, which ran in SeafoodSource and National Fisherman.

Publications

Divine, L., F. Mueter, G.H. Kruse, B.A. Bluhm, S.C. Jewett, and K. Iken. 2019. New estimates of weight-at-size, maturity-at-size, fecundity, and biomass of snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio, in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska. Fisheries Research 218: 246–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2019.05.002

Grant Awards for July 2019

The new awards for July are as follows (with actual start date in parentheses):

• Grant G-12822 "Implications of a declining trend in body size and condition of abundance of sockeye salmon in the Copper River, Alaska" - Kristen Gorman - NSF - $138,225.00 (July 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12837 "Assessing Effects of Supplementation on Fitness of Sockeye Salmon in Auke Creek, Alaska, Phase 2, Year 3" - Megan McPhee - Pacific Salmon Commission - $8,852.00 (July 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12861 "Model-based Fish Distributions and Habitat Descriptions for Arctic Cod, Saffron Cod and Snow Crab in the Alaskan Arctic" - Franz Mueter - BOEM - $75,000.00 (July 17, 2019)
• Grant G-12876 "Diet of Breeding Auklets" - Alexei Pinchuk - US Fish and Wildlife Service - $19,834.00 (July 29, 2019)

Current awards that received incremental funding during the month of July are as follows:

• Grant G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022" - Heather Brandon - Mod 10 - NOAA - $80,000.00 (February 1, 2018)
• Grant G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022" - Heather Brandon - Mod 11 - $262,000.00 (February 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12127 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Oceanographic Technical Support - Year 1 of 5" - Steven Hartz - NSF - $827,607.00 (June 15, 2018)
• Grant G-12798 "Supporting Coastal Resiliency in South Central Alaska" - Davin Holen - National Park Service (NPS) - $140,033.00 (June 4, 2019)
• Grant G-12875 "Ecology and evolution of microbial interactions in a changing ocean" - Gwenn Hennon - NSF - $683,575.00 (June 5, 2019)

Awards that were set up on assumption during July are as follows:

• Grant G-12819 "Cooperative Training and Research for Alaska Fisheries Science" - Alexei Pinchuk - NOAA/CMDL - $30,187 Assumption (July 1, 2019)

Message from the Dean

The 8^th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations (IDA-8) was held last week in Washington, DC. With over 600 registrants and a compelling, wide-ranging agenda, this has become one of the premier meetings focused on the socioeconomic, policy and national security impacts of the rapidly changing Arctic Ocean. I had the privilege to present an overview of R/V Sikuliaq operations and broader impacts. This was an excellent opportunity to showcase CFOS and the university as the successful operator of Sikuliaq to federal and state agencies, Alaska Native organizations, nongovernmental officials, and the private sector. It is a pleasure to thank John Farrell of the US Arctic Research Commission and former UAF vice chancellor Mike Sfraga of the Wilson Center for their efforts in hosting a fascinating and engaging symposium. All presentations were recorded and are available to view online.

We are now just over a month from the start of fall semester. This is an exciting time of year, particularly for incoming and current students who bring curiosity, drive and energy to our college; it is also exciting that we will welcome three new tenure-track faculty in fisheries and oceanography. We can be proud of our largest incoming undergraduate class, as well as many new graduate students enrolled. Faculty and staff well understand that we are in the business of creating and transferring knowledge of aquatic systems, and that it is our students who ultimately define our legacy as a college. Please take a moment to reflect on the importance and positive impact of your good work.

There are understandably many questions regarding the future of the university and our college. As I noted previously, we are in for a tough road ahead. However, this is a time to remain focused on our mission of delivering excellence in fisheries and ocean sciences research, education and outreach for the benefit of Alaska and the nation.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway for Dr. Russ Hopcroft’s (UAF/CFOS) NOAA project studying deepwater biological communities in the Gulf of Alaska (GoA Exploration). The GoA Exploration project is using traditional tools and the ROV Global Explorer to investigate deepwater planktonic and benthic communities along the continental slope, in offshore waters, and at seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska.

In early August, Sikuliaq will return to Seward to unload GoA Exploration gear and load the ROV Jason. Jason will be used to facilitate the retrieval of more than 75 ocean bottom seismometers (OBS), which were deployed from Sikuliaq in summer 2018 for Dr. Spahr Webb (Lemont Doherty Earth Observatory).

Activities and Accomplishments

A paper authored by CFOS student Allison Matter with coauthors Jeff Falke and Andrés López (Matter et al., listed below) was one of the top 20 most downloaded journal articles of 2018 for the North American Journal of Fisheries Management.

CFOS in the News

Numerous articles on CFOS related to the state budget were run in several Alaska news publications, including the Anchorage Daily News, Saving Seafood, Seafood News, Kodiak Daily Mirror and SitNews.

Publications

Litzow, M.A., L. Ciannelli, P.  Puerta, J.J. Wettstein, R.R. Rykaczewski, and M. Opiekun. 2019. Nonstationary environmental and community relationships in the North Pacific Ocean. Ecology.https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2760

Matter, A.N., J.A. Falke, J.A. López, and J.W. Savereide. 2018. A rapid‐assessment method to estimate the distribution of juvenile Chinook salmon in tributary habitats using eDNA and occupancy estimation. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 38(1): 223–236. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10014

Oke, K.B., C.J. Cunningham, T.P. Quinn, and A.P. Hendry. 2019. Independent lineages in a common environment: the roles of determinism and contingency in shaping the migration timing of even‐ versus odd‐year pink salmon over broad spatial and temporal scales. Ecology Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13337

Raymundo, L.J., D. Burdick, W.C. Hoot, R.M. Miller, V. Brown, T. Reynolds, J. Gault, J. Idechong, J. Fifer, and A. Williams. 2019. Successive bleaching events cause mass coral mortality in Guam, Micronesia. Coral Reefs. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-019-01836-2

Stephens, T.A., B.B. Hughes, K.J. Kroeker, M. Hessing‐Lewis, Z. Monteith, M. Morris, and W.W. Raymond. 2019. Between a rock and a soft place: surfgrass colonizes sediments without attachment to rock. Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2791

Message from the Dean

I hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July weekend.

As you are now well aware, the Governor’s veto of the legislature’s budget places the future of the university in a very tenuous position. And, as President Johnsen and Chancellor White have recently communicated, there is no sugar-coating the stark reality if the budget veto is not overridden. Many of you have voiced your concerns to the legislature, and I applaud you for doing so. Our work is not yet complete: We need to continue the all-hands-on-deck effort to override the veto and support the university and its many benefits to Alaska. Please continue to voice your support for the university, and for the many other essential programs in our great state.

As we transition into the new fiscal year, it is important to recognize and thank the recent department chairs for their two years of service: Mat Wooller (Marine Biology), Mark Johnson (Oceanography) and Milo Adkison (Fisheries). It is also a pleasure to acknowledge the incoming chairs Lara Horstmann (Marine Biology), Russ Hopcroft (Oceanography), and Milo Adkison who will continue for another term as the department chair for Fisheries. Thank you all for your good work and service to CFOS.

Here is looking forward to cooler, smoke-free, clear blue skies.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway for Dr. Russ Hopcroft’s (UAF/CFOS) Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research (NGA LTER) project. The NGA LTER is investigating the physical and biogeochemical variability of the northern Gulf of Alaska, with an emphasis on freshwater input dynamics.

Sikuliaq is scheduled to return to Seward on Thursday, July 18, to demobilize from the NGA LTER project, and then mobilize for Dr. Hopcroft’s next Sikuliaq cruise: Exploration of deep-water communities in the Gulf of Alaska (GoA Exploration). The GoA Exploration project will use the ROV Global Explorer to study deepwater planktonic and benthic communities along the continental slope, in offshore waters, and at seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska.

In other news, in the best maritime tradition and at the request of the US Coast Guard, on Saturday, June 29, Sikuliaq came to the rescue of a small pleasure craft that was aground on the southern coast of Montague Island, located on the southern edge of Prince William Sound. Sikuliaq’s crew maneuvered close to the grounded boat, passed a towline, and pulled them off the rocks. The pleasure craft was able to restart their engine and proceed to Seward. Bravo Zulu Sikuliaq!

Activities and Accomplishments

President Trump has recognized CFOS alumna Elizabeth Siddon (Fisheries MS, 2005, and PhD, 2013) with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The PECASE award is the highest honor bestowed by the US Government to outstanding scientists and engineers. Congratulations, Dr. Siddon—you make CFOS, UAF and Alaska proud.

The Seward Marine Center (SMC) successfully passed the 5-year verification of the Document of Compliance for safe administration of R/V Sikuliaq. On May 27, DNVGL (a European-based vessel classification society) visited SMC and conducted an external audit in compliance with the International Maritime Organization ISM Code. The objective of the code is to ensure safety at sea, prevention of human injury or loss of life, and avoidance of damage to the environment, in particular to the marine environment and to property.

On Sunday, July 28, NOAA and UAF will host an open house at Kasitsna Bay Laboratory from 12 to 4 pm to celebrate the 60th birthday of the lab, which was built in 1959. Visitors can tour the facility, meet researchers, check out underwater species in the touch tank, and learn about scientific and coldwater diving.

CFOS Publications

Canonico, G., P.L. Buttigieg, E. Montes, C.A. Stepien, D. Wright, A. Benson, B. Helmuth, M.J. Costello, F.E. Muller-Karger, I. Sousa Pinto, H. Saeedi, J.A. Newton, W. Appeltans, N. Bednaršek, L. Bodrossy, B.D. Best, A. Brandt, K. Goodwin, K. Iken, A. Marques, P. Miloslavich, M. Ostrowski, W. Turner, E.P. Achterberg, T. Barry, O. Defeo, G. Bigatti, L-A. Henry, B. Ramiro Sanchez, P. Durán Muñoz, M. Mar Sacau Cuadrado, T. Morato, M. Roberts, A.G. Garcia-Alegre, and B.J. Murton. 2019. Global observational needs and resources for marine biodiversity. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00367/abstract

Conway, T.M., D.S. Hamilton, R.U. Shelley, A.M. Aguilar-Islas, W.M. Landing, N.M. Mahowald, and S.G. John. 2019. Tracing and constraining anthropogenic aerosol iron fluxes to the North Atlantic Ocean using iron isotopes. Nature Communications 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10457-w

Tinker, M.T., V.A. Gill, G.G. Esslinger, J. Bodkin, M. Monk, M. Mangel, D.H. Monson, W.W. Raymond, and M.L. Kissling. 2019. Trends and carrying capacity of sea otters in Southeast Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21685

Zhulay, I, K. Iken, P. Renaud, and B.A. Bluhm. 2019. Epifaunal communities across marine landscapes of the deep Chukchi Borderland (Pacific Arctic). Deep-Sea Research I: Oceanographic Research Papers. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2019.06.011

Grant Awards for June 2019

The new awards for June are as follows (with actual start date in parentheses):

• Grant G-12774 "Collaborative Fisheries Education Across the Bering Sea" - Peter Westley - World Wildlife Fund, Inc. - $13,763.00 (April 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12797 "Genomics of maturation age in Yukon Chinook" - Peter Westley - Bering Sea Fisherman's Association - $21,035.00 (May 1, 2019)

Current awards that received incremental funding during the month of June are as follows:

• Grant G-9796 "Ladd Macaulay Fisheries Research Fellowship" - Milo Adkison - UA Foundation - $60,000.00 (September 1, 2014)
• Grant G-10583 "Flow and turbulence in the wakes of abrupt topography" - Harper Simmons - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute - $46,179.00 (April 25, 2015)

Awards that were set up on assumption during June are as follows:

• Grant G-12804 "Coastal Marine Institute Program Administration 2019-2024" - Brenda Konar - BOEM - $20,000.00 (May 1, 2019)

Message from the Dean

It is a great pleasure to convey that Dr. Curry Cunningham has accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Fisheries at CFOS. Curry earned a Ph.D. from the University of Washington and a B.S. from the University of British Columbia. Curry’s research expertise is in quantitative ecology, with a focus on using applied statistics and simulation modeling to address questions regarding fisheries management, evolution, predator-prey interactions and population dynamics of species. Curry’s appointment starts in October 2019, and he will be located at our Lena Point facility in Juneau. Please join me in congratulating Curry on his appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Fisheries in CFOS.

Dr. Cunningham’s appointment is generously supported through the NOAA/NMFS Quantitative Ecology and Socioeconomic Training (QUEST) program. This is the first QUEST program in the state of Alaska, and is a result of the hard work and support of many individuals who advocated on behalf of CFOS and the university. We owe a debt of gratitude to Gordon Kruse and the late Terry Quinn for developing the proposal to bring the QUEST program to Alaska, to Megan McPhee for chairing the search, and to the search committee for their hard work on this important faculty position.

This week I will participate in a workshop focused on identifying and creating opportunities for the Arctic region through the blue economy, which will be held in Utqiagvik and hosted by the Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC). In addition to engaging with rural Alaskan communities, this workshop presents an opportunity to highlight the Alaska Blue Economy Center as a resource to the state.

With summer solstice behind us, please find time to enjoy the great Alaskan outdoors and summer weather.

R/V Sikuliaq

R/V Sikuliaq is wrapping up Dr. Kerry Key’s (LDEO) project “Marine Electromagnetic Survey of Fluids in the Alaska Megathrust” in the Gulf of Alaska. Sikuliaq is scheduled to return to Seward on Wednesday to demobilize from Dr. Key’s project and mobilize for Dr. Russ Hopcroft’s (UAF/CFOS) Northern Gulf of Alaska Long Term Ecological Research (NGA LTER) project. The NGA LTER is investigating the processes important to the physical and biogeochemical variability of the northern Gulf of Alaska, with particular emphasis on freshwater input and plume dynamics.

Activities and Accomplishments

The Coastal Marine Institute in collaboration with BOEM will fund five new projects for FY2019. These include: Changing Relationships among Climate Variables and Cumulative Climate Stress on the Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem (PI Mike Litzow); Evaluating Novel Assessment Approaches for Coastal Ice Seal Haul-out Areas and Behavior in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea (PI Donna Hauser); Western Beaufort and Chukchi Sea Surface Current Analysis (PI Seth Danielson); Utilization of the Under-ice Habitat by Arctic Cod in the Western Arctic Ocean: a Multidisciplinary Collaborative Study (PI Franz Mueter); and Kelp Restoration in the Boulder Patch (PI Katrin Iken).

The new CFOS coastal research vessel officially splashed last week in Port Angeles, Washington. R/V Nanuq is now being transferred to her homeport in Seward. Congratulations to Seward Marine Center and the ship committee for enabling this vision to become a reality. Inquires to charter Nanuq should be directed to Captain Brian Mullaly, bmullaly@alaska.edu.

Not to be outdone by Professor Emeritus Tom Shirley, Russ Hopcroft has an ostracod (clam shrimp) species named in his honor—Boroecia hopcrofti—that was collected during one of his cruises.

CFOS in the News

A story of three whales tapping into an all-you-can-eat-buffet at the Hidden Falls Hatchery was published in UAF Cornerstone and the CFOS website, and was also picked up in the Fairbanks Daily-News Miner and SitNews.

Publications

Divine, L.M., F.J. Mueter, G.H. Kruse, B.A. Bluhm, S.C. Jewett, and K. Iken. 2019. New estimates of weight-at-size, maturity-at-size, fecundity, and biomass of snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio, in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska. Fisheries Research 218: 246–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2019.05.002

Message from the Dean

Last week the Seward Marine Center (SMC) hosted the Alaska Ocean Cluster (AOC), which held a workshop focused on Alaska’s ocean economy assets and opportunities. The workshop included a group of talented experts and entrepreneurs from across Alaska. Among the meeting highlights, the UAA Center for Economic Development (CED) presented a preview of a new report on Alaska’s ocean economy. And, Justin Sternberg of the Blue Pipeline Incubator (BPI) provided an update on efforts to cultivate and grow scalable, innovative ocean-related businesses in the state. Launched in October 2018 and based out of SMC, BPI is a partnership between CFOS, the City of Seward, the Seward Chamber of Commerce, and the Alaska Small Business Development Center. BPI has made impressive progress, including:

• $1.6M in funding committed from investors;
• provisional patent filed for a novel energy invention that garnered the UAF top faculty invention award to Andrew McDonnell;
• semifinalist qualification at the Alaska Angel Conference;
• support for 18 Seward businesses, including two new businesses;
• tenfold greater capital infusion than originally projected.

The partnership with BPI is an example of CFOS’s effort to help grow and diversify Alaska’s blue economy. Congratulations to Justin and AOC on this important milestone for the benefit of Alaska.

It is a great pleasure to convey that Dr. Mike Litzow has accepted the President’s Professorship in Quantitative Fisheries and Ecosystems at CFOS. Mike earned a Ph.D. in Ocean Sciences from the University of Tasmania, an M.S. in Marine Science from UC Santa Cruz, and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from UAF. Since August 2017, Mike has conducted research at the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, focusing on atmosphere-ocean interactions, climate variability, and commercial fishing impacts on ecosystem community structure. This appointment not only advances the CFOS fisheries program, it brings renewed energy and resources to our Kodiak facility. Please join me in congratulating Mike on his appointment as CFOS President’s Professor.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Gordon Kruse and the late Terry Quinn, who led the successful President’s Professorship proposal to the University of Alaska system. Please join me in thanking Gordon, who chaired this search until his retirement last year, Peter Westley for taking up the reins as search chair, and the search committee for their hard work on this prestigious faculty position.

Please join me in congratulating Brian Mullaly on his first day as captain of R/V Nanuq and SMC Warehouse Coordinator. For the past five years Brian has worked as boat captain for Kenai Fjords Tours in Seward.  He previously worked as a research technician for the Alaska SeaLife Center and UAF research assistant at Kasitsna Bay and Little Port Walter. Welcome back aboard, Brian.

Last, it is with mixed emotions that I convey PIO and Sikuliaq Science Liaison Lauren Frisch will be departing CFOS on July 5. For the past three years, Lauren has been instrumental in strengthening internal and external communications for the College. Lauren effectively defined the new science liaison for Sikuliaq, a position envisioned by the National Science Foundation to work directly with Alaskan subsistence hunting organizations and the science community. She will be greatly missed for her dedication, energy and much-appreciated sense of humor. Please join me in wishing Lauren the very best in her future endeavors.

In that regard, please send information for C-Notes to the CFOS dean’s assistant, Heather McLeod, at hlmcleod@alaska.edu.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway in the Gulf of Alaska for Dr. Kerry Key’s (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) project “Marine Electromagnetic Survey of Fluids in the Alaska Megathrust.” This monthlong cruise will survey along four 200-km profiles across the Alaskan subduction zone south of Kodiak.

Sikuliaq is scheduled to return to Seward on June 26 and prepare for Dr. Russ Hopcroft’s (UAF/CFOS) Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-term Ecological Research (NGA LTER) program summer cruise.

Activities and Accomplishments

Courtney Carothers participated in a workshop entitled “Pacific salmon in the world of human relations: economic, social, environmental, historical, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.” The workshop took place in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, from May 21–22, 2019.

Thomas Shirley was honored by having a new species named after him (Condyloderes shirleyi). Shirley collected the specimens in Auke Bay and Glacier Bay more than 30 years ago and provided them to a taxonomic specialist at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution.

CFOS in the News

Brenda Konar’s work to understand sea star wasting disease was highlighted by KTOO and KBBI.

The CFOS website posted a story on Madison Kosma’s work to better understand how much humpback whales are feeding on hatchery juvenile salmon.

Publications

Lyons, C., C. Carothers, and J. Coleman. In press. Alaska’s community development quota program: A complex institution affecting rural communities in disparate ways. Marine Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103560

Schwoerer, T., J.M. Little, and M.D. Adkison. 2019. Aquatic invasive species change ecosystem services from the world's largest wild sockeye salmon fisheries in Alaska. Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics 6(1). https://doi.org/10.15351/2373-8456.1094

Grant Awards for May 2019

The new awards for May are as follows (with official start dates in parentheses):

• Grant G-12726 "Investigating microbial biodegradation of crude oil in Arctic marine sediments via shotgun metagenomics and compound-specific hydrocarbon analyses" - Alexis Walker - Oil Spill Recovery Institute - $30,000.00 (April 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12727 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq SSSE 2019" - Steven Hartz - NSF - $107,977.00 (May 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12762 "Stock Assessment of Valuable Groundfish Species: Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) in Prince William Sound" - Trent Sutton (Katja Berghaus) - UA Foundation - $5,000.00 (April 15, 2019)

Current awards that received incremental funding during the month of May are as follows:

• Grant G-9111 "Citizen Science Excursions for Cruise Passengers" - Heather Brandon - UA Foundation - $19,000.00 (October 1, 2013)
• Grant G-10539 "Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) Continuation" - C. Geoff Wheat - Mod 7 - University of Southern California - $162,497.00 (October 1, 2015)
• Grant G-11400 "long Term Monitoring: Ecological Communities in Kachemak Bay, Phase 2" - Katrin Iken - Mod 2 - Prince William Sound Science Center - $51,600.00 (February 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11408 "Environmental Drivers: Seward Line" - Russ Hopcroft - Prince William Sound Science Center - Mod 2 - $128,000.00 (February 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11485 "Long-Term Monitoring of the Alaska Coastal Current" - Seth Danielson - Mod 2 - Prince William Sound Science Center - $121,700.00 (February 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11630 "Arctic Integrated Ecosystem Survey (IES) Phase II" - Franz Mueter - Mod 2 - BOEM - $163,500.00 (July 31, 2017)
• Grant G-12305 "Collaborative Research: Development and fabrication of a high-temperature borehole fluid sampler to characterize seawater-basalt reactions and the thermal limits of life on Earth" - C. Geoff Wheat - NSF - Mod 1 - $60,921.00 (August 15, 2018)

Message from the Dean

Last week the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) convened members of the board in Anchorage. The discussion focused on AOOS and Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) budgets, research activities, ocean policy updates, and priorities for future funding. The meeting featured presentations by federal, state and university researchers, including UAF’s Jeremy Kasper (INE) and Rachel Potter (CFOS). Thanks to AOOS director Molly McCammon and her team for hosting a productive and engaging meeting.

I encourage everyone to stop by the UAF Arctic Research Open House this Thursday from 4 to 7 pm, at several stations located along West Ridge. There will be a food truck and snacks, and the event will feature a number of interactive activities, including a “gumby suit” survival gear challenge. Should be fun!

On a lighter note, the NHL Stanley Cup final between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins started yesterday, with the Bruins taking the first win. The last time the Blues and Bruins faced off for the Cup was in 1970, when Bobby Orr scored the winning goal in overtime—captured in one of the most iconic photos in hockey history. Former UAF Nanook and School of Management graduate (2016) Colton Parayko is on defense for the Blues in his first Stanley Cup final. Should be a good series.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway for Dr. Kerry Key’s (Lamont-Dougherty Environmental Observatory) project “Marine Electromagnetic Survey of Fluids in the Alaska Megathrust.” This month-long cruise will survey along four 200 km long profiles across the Alaskan subduction zone southwest of the Kodiak Archipelago.

Sikuliaq is scheduled to return to Seward on June 26 and prepare for Dr. Russ Hopcroft’s (UAF/CFOS) Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-term Ecological Research (NGA LTER) program cruise.

Activities and Accomplishments

A memorial service is being planned for Terry Quinn II at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center on August 10, 2019. Please stay tuned for more details.

Gay Sheffield and Brandon Ahmasuk of Kawerak Inc. received US Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director’s Excellence Award for Outstanding Partner for leading a coordinated response to seabird mortality events across the Bering and Chukchi region in 2013, 2017 and 2018.

CFOS in the News

Detective work uncovering shark attacks on Chinook salmon was featured by UAF Cornerstone and the CFOS website. The research by Andy Seitz and Michael Courtney was later picked up by KDLL and the Kodiak Daily Mirror.

A story on the new UAF Alaska Blue Economy Center was published on the CFOS website.

KNOM spoke with Gay Sheffield and Seth Danielson about radioactive materials from the Fukushima nuclear accident eight years ago that recently showed up at extremely low levels in the Bering Sea.

Publications

Kersula, M., and A. Seitz. 2019. Diverse migratory behaviors of Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus, L.) based on the 2000–2017 Maine halibut tagging program. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science 50:13–24. https://dx.doi.org/10.2960/J.v50.m719

Pollnac, R.B., C. Carothers, T. Seara, and J.J. Poggie. 2019. Evaluating impacts of marine governance on human communities: Testing aspects of a human impact assessment model. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 77:174–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2019.02.001

Message from the Dean

I recently attended the annual spring meeting of the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) in Anchorage. Discussions focused on core research areas, student support, and strategies to leverage NPRB investments. Annual funding decisions for research projects and graduate student awards were also made; the outcome of this round of proposal submissions will be communicated by NPRB. Thanks to NPRB executive director Betsy Baker and her team for hosting a productive meeting.

Last week, Melissa Good and I had the honor to kick-off the Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium in Anchorage. The theme of this year’s symposium was “Cooperative research—strategies for integrating industry perspectives and insights in fisheries science.” This theme is in keeping with our strong research and education programs in fisheries, our coastal community outreach programs, and our good relations with federal and state fisheries agencies and the fishing industry. Alaska Sea Grant has sponsored this symposium since 1982, in partnership with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. This year, Matt Baker of NPRB chaired the steering committee; we are also grateful for NPRB’s assistance in supporting the symposium.

It is my pleasure to recognize the CFOS staff members who were honored last week at the annual UAF Staff Recognition event. These individuals and all of our hardworking staff help to ensure that CFOS operates efficiently and effectively. Please join me in congratulating the following employees for their dedicated service to CFOS and to the University: Steve Alicandri, Patrick Bedard, Randy Flannigan, Trevor Fournier, John Hamill, Jared Jeffery, Bernard McKiernan, Steven Roberts, Peter Shipton (5 years of service); Natalie Monacci (10 years of service).

It is also a pleasure to convey that several CFOS faculty were successful in the most recent UAF promotion and tenure process. Please join me in congratulating Courtney Carothers and Franz Mueter (promotion to professor) and Jeff Falke (promotion to associate professor).

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq recently completed her scheduled work for Dr. Uwe Send’s (UCSD/SIO) California Current Ecosystem cruise sampling microbial, plankton and fish populations. This week, Sikuliaq will load gear for Dr. Kerry Key (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) and embark with 16 students for a STEMSEAS cruise. During the transit from San Diego to Seward, Sikuliaq will deploy a wave glider in the North Pacific Ocean for Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

Activities and Accomplishments

Andrew McDonnell and Claudine Hauri welcomed their twin boys, Liun and Tias, to their family on April 24.

Andrew McDonnell received the 2019 Inspiration Award for Best Faculty Invention Disclosure at UAF for his design of BlueH2, an ocean carbon capture reactor.

Julia McMahon, Jeanette Gann, Kirstin Ressel, Cheryl Barnes, Katja Berghaus and Kelly Cates presented their research at the Rasmuson Fisheries Research Center meeting.

The following CFOS students received Rasmuson Fisheries Research Center Fellowships this year:

Fellowship Renewals

• Cheryl Barnes - PhD Fisheries (Advisor Anne Beaudreau)
• Katja Berghaus - PhD Fisheries (Advisor Trent Sutton)
• Kelly Cates - PhD Fisheries (Advisor Shannon Atkinson)
• Jeanette Gann - PhD Marine Biology (Advisor Sarah Hardy)

New Fellowships

• Marina Washburn - PhD Marine Biology (Advisor Amanda Kelley)
• Matthew Callahan - MS Fisheries (Advisor Anne Beaudreau)
• Becca Cates - MS Fisheries (Advisor Ginny Eckert)
• Austin Flanigan - MS Fisheries (Advisor Andrew Seitz)

CFOS in the News

The Alaska Journal of Commerce published a story on the new UAF Alaska Blue Economy Center.

The Cordova Times and SitNews republished a UAF press release featuring work by Anne Beaudreau that shows fishermen have become more specialized in the past 30 years.  

CFOS Publications

Cates, K.A., S. Atkinson, C.M. Gabriele, A.A. Pack, J.M. Straley, and S. Yin. 2019. Testosterone trends within and across seasons in male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from Hawaii and Alaska. General and Comparative Endocrinology in press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2019.03.013

Nielsen, J.K., F.J. Mueter, M.D. Adkison, T. Loher, S.F. McDermott, and A.C. Seitz. 2019. Effect of study area bathymetric heterogeneity on parameterization and performance of a depth-based geolocation model for demersal fishes. Ecological Modelling 402:18–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.03.023

Grant Awards for April 2019

The new awards for April are as follows (with official start dates in parentheses):

• Grant G-12662 "Development of Value-added Market Opportunities for Pollock Co-products: Screening of Pollock roe and milt for bioactive peptides that have an anti-inflammatory effect to improve human health" - Quentin Fong - UA Foundation PCCRC - $59,467.00 (April 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12709 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Oceanographic Instrumentation 2019" - Steven Hartz - NSF - $68,661.00 (April 15, 2019)
• Grant G-12715 "Genetic Variability and Life History of Pacific Lamprey in the Susitna River Drainage" - Andres Lopez - US Fish & Wildlife Service - $39,352.00 (April 2, 2019)

These awards received incremental funding during the month of April 2019:

• Grant G-11222 "IODP Expedition 366 (Mariana Convergent Margin and South Chamorro Seamount) Period 1" - Mod 5 - Geoff Wheat - University of Columbia - $37,098.00 (October 1, 2016)
• Grant G-12050 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Oceanographic Instrumentation 2018" - Mod 1 - Steven Hartz - NSF - $114,800.00 (April 15, 2018)

Message from the Dean

Following up on the recent State of the College, I would like to reiterate my appreciation to the students, staff and faculty for the good work you do on behalf of the college, the university and Alaska. Congratulations to all of the recipients of 2019 Dean’s Recognition Awards:

• Dr. Peter Westley: Outstanding Advisor
• Dr. Lara Horstmann: Outstanding Instructor
• Dr. Anne Beaudreau: Outstanding Researcher
• Ms. Melissa Good: Outstanding Public Service
• Mr. Ethan Roth: Outstanding Sikuliaq Crew
• Ms. Jennifer Harris: Outstanding Staff
• Mr. Keenan Sanderson: Outstanding Undergraduate Student

I would also like to disseminate more broadly the official name of our new 40-foot coastal research vessel, R/V Nanuq. She will arrive in Seward in late May and will be christened on June 6. Many thanks again to the Ship Committee, and in particular Port Captain Ed DeCastro, for stewarding the construction of Nanuq.

This Saturday, May 4, is UAF Commencement 2019—congratulations to our graduates. I look forward to congratulating you on the commencement stage.

Spring 2019 Graduates

• Cyr, Andrew. PhD Fisheries, Major Advisor: J. Andrés López
• Forster, Caitlin. MS Fisheries, Major Advisor: Brenda Norcross
• Johnson, Genevieve. MS Fisheries, Major Advisor: J. Andrés López
• Marsh, Jennifer. PhD Fisheries, Major Advisor: Franz Mueter
• Nielsen, Julie. PhD Fisheries, Major Advisor: Andrew Seitz
• Rebert, April. MS Fisheries, Major Advisor: Gordon Kruse
• Ree, Marta. MS Fisheries, Major Advisor: Peter Westley
• Sme, Noel. MS Fisheries, Major Advisor: Tony Gharrett
• Clark, Casey. PhD Marine Biology, Major Advisor: Lara Horstmann
• Gastaldi, Angela. MS Marine Biology, Major Advisors: Sarah Hardy and J. Andrés López
• Inglis, Susan. PhD Marine Biology, Major Advisor: Michael Castellini
• Mitchell, Timothy (James), MS Marine Biology, Major Advisor: Brenda Konar
• Pretty, Jessica. MS Oceanography, Major Advisor: Andrew McDonnell
• Stemmler, Faith. MMS Marine Sciences, Major Advisor: Russell Hopcroft
• Greenlaw, Stephen. BA Fisheries
• Mielke, Brian. BA Fisheries
• Rowe, Elizabeth. BA Fisheries
• Napier, Jonathan. BS Fisheries
• Poirrier, Taylor. BS Fisheries
• Reveil, Logan. BS Fisheries
• Sanderson, Keenan. BS Fisheries

Outstanding Undergraduate Student Awards

• Outstanding Senior: Keenan Sanderson
• Outstanding Junior: Noah Khalsa, Monroe Morris
• Outstanding Freshman: Rheannon Williams
• Leadership: Alyx Hoover

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq has just completed her scheduled work for Dr. Ed Dever’s (OSU) Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) project. The goal of the project was to install two moorings, maintain one mooring, and deploy some gliders.

During the OOI cruise, Sikuliaq re-deployed a mini-boat named Copper Rose for the Columbia River Maritime Museum. Copper Rose was built by students in Portland, Oregon, in collaboration with a partner school in Japan, with the goal to send the ship across the ocean. Copper Rose was originally launched offshore of Coos Bay, Oregon, but traveled east and had to be saved from crashing into the rocks of the Central Oregon Coast.

In early May, Sikuliaq will transit to San Diego to mobilize for Dr. Uwe Send’s (UCSD/SIO) California Current System cruise. The goal of the cruise is to sample microbial, plankton, and fish populations.

Activities and Accomplishments

Seth Danielson, Anne Beaudreau and Geoff Wheat received Chancellor’s awards for research and creative activities.

Peter Westley received a Learnie Award for excellence in video production for his course Salmon, People, and Place supported by eCampus.

Seth Danielson, Pips Veazey, Harper Simmons, Andy Seitz and Ross Hopcroft participated in the first CFOS Pecha Kucha-style seminar.

Dan Oliver and Ed Dever (OSU) participated in a successful ship-to-shore interview with the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

Donald Arthur (advisor Jeff Falke), Katja Berghaus (advisor Trent Sutton) and Cheryl Barnes (advisor Anne Beaudreau) received Northern Gulf of Alaska Applied Research Awards.

Five CFOS graduate students in the class Communicating Science to the Public taught by Anne Beaudreau coordinated outreach events in Fairbanks, Juneau and Germany. Donnie Arthur, Katja Berghaus, Matt Callahan, Elizabeth Hinkle, and Valentina Melica presented their research to nearly 60 audience members.

Earlier in April, Franz Mueter and Jared Weems traveled to Newport, Oregon, to work with German and Dutch collaborators to conduct “Surface and Under-Ice Trawl” (SUIT) net trials on Sikuliaq. The trials were an all-around success, and the SUIT net is scheduled to be used in the Arctic this November.

CFOS in the News

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner interviewed Seth Danielson, Dean Stockwell, Sarah Hardy and Caitlin Forster for a story on the ASGARD program.

KCAW featured Andrés López, who is a current Scientist in Residency Fellow at the Sitka Sound Science Center, about his residency and his research on fish diversity.

UAF News and Information and the CFOS website published a press release on research led by Anne Beaudreau that shows fishermen are becoming more specialized.

Publications

Beaudreau, A.H., E.J. Ward, R.E. Brenner, A.O. Shelton, J.T. Watson, J.C. Womack, S.C. Anderson, A.C. Haynie, K.N. Marshall, and B.C. Williams. 2019. Thirty years of change and the future of Alaskan fisheries: Shifts in fishing participation and diversification in response to environmental, regulatory and economic pressures. Fish and Fisheries. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12364

Puerta, P., L. Ciannelli, R. Rykaczewski, M. Opiekun, and M.A. Litzow. 2019. Do Gulf of Alaska fish and crustacean populations show synchronous non-stationary responses to climate? Progress in Oceanography 175:161–170. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2019.04.002

Rossin, A.M., R.G. Waller, and R.P. Stone. 2019. The effects of in-vitro pH decrease on the gametogenesis of the red tree coral, Primnoa pacifica. PLoS ONE 14(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203976

Message from the Dean

The seagoing faculty search has concluded with the hire of the final of three new tenure-track faculty. In that regard, it is a pleasure to announce that Dr. Gwenn Hennon has been appointed as Assistant Professor in the Department of Oceanography. Gwenn completed her doctorate in oceanography at the University of Washington and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University. Gwenn’s appointment is part of the new “Fire and Ice” NSF EPSCOR program. Gwenn studies phytoplankton genomics and physiology in the lab and field to understand how marine microbial ecological processes may change in the future; she is primarily interested in how phytoplankton acclimate and adapt to changing environmental conditions. Her start date is September 2019.

In addition, it is a pleasure to announce that Dr. Tyler Hennon (Gwenn’s husband) has been appointed as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Oceanography, working with Seth Danielson. Tyler earned his doctorate in oceanography at the University of Washington and is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Marine Physical Laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His research expertise focuses on internal waves, shear-driven mixing and turbulence. Tyler will be applying his efforts initially to examine Seward Peninsula lagoon systems and waters offshore. His start date is September 2019.

Please join me in welcoming Gwenn and Tyler to CFOS.

We have several active tenure-track faculty searches. On-campus interviews for the President’s Professor of Quantitative Fisheries concluded last week, and that search committee will soon provide their recommendation. And over the coming weeks, on-campus interviews will take place for the NOAA QUEST fisheries tenure-track faculty position and the mariculture tenure-track faculty position.

The 2019 State of the College will take place this Thursday, April 18, at 1 pm in O’Neill 201, and will be broadcast by videoconference. As in prior years, we will highlight some of our key accomplishments and present the annual Dean’s Recognition Awards. We will also announce the name and show pictures of the new coastal research vessel, which is due to be delivered to the Seward Marine Center in May. A pizza lunch will be served.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is moored at the Oregon State University (OSU) pier in Newport, Oregon, after testing the new Surface and Under Ice Trawl (SUIT) net for Dr. Franz Mueter. The SUIT net will be deployed operationally in November in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, as part of the Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium (ARICE) program.

At the end of the week, Sikuliaq will get underway to install and maintain moorings as part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) for the Endurance Array off the Oregon coast, led by Dr. Ed Dever.

Today marks the deadline for proposals due to the inaugural Alaska Sikuliaq Program.

Activities and Accomplishments

Lia Domke (advisor Ginny Eckert) was recently awarded a 3-year NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

Kelsie Maslen was awarded the CFOS Dean's Choice Award at UAF Research and Creative Activity Day for her poster entitled "Isotopic analysis of trophic feeding levels of male Mallotus villosus." Her coauthors were Kirsten Ressel and Trent Sutton.

CFOS in the News

Research by Heidi Mendoza-Islas and Russ Hopcroft to better understand the role of jellyfish in the Gulf of Alaska was published by UAF News and Information, the CFOS website and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Anne-Lise Ducluzeau wrote a story for the CFOS website about her workshop held during the 2018 STEMSEAS cruise on Sikuliaq.

KSFK interviewed Alexei Pinchuk on recent krill die-offs in Southeast Alaska.

Lauren Wild and Ali Schuler have been featured for their work performing a necropsy of a sperm whale that beached in Lynn Canal. The event was highlighted by KHNS, the Haines Chilkat Valley News, the Juneau Empire and a NOAA press release.

Publications

Clark, C.T., L. Horstmann, and N. Misarti. 2019. Lipid normalization and stable isotope discrimination in Pacific walrus tissues. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42095-z

Vestfals, C.D., F.J. Mueter, J.T. Duffy-Anderson, M.S. Busby, and A. De Robertis. 2019. Spatio-temporal distribution of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) and saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis) early life stages in the Pacific Arctic. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02494-4

Message from the Dean

I recently had the honor of speaking at Alaska House and Senate Committee Hearings in Juneau on the value of CFOS in building Alaska’s Blue Economy. Alaska has over half of the nation’s coastline and approximately one-third of the Exclusive Economic Zone, and our state defines the U.S. as an Arctic nation. Alaska’s substantial Blue Economy depends significantly on marine research, education and public engagement, encompassing the mission of CFOS.

In this regard, it is a pleasure to convey that Chancellor White has approved CFOS’s proposal to establish the UAF Alaska Blue Economy Center (ABEC). This new interdisciplinary center combines UAF’s extensive expertise in Alaska’s offshore and inland aquatic ecosystems and resources. Serving as a resource to the state, a key goal of ABEC is to advance research and education opportunities in fisheries, mariculture, energy, ocean observing and technology. Over the past few years, UAF has made significant strides in advancing Alaska’s Blue Economy, for example through partnerships with Blue Evolution, the Bering Sea Fishermen's Association and the Alaska Ocean Cluster, new research in mariculture, operation of R/V Sikuliaq and the Alaska Sikuliaq Program, development of the UAF Blue MBA, and renewable energy projects led by the Alaska Center for Energy and Power.

By improving coordination within UA and with external partners, ABEC will bring significant value to Alaska’s coastal and inland communities, economy and workforce.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is arriving at Astoria, Oregon, today after completing a multi-beam echosounder system (MBES) patch test (an operational test to ensure the MBES is working properly). After fueling and bringing aboard stores, Sikuliaq will transit from Astoria to Newport to prepare for the next two projects.

First, Dr. Franz Mueter (UAF/CFOS) will test Sikuliaq’s new Surface and Under Ice Trawl (SUIT) net and ensure the net is ready to be used operationally in November in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Following this work, Dr. Ed Dever (OSU) will install and maintain moorings and deploy gliders as part of the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative for the Endurance Array off the Oregon coast.

Activities and Accomplishments

Last week, Jennifer Harris and Wendy Huesties participated in the 2^nd General Assembly of the Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium, held in Lisbon, Portugal. An overview of ARICE was recently published by the European Commission.

On March 18, Doug Baird and Lauren Frisch represented Sikuliaq at the March Arctic Waterways Safety Committee meeting in Anchorage.

Cheryl Barnes (advisor Anne Beaudreau) was awarded the Northern Gulf of Alaska Applied Research Award.

A number of students received awards at the recent American Fisheries Society Alaska Chapter meeting in Sitka. Chris Sergeant (advisor Jeff Falke) was awarded best student talk. Alyx Hoover was awarded best undergraduate poster. And, Noah Khalsa was the recipient of the Molly Ahlgren Scholarship Award.

The new five-year EPSCoR project will start field sampling. Last week, sites were selected and initial sampling was completed in Kachemak Bay. Full sampling in both Kachemak Bay and Lynn Canal will start in April and continue through September with the assistance of many graduate and undergraduate students.

The Ocean Acidification Research Center is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act (FOARAM). The FOARAM Act got the ball rolling for US federal agencies to coordinate ocean acidification research as well as to spin up international collaborations.

The GAKOA surface mooring, located in Resurrection Bay, was successfully turned around this month. GAKOA is the first high-latitude mooring deployed to directly study ocean acidification and has the longest continuous record of OA observations in the state of Alaska. Learn more about OARC research on the mooring network webpage.

CFOS in the News

National Fisherman published a Q&A with Heather Brandon.

Ketchikan Daily News featured Gary Freitag’s work with marine mammals.

Publications

Clark, C.T.*, L. Horstmann, A. de Vernal, A.M. Jensen, and N. Misarti. 2019. Pacific walrus diet across 4000 years of changing sea ice conditions. Quaternary Research. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2018.140

Sutton, A.J., R.A. Feely, S. Maenner-Jones, S. Musielwicz, J. Osborne, C. Dietrich, N. Monacci, J. Cross, R. Bott, A. Kozyr, A.J. Andersson, N.R. Bates, W.-J. Cai, M.F. Cronin, E.H. De Carlo, B. Hales, S.D. Howden, C.M. Lee, D.P. Manzello, M.J. McPhaden, M. Meléndez, J.B. Mickett, J.A. Newton, S.E. Noakes, J.H. Noh, S.R. Olafsdottir, J.E. Salisbury, U. Send, T.W. Trull, D.C. Vandemark, and R.A. Weller. 2019. Autonomous seawater pCO₂ and pH time series from 40 surface buoys and the emergence of anthropogenic trends. Earth System Science Data 11(1): 421–439. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-421-2019

Grant Awards for March 2019

The new awards for March are as follows (with official start dates in parentheses):

• Grant G-12663 "Effects of demography, trophic interactions, and the environment of major groundfish species in the Gulf of Alaska" - Anne Beaudreau (Cheryl Barnes) - UA Foundation - $5,000.00 (March 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12684 "Belmont Forum Collaborative Research (BiodivERsA): De-icing of Arctic Coasts: Critical or new opportunities for marine biodiversity and Ecosystem Services ACCES" - Katrin Iken - NSF - $73,012.00 (March 15, 2019)

These awards received incremental funding during the month of March 2019:

• Grant G-3163 "Ted Stevens Distinguished Professor of Marine Policy" - Keith Criddle - UA Foundation - $240,000.00 (April 1, 2006)
• Grant G-11432 "First-year pollock and their zooplankton predators in the northern Gulf of Alaska" - Russ Hopcroft - UA Foundation PCCRC - $66,228.00 (May 1, 2017)
• G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022" - Mod 7 - Heather Brandon - NOAA - $336,285.00 (February 1, 2018)

Message from the Dean

Last week the Consortium for Ocean Leadership held its annual Public Policy Forum, which featured insightful presentations and panel discussions on the past, present and future of US Ocean Policy. At the reception following the forum I had the privilege to introduce Senator Murkowski, who as co-chair of the Senate Ocean Caucus is making important strides in advancing ocean science policy for the benefit of Alaska and the nation. It is encouraging that we have such strong national leadership for our college and university.

Please mark your calendars for the State of the College celebration, which will be held on Thursday, April 18, at 1 pm in O’Neill 201. This annual event is an opportunity to recognize our many accomplishments, and will feature the Dean’s Recognition Awards presented to outstanding students, staff and faculty. In addition to a pizza lunch, the official name of our new 40-foot coastal research vessel will be announced, which was selected from 100 hundred suggested names received from a UAF-wide naming solicitation. The new coastal vessel is scheduled for delivery to Seward in late May. This will coincide with the arrival of the freshly painted Sikuliaq, proudly emblazoned with the new UAF logo.

It is a pleasure to recognize Dr. Jennifer Questel as recipient of a prestigious UAF Centennial Post-doctoral Fellowship. An alumna of our graduate program in Biological Oceanography, Jennifer will work with Russ Hopcroft on metabarcoding analysis of zooplankton assemblages as part of the Northern Gulf of Alaska LTER program. This is the second Centennial Post-doc awarded to CFOS in as many years—congratulations Jennifer and great work CFOS!

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is in Newport, Oregon, getting ready for an Oregon State University Undergraduate Training Cruise being led by Dr. Miguel Goni. This multidisciplinary training cruise is designed to allow undergraduates to experience marine research operations and get a feel for life at sea.

After the OSU undergraduate cruise, Sikuliaq will begin preparations for a multibeam echosounder system (MBES) patch test, which is an operational test to ensure the MBES are working properly, off the northern Oregon coast.

Activities and Accomplishments

On March 4, Dean Moran appeared before three legislative committees to highlight the value of UA’s world-class research and discuss how our university helps foster a “Blue Economy” through industries such as mariculture. Videos of Dean Moran’s presentations are available online at the following links: Senate Resources Committee, House Resources Committee, and House Fisheries Committee.

Ana Aguilar-Islas is at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam, Germany, preparing for the international MOSAiC project. This project is part of the International Arctic Drift Expedition, which will begin in late summer 2019 when the German R/V Polarstern will be locked in sea ice and allowed to drift for one year along the Transpolar Drift to the North Atlantic.

Last week the UA Scientific Diving class traveled to the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory in Homer. Twenty-six students, two instructors, and a European Our-Underwater Scholar from Spain all practiced scientific diving techniques in the ocean as the field component of their course.

CFOS in the News

The Delta Discovery, SitNews and Alaska Business Magazine republished a story featuring research by Brian Ulaski and Brenda Konar to examine long-standing questions about reproduction and possible harvesting of seaweeds in Southcentral Alaska.

The Nome Nugget highlighted the results of cesium-137 testing in the northern Bering Sea, with quotes from Gay Sheffield and Seth Danielson.

Publications

Bigelow, N.H., J.D. Reuther, K.L. Wallace, E. Saulnier-Talbot, K. Mulliken, and M.J. Wooller. 2019. Late-glacial paleoecology of the middle Susitna Valley, Alaska: Environmental context for human dispersal. Frontiers in Earth Science 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00043

Bucklin, A., H.D. Yeh, J.M. Questel, D.E. Richardson, B. Reece, N.J. Copley, and P.H. Wiebe. 2019. Time-series metabarcoding analysis of zooplankton diversity of the NW Atlantic continental shelf. ICES Journal of Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz021

Chenoweth, E.M., and K.R. Criddle. 2019. The economic impacts of humpback whale depredation on hatchery-released juvenile Pacific salmon in Southeast Alaska. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 11(1): 62–75. https://doi.org/10.1002/mcf2.10061

Drinkwater, K.F., F.J. Mueter, and S.-I. Saitoh. 2018. Shifting boundaries of water, ice, flora, fauna, people, and institutions in the Arctic and subarctic. ICES Journal of Marine Science 75(7): 2293–2298. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsy179

Manishin, K.A., K.J. Goldman, M. Short, C.J. Cunningham, P.A.H. Westley, and A.C. Seitz. 2019. Prey consumption estimates for salmon sharks. Marine and Freshwater Research. https://doi.org/10.1071/MF18345

Message from the Dean

The state of Alaska provides $500,000 annually to support research and education programs conducted by UAF-based researchers aboard Sikuliaq. As operator of Sikuliaq, CFOS has created the Alaska Sikuliaq Program (ASP) to facilitate the allocation of these funds; starting today, proposals may be submitted to use these funds to support up to ten days of ship time in CY2020. This is an important step forward in our operation of Sikuliaq and our partnership with the National Science Foundation. It is a pleasure to thank the Sikuliaq Ship Committee and Carol Kaynor for assistance in developing this new program.

The Alaska Tsunami Bowl held February 21–24 in Seward was a big success, with 17 high school teams competing from across Alaska. The winning team is the Ketchikan Saber-Toothed Salmon, who will compete this spring as part of the 2019 National Ocean Science Bowl finals in Washington, DC. A big thank-you to Jennifer Elhard, Amanda Kelley and Sarah Walters and the many students, staff and faculty who gave their time and effort in making this another successful competition.

This week, I will present on behalf of CFOS before the House Resources Committee, Senate Resources Committee and the House Fisheries Committee in Juneau. The focus of my presentations will be to convey the tremendous value and return on investment that CFOS brings to Alaska’s communities. It is a pleasure to thank members of the UA Government Relations team, Weston Eiler and Miles Baker, for arranging this opportunity to engage with our elected officials.

On Wednesday of this week, we will host Dr. Mike DeGrandpre of the University of Montana as the spring 2019 CFOS keynote seminar speaker. Mike is an analytical chemist who builds and uses sensors to study aquatic biogeochemistry and the ocean carbon cycle. His company Sunburst Sensors won the 2015 Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE. Please mark your calendar for Mike’s presentation entitled, “Sea surface CO₂ and pH in the changing Arctic Ocean,” which will take place at 3:30 pm in O’Neill 201.

Last, Chancellor White recently provided useful advocacy tools and tips regarding the Governor's proposed FY20 budget for the university. I encourage everyone to share their personal story of the value of CFOS and to advocate in support of the university. It is also important at this time to be proud of the important work you do and the positive impact we have on the state of Alaska.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway for her first scientific cruise of 2019. Dr. Bob Cowen of Oregon State University is studying various aspects of the mesozooplankton food web, from predator and prey distributions to diet composition, to stable isotope signatures defining carbon production source during non-upwelling periods of coastal Oregon and Northern California.

After Dr. Cowen’s project is complete, Sikuliaq returns to Newport to begin preparations for a multibeam echosounder system (MBES) patch test (an operational test to ensure the MBES are working properly), an OSU undergraduate training cruise, and the biennial NSF ship inspection.

Activities and Accomplishments

Davin Holen partnered with Sea Grant agents from the Gulf of Mexico states to host an oil spill preparedness workshop February 20–21 in Anchorage at the Den’aina Center. Some 70 participants discussed impacts to health and social and economic disruption from oil spills. The workshop included local and national speakers, with attendees from around Alaska. This is part of a larger series of workshops funded by the National Academies to set priorities for research on the topic.

At the 2019 Innovation Summit in Juneau, Seth Danielson was inducted into the Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame for his essential role in the development of a remote power module (RPM). The RPM is routinely used to power high-frequency radars that map ocean currents from shore.

CFOS in the News

UAF Cornerstone and the CFOS website featured research by Brian Ulaski and Brenda Konar to examine long-standing questions about reproduction and possible harvesting of seaweeds in Southcentral Alaska.

Publications

C.J. Graham, T.M. Sutton, M.D. Adkison, M.V. McPhee, and P.J. Richards. 2019. Evaluation of growth, survival, and recruitment of Chinook salmon in Southeast Alaska rivers. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. https://doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10148

Grant Awards for February 2019

The new awards for February are as follows (with official start dates in parentheses):

• Grant G-12601 "Hydrocarbon Seeps in the Lower Cook Inlet, Gulf of Alaska, Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea OCS Planning Areas" - Jennifer Reynolds - BOEM - $200,000.00 (January 15, 2019)
• Grant G-12610 "Zooplankton Production in Arctic Lagoons" - Alexei Pinchuk - Wildlife Conservation Society - $42,513.00 (January 31, 2019)
• Grant G-12612 "MARES: pCO2 sensor and analysis" - Brenda Konar - Stantec Consulting Ltd. - $18,167.00 (November 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12619 "Port Valdez Environmental Studies Chemical Data Uncertainty Analysis" - Arny Blanchard - Alyeska Pipeline Service Company - $24,000.00 (January 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12628 "2019 Knauss Alaska Sea Grant Fellowship Kirkham" - Heather Brandon - $61,500.00 (February 1, 2019)

Grants that received incremental funding during the month of February are as follows:

• Grant G-11426 "High Resolution Regional Simulations of Flow and Turbulence in Wakes of Abrupt Topography: A proposal to ONR" - Harper Simmons - ONR - Mod 1 - $194,850.00 (May 1, 2017)
• Grant G-12114 "Inertial and Turbulent Processes in the Iceland Basin: A Proposal to the Near Inertial Shear and Kinetic Energy in the North Atlantic Experiment (NISKINE) Departmental Research Initiative" - Harper Simmons - ONR - Mod 2 - $311,278.00 (April 15, 2018)
• Grant G-12178 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Ship Operations - CY2018-2022" - S. Brad Moran - NSF - Mod 1 - $7,844,087.00 (July 1, 2018)

Message from the Dean

With uncertainty swirling around the state budget, it is important to reflect on the many positive aspects of what CFOS represents to the state and to the nation. In that regard, a number of upcoming events underscore the value of CFOS in observing, predicting and managing Alaska’s aquatic resources and ecosystems.

First, CFOS, Alaska Sea Grant and partners are preparing to host the 2019 Alaska Tsunami Bowl this weekend in Seward. As part of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, the Alaska Tsunami Bowl brings together high school students from across the state to engage in a lively competition focused on understanding marine and inland water ecosystems. The following week, CFOS students, staff and faculty will participate in the largest annual aquatic sciences meeting in the nation, the 2019 ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting. In addition to science presentations, CFOS will have a booth and be working to recruit students to join the College. Looking out a few weeks, CFOS will participate in the Consortium for Ocean Leadership 2019 Public Policy Forum, which will focus on U.S. Ocean Policy.

These events are just a few examples of the mission of CFOS in advancing fisheries and oceans sciences education, research and public service at the state and national level.

Next week we will usher in the month of March—spring is just around the corner.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is finishing up her regulatory 5-year dry-docking and maintenance contract at the Vigor Marine Shipyard in Portland, Oregon. She is being readied for refloating this week, with sea trials to follow shortly thereafter in the Columbia River.

Sikuliaq is scheduled to leave the shipyard on February 26 to transit to Newport, Oregon, for her first scientific cruise of 2019, led by Dr. Bob Cowen of Oregon State University. Dr. Cowen will be studying various aspects of the mesozooplankton food web, including predator and prey distributions, diet composition, and stable isotope signatures defining carbon production source during non-upwelling periods in coastal Oregon and Northern California.

Activities and Accomplishments

In 2018, 59 divers (faculty, students and staff) logged 692 dives through the UA-wide Scientific Diving Program. This included 826 training dives and 692 research dives, totaling 38,249 minutes or more than 26 days under water.

Milo Adkison visited Petersburg to give a Science Series talk titled “A new tool for understanding fisheries management” on January 24. While he was there, Milo showed the Petersburg High School aquaculture class his new online salmon management game.

Gay Sheffield responded to a report of 40 dead long-tailed ducks at sea near Gambell.

CFOS in the News

A KTOO story highlighted Tuula Hollman’s work to better understand how saltier water may impact ducklings.

A Fairbanks Daily News-Miner story featured work by Jeff Falke, Elizabeth Hinkle, Deanna Klobucar and Trout Klobucar to better understand how wildfires influence fish habitats in Interior Alaska. The story was also published in UAF Cornerstone, in SitNews and on the CFOS website.

KYUK highlighted Kaitlyn Manishin’s research to better understand what happens to king salmon in the open ocean. Manishin presented this work at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium a few weeks ago.

Publications

Cyr, A., J.A. López, L. Rea, M.J. Wooller, T. Loomis, S. Mcdermott, and T.M. O'Hara. 2019. Mercury concentrations in marine species from the Aleutian Islands: Spatial and biological determinants. Science of the Total Environment 664:761–770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.387

Sparks, M.M., J.A. Falke, T.P. Quinn, M.D. Adkison, D.E. Schindler, K. Bartz, D. Young, and P.A.H. Westley. 2019. Influences of spawning timing, water temperature, and climatic warming on early life history phenology in western Alaska sockeye salmon. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 76(1): 123–135. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2017-0468

Grant Awards for January 2019

The new awards for January are as follows (with official start dates in parentheses):

• Grant G-12533 "Water is Life - Water is Alive" - Eric Collins - NPRB - $20,000.00 (January 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12552 "Movements and Habitat Use of Pacific Arctic Seals and Whales via Satellite Tracking and Ocean Sensing" - Steve Okkonen - AK Dept. of Fish & Game - $49,484.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12574 "Arctic Hilcorp Fisheries Study" - Trent Sutton - Hilcorp Alaska LLC. - $25,756.00 (January 1, 2019)
• Grant G-12584 "Bering Strait HABS Outreach Part 1" - Gay Sheffield - AOOS - $9,844.00 (September 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12585 "Bering Strait HABS Outreach Part 2" - Gay Sheffield - AOOS - $6,051.00 (September 1, 2018)

Grants that received incremental funding during January are as follows:

• Grant G-2218 "Administration of PCCRC" - Keith Criddle - UA Foundation PCCRC Endowment - $55,000.00 (January 1, 2005)
• Grant G-11291 "Hilcorp Arctic Fisheries Study (UA Foundation)" - Trent Sutton - UA Foundation - $100,704.00 (January 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11315 "Sea Otters and ecosystem function of eelgrass habitats in Southeast Alaska" - Ginny Eckert - UA Foundation - $38,000.00 (March 2, 2017)
• G-12201 "ALASKA Center of Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship (Center ICE)" - Chris Sannito (co-PI) - $34,026.00 (July 1, 2018)

The following grant was set up on assumption in January:

• Grant G-12547 "Port Valdez Environmental Studies 2019" - Arny Blanchard - Alyeska Pipeline Service Company - (January 1, 2019)

Message from the Dean

Last Sunday, CFOS held the second all-hands faculty retreat; the following is a brief summary of the pending full report. A key action item is to grow enrollment in our undergraduate and graduate programs through online course delivery. In that regard, Trent Sutton is leading a proposal submission to UAF eCampus to help us achieve this important academic goal. Brenda Konar summarized several ambitious efforts to bolster our research enterprise, including infrastructure improvements at the Seward Marine Center, a new interdisciplinary Arctic research program, and addressing food security challenges in the face of climate change. Heather Brandon led a discussion of ways to strengthen our important public engagement activities, and Anne Beaudreau wrapped up the day with a productive discussion of diversity and inclusivity, particularly in regard to future faculty and staff hires. It is a pleasure to thank the faculty for participating, Jennifer Harris for on-site logistics and reporting, Heather McLeod for assistance with preparations, and facilitators Kris Racina and Ashley Munro for their help in making this retreat a success.

The annual Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) held last week featured numerous insightful presentations by CFOS students and faculty. The quality and diversity of these presentations reflects extremely well on the research, education and public outreach programs in the College. The CFOS booth organized by Lauren Frisch showcased our programs, facilities and activities, as well as opportunities for students, post-docs and faculty to join the College. There was a particularly strong appearance by CFOS students, who presented 13 of the 23 student talks as well as many excellent posters. The AMSS award for best master’s student poster went to Alex Poje (advisor Russ Hopcroft), and second-place for best master’s student oral presentation went to Stephanie O’Daly (advisor Andrew McDonnell). Congratulations to Alex and Stephanie, and to all CFOS students and faculty for their excellent work.

Following AMSS, the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center (PCCRC) and the Coastal Marine Institute (CMI) held their annual symposia. The PCCRC symposium featured presentations by CFOS students and faculty that focused on fisheries and marine trophic dynamics. Thanks to Keith Criddle, Patrick Barry and Gabrielle Hazelton for organizing the board meeting and symposium. In the CMI symposium, six of the nine presentations were by CFOS students. All student talks were excellent, and two were recognized for best student presentation: Alexis Walker (advisors Sarah Hardy and Mary Beth Leigh) and Casey Clark (advisors Lara Horstmann and Nicole Misarti). Thanks to Brenda Konar and Ruth Post for organizing another great symposium.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq’s regulatory 5-year dry-docking is finishing up in Portland, Oregon, at the Vigor Marine shipyard. Work items include: hull cleaned and painted; sea chests cleaned, inspected and painted; anchors and chains removed, blasted, and painted; Z-drive thrusters removed for servicing; drive motor shaft bearings removed; ice windows for the echosounder transducers replaced; centerboard trunk wall permanently repaired; and the fast rescue boat (FRB) davit serviced.

Sikuliaq is scheduled to be refloated on February 15, and will depart the shipyard on February 26 to transit to Newport, Oregon, for her first scientific cruise of 2019.

Activities and Accomplishments

Mat Wooller received the 2018 Emil Usibelli Distinguished Research Award.

Geoff Wheat’s research on groups of octopus moms discovered in the deep sea was featured by the National Science Foundation as a most popular story of 2019.

Quentin Fong gave a talk titled “Evolving crab market in China: A social, cultural, and economic perspective” to the University of the Arctic’s Thematic Network on Global Ecological and Economic Connections in Arctic and Sub-Arctic Crab Fisheries in Seattle in January.

CFOS in the News

Brenda Konar was interviewed for a New York Times story focused on links between sea star wasting disease and ocean warming. The story was picked up by the Boston Globe.

KSFK interviewed Milo Adkison about two interactive salmon management games that he developed.

Katrin Iken was interviewed by KTUU about the Blob, and how changes in the Arctic have a widespread impact.

Russ Hopcroft provided insight into how the Blob affected copepods for this Science Magazine story. The story was republished as a feature by Science Magazine the next day.

Publications

Barnes, C., and R. Starr. Reproductive tactics of California halibut (Paralichthys californicus): Combining spawning season, interspawning interval, and batch fecundity to estimate annual reproductive output for a multiple-batch spawning fish. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Report 59:102–114. http://calcofi.org/publications/calcofireports/v59/Vol59-Barnes_102-114.pdf

Bland, A., B. Konar, and M. Edwards. 2019. Spatial trends and environmental drivers of epibenthic shelf community structure across the Aleutian Islands. Continental Shelf Research 175:12–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2019.01.006

Buck, C.S., A. Aguilar-Islas, C. Marsay, D. Kadko, and W. Landing. 2019. Trace element concentrations, elemental ratios, and enrichment factors observed in aerosol samples collected during the US GEOTRACES eastern Pacific Ocean transect (GP16). Chemical Geology.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.01.002

Message from the Dean

As we kick off the spring 2019 semester, this is the time to take stock of the key goals for the College this coming year, which were recently transmitted in the 2019 CFOS Goals and Priorities memorandum. In this regard, and as part of the continued implementation of our Decadal Plan, we will host the second CFOS all-hands faculty retreat at the Hotel Captain Cook on Sunday, January 27. The goal of the retreat is to establish specific actions in academics, research and service to achieve over the next 1–2 years. This includes growing student enrollment, particularly through online course delivery; developing large interdisciplinary research programs; and serving the needs of Alaska’s communities. The retreat will be facilitated by Kris Racina and Ashley Munro of the UAF Process Improvement and Training Crew (PIT Crew), and Jennifer Harris will ensure we have a written report. The retreat agenda will be forthcoming.

Following the retreat, we will host a reception that will include a number of our key stakeholders. This will be a great opportunity to engage with our colleagues from across Alaska.

This is also a time to recognize and thank the many donors that support CFOS. These generous contributions are extremely important and greatly appreciated, and most importantly they allow our students to advance their careers in fisheries, marine biology and ocean sciences.

Next week, we look forward to many insightful presentations by our students and faculty at the 2019 Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) in Anchorage. During the poster sessions, CFOS will have a booth with plenty of swag, so please stop by and check it out.

It is a pleasure to welcome back our current and new CFOS students and acknowledge the fall 2017 graduates. CFOS faculty and staff are here to support you and we wish you great success.

Fall 2018 degree recipients

Congratulations to the fall 2018 CFOS graduates:

Douglas Duncan, MS Fisheries, Advisor: ;Anne Beaudreau
Danielle Gerik, MS Fisheries, Advisor: Andrés López
Chase Jalbert, MS Fisheries, Advisors: Jeff Falke and Peter Westley
Kaitlyn Manishin, MS Fisheries, Advisor: Andrew Seitz
Stephanie Meggers, MS Fisheries, Advisor: Andrew Seitz
Jodi Neil, MS Fisheries, Advisor: Megan McPhee
Marguerite Tibbles, MS Fisheries, Advisor: Andrew Seitz
Aaron Bland, MS Marine Biology, Advisor: Brenda Konar
Audrey Rowe, MS Marine Biology, Advisor: Matthew Wooller
Tanja Schollmeier, MS Marine Biology, Advisor: Katrin Iken

Finally, a warm welcome to the following new graduate students:

Lia Domke, MS Fisheries, Advisor: Ginny Eckert
Nina Lundstrom, MS Fisheries, Advisor: Anne Beaudreau
Annie Kandel, MS Oceanography, Advisor: Ana Aguilar-Islas

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is still in Portland, Oregon, at the Vigor Marine shipyard for her regulatory 5-year dry-docking and maintenance contract. Some of the work items that have been started or completed include: hull cleaned and painted; sea chests cleaned, inspected and painted; anchors and chains removed, blasted, and painted; Z-drive thrusters removed for servicing; drive motor shaft bearings removed; ice windows for the echosounder transducers removed; field repair on the centerboard trunk wall removed and readied for permanent repairs; and fast rescue boat (FRB) removed and the FRB davit readied for servicing. She is scheduled to be refloated on February 11 and depart the shipyard on February 26 to transit to Newport, Oregon, for her first scientific cruise of 2019.

Activities and Accomplishments

Doug Baird attended the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission meeting this last week, representing Sikuliaq.

Marilyn Sigman will receive the 2019 Marine Science Outreach Award of the Alaska SeaLife Center. This award is given to a person, team or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to ocean literacy via formal or informal education, media or other communications.

Peter Westley has accepted an invitation to serve on an expert panel of the Washington State Academy of Sciences to review the science of salmon and steelhead hatcheries. The panel will inform potential policy revisions.

Quentin Fong gave a talk entitled “Agile Business Planning” to the Alaska Shellfish Growers Association annual conference held in Cordova in early December.

Sunny Rice co-taught a lesson on how long it takes for marine debris to break down to 200+ elementary school students last December. This lesson is part of an ongoing project in Petersburg to raise awareness about marine debris.

Publications

Cathcart, C.N., K.J. Dunker, T.P. Quinn, A.J. Sepulveda, F.A. von Hippel, A. Wizik, D.B. Young, and P.A.H. Westley. 2018. Trophic plasticity and the invasion of a renowned piscivore: a diet synthesis of northern pike (Esox lucius) from the native and introduced ranges in Alaska, U.S.A. Biological Invasions. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-018-1909-7

Figus, E., and K.R. Criddle. 2018. Comparing self-reported incidental catch among fishermen targeting Pacific halibut and a fishery independent survey. Marine Policy. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2018.12.008

Message from the Dean

It is a pleasure to convey a warm welcome to everyone from what hopefully was an enjoyable winter break spent with friends and family. I wish everyone a productive and safe 2019. Happy New Year!

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is dry-docked at the Vigor Marine shipyard in Portland, Oregon. This dry-docking is scheduled as part of Sikuliaq’s required 5-year maintenance. She will be there until the end of February, when she’ll transit to Newport, Oregon, to pick up the first science team of 2019.

Activities and Accomplishments

Terry Quinn received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists.

Krista Oke and Janessa Esquible were interviewed in a podcast about Alaska’s salmon datasets, created by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis as part of the State of Alaska’s Salmon and People project.

CFOS in the News

SitNews republished Paula Dobbyn’s story about environmental changes in the Bering Sea, featuring an interview with Gay Sheffield.

Publications

Barnes, C.L., A.H. Beaudreau, M.E. Hunsicker, and L. Ciannelli. 2018. Assessing the potential for competition between Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) in the Gulf of Alaska. PLoS ONE 13(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209402

Barton, M.B., S.Y. Litvin, J.J. Vollenweider, R.A. Heintz, B.L. Norcross, and K.M. Boswell. 2019. Experimental determination of tissue turnover rates and trophic discrimination factors for stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of arctic sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpioides): A common Arctic nearshore fish. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 511:60–67. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2018.11.005

Chan, M.N., A.H. Beaudreau, and P.A. Loring. 2018. Exploring diversity in expert knowledge: variation in local ecological knowledge of Alaskan recreational and subsistence fishers. ICES Journal of Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsy193.

Holsman, K.K., K. Aydin, J. Sullivan, T. Hurst, and G.H. Kruse. 2018. Climate effects and bottom-up controls on growth and size-at-age of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) in Alaska (USA). Fisheries Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1111/fog.12416

Ruggerone, G.T., A.M. Springer, L.D. Shaul, and G.B. van Vliet. 2019. Unprecedented biennial pattern of birth and mortality in an endangered apex predator, the southern resident killer whale, in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 608:291–296. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12835

Grant Awards for December 2018

The new awards for December are as follows (with official start dates in parentheses):

• Grant G-12511 "RCN-UBE: The Research on STEM Education Network: Improving Research Inclusivity through a Grassroots Culture of Scientific Teaching" - Trent Sutton - University of Alabama-Birmingham - $17,403.00 (August 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12536 "Alaska Sea Grant State Fellowship 2018 Kayla Schommer" - Heather Brandon - AOOS - $36,268.00 (September 10, 2018)

Grants that received incremental funding during December are as follows:

• Grant G-9871 "Initiating an Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON)" - Katrin Iken - Mod 5 - $250,000.00 (November 1, 2014)
• Grant G-11498 "Riverine Carbon Contributions to Alaskan Coastal Margins" - Stephen Okkonen - Mod 2 - $72,268.00 (March 16, 2017)
• Grant G-11629 "Baechler Alaska Sea Grant State Fellowship" - Ginny Eckert - Mod 2 - $27,066 (September 5, 2017)

Message from the Dean

As we close out 2018, it is a pleasure to express my appreciation to all CFOS students, staff and faculty for the good work you do, and to our Captain and crew in ensuring the safe and successful operation of R/V Sikuliaq. Your collective effort benefits the State of Alaska and the nation in many ways.

This is a time to reflect on the important goals that we accomplished together this year. Referring back to my February memorandum, the 2018 CFOS key goals were to “strengthen faculty numbers through new hires, increase undergraduate and graduate student recruiting, develop online course offerings, and support new interdisciplinary research initiatives.”

In that regard, over the past year we hired two tenure-track and two research faculty, are focused on hiring more seagoing faculty, and we hope to conclude the President’s Professorship search in the coming weeks. We have two active searches to hire faculty in quantitative fisheries and mariculture, and next year we plan to launch two faculty searches as part of the EPSCoR program. We also hired a new director of the Alaska Sea Grant Program. We hired a new student recruiter to bolster our efforts on the academic front, and more of our faculty are focused on developing courses for online delivery. We also played an important role in the successful EPSCoR award, are developing an NSF Science and Technology Center (STC) proposal, and we commissioned a new coastal research vessel to be delivered next year.

We can be proud of these and many other accomplishments—excellent work CFOS!

Happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year!

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is scheduled to arrive in Portland, Oregon, at the Vigor Marine shipyard today for her regulatory 5-year dry-docking and maintenance contract. The shipyard contract is scheduled to last 10 weeks, with Sikuliaq departing on February 26 to transit to Newport, Oregon, for her first scientific cruise of 2019.

Activities and Accomplishments

Last week at the 2018 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, a significant number of our faculty gave impressive presentations on their research. And, Lauren Frisch and Kelly Walker staged a great CFOS booth that displayed our academic programs, opportunities for students, and active faculty searches to a captive audience. Congratulations to all on a job well done.

Also at AGU, Gay Sheffield and other scientists discussed studies about and observations of the rapidly changing Arctic. Gay was quoted in an Associated Press article, "Scary warming at poles showing up at weird times, places."

Publications

Brown, K.L., S. Atkinson, K.B. Keller, and H.C. Pearson. 2018. Diet of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) from Icy Strait, Alaska, based on stomach contents analysis. Marine Mammal Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12539

Courtney, M.B., E.R. Schoen, A. Wizik, and P.A.H. Westley. 2018. Quantifying the net benefits of suppression: Truncated size structure and consumption of native salmonids by invasive northern pike in an Alaska lake. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10231

Litzow, M.A., L. Ciannelli, P. Puerta, J.J. Wettstein, R.R. Rykaczewski, and M. Opiekun. 2018. Non-stationary climate–salmon relationships in the Gulf of Alaska. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1855

Shink, K.G., T.M. Sutton, J.M. Murphy, and J.A. López. 2018. Genetic variation and population structure among larval Lethenteron spp. within the Yukon River drainage, Alaska. Journal of Fish Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13833

Message from the Dean

With a total of 900 PhD, MS and undergraduate degrees awarded through 2018, CFOS alumni have had a major impact and are active in academic, agency and nongovernmental organizations around the world. In this regard, it is a pleasure to recognize three alumni as newly elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): Jacqueline M. Grebmeier (Ph.D., 1987); Dennis A. Hansell (Ph.D., 1989); and Frank E. Muller-Karger (M.S., 1984). Congratulations!

As the proud operator of R/V Sikuliaq and an active member of the University-National Laboratory Oceanographic System (UNOLS), CFOS has been selected to host the 2019 Research Vessel Technical Enhancement Committee (RVTEC) annual meeting at the Fairbanks campus in October. RVTEC provides a forum for discussion and collaboration among the technical support groups of the US Academic Research Fleet and is hosted by a different member institution each year. Congratulations to Steve Hartz, John Haverlack, Ethan Roth and their team for bringing this important meeting to UAF.

After 15 years of service to Alaska Sea Grant and the Marine Advisory Program based out of Cordova, associate professor Torie Baker will resign at the end of December 2018. Torie’s academic focus has been on marine boating safety, seafood processing and marketing, and commercial fishing. Please join me in wishing Torie the very best in retirement.

After a decade of service, Peter Winsor has tendered his resignation as associate professor of oceanography, effective January 31, 2019. Peter’s research has focused on high-latitude physical oceanography, including active programs in the Antarctic and Arctic. Peter has accepted the position of Director of the Global Arctic Program, World Wildlife Foundation, based in Ottawa, Canada. Please join me in wishing Peter the very best in his new position.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is scheduled to arrive in Portland, Oregon, at the Vigor Marine shipyard today for her regulatory 5-year dry-docking and maintenance contract. The shipyard contract is scheduled to last 10 weeks, with Sikuliaq departing on February 26 to transit to Newport, Oregon, for her first scientific cruise of 2019.

Activities and Accomplishments

The 2018 CFOS Annual Report and Undergraduate Program Video are now posted on the CFOS publications page>; also posted are several new and updated CFOS flyers.

Last week, Dean Moran gave a presentation on resource development as part of the UAF Legislative Forum. Following the panel, Ph.D. student Casey Clark presented a poster on his walrus research.

Last week, Hank Statscewich gave a presentation to the second- and third-graders at Pearl Creek Elementary on Southcentral Alaska oceans.

In November, Franz Mueter traveled to Nome to study recent changes in the Bering Strait region. While in Nome, Mueter participated in the Kawerak Regional Conference and gave a presentation as part of the Strait Science series on "Fisheries Management in Our Changing Bering Sea.”

CFOS in the News

A UAF feature story highlighted Peter Westley’s new asynchronous course focused on the bonds between people and salmon.

Doug Baird discussed some pros of expanding the current port in Nome in an Arctic Today feature about making Nome a deepwater port.

The Seward Sun published a story about what it’s like to live and work on Sikuliaq, and the benefits of having Seward as the ship’s homeport.

Kelly Walker was featured in UAF News and Information and on the CFOS website.

UAF News and Information featured a recent study led by Seth Danielson and Claudine Hauri that combines art and science to measure and illustrate seasonal variability in the Chukchi Sea.

Peter Westley was interviewed by the Canadian Blue Fish Radio Show, where he discussed Alaska’s salmon population dynamics.

Franz Mueter’s Strait Science presentation was featured by the Nome Nugget and was republished on the Alaska Sea Grant website [PDF].

Publications

Alabia, I.D., J. García Molinos, S.-I. Saitoh, T. Hirawake, T. Hirata, and F.J. Mueter. 2018. Distribution shifts of marine taxa in the Pacific Arctic under contemporary climate changes. Diversity and Distributions 24(11): 1583–1597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12788

Blain-Roth, B.J., and T.M. Sutton. 2019. Effects of barotrauma and recompression events on subsequent embryo composition of yelloweye rockfish. Fisheries Research211:212–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2018.11.022

Drinkwater, K., F. Mueter, and S.-I. Saitoh. 2018. Shifting boundaries of water, ice, flora, fauna, people and institutions in the Arctic and Subarctic. ICES Journal of Marine Science. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsy179

Hauri, C., S. Danielson, A.M.P. McDonnell, R.R. Hopcroft, P. Winsor, P. Shipton, C. Lalande, K.M. Stafford, J.K. Horne, L.W. Cooper, J.M. Grebmeier,  A. Mahoney, K. Maisch, M. McCammon, H. Statscewich, A. Sybrandy, and T. Weingartner. 2018. From sea ice to seals: A moored marine ecosystem observatory in the Arctic. Ocean Science 14:1423–1433. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1423-2018

Manhard, C.V., M.D. Adkison, J.J. Hard, W.W. Smoker, and A.J. Gharrett. 2018. Local adaptation of phenology revealed in outcrosses between spawning segments of a salmonid population. Molecular Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.14908

Ward, E.J., H. Delgado-Nordmann, R.E. Brenner, A.H. Beaudreau, S.D. Moffitt, and A.O. Shelton. 2019. Assessing long-term changes in sex ratios of Pacific herring in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fisheries Research 211:300–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2018.10.031

Grant Awards for November 2018

The new awards for November are as follows (with official start dates in parentheses):

• Grant G-12480 "Resolving the annual pelagic distribution of Tufted Puffins: Associations with oceanographic features and isotropic niche" - Kristen Gorman - NPRB - $53,300.00 (November 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12500 "Bering Strait High-Frequency Radar" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - $880,000.00 (October 1, 2018)

Grants that received incremental funding during November are as follows:

• Grant G-9871 "Initiating an Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON)" - Katrin Iken - NOAA - Mod 4 - $100,000.00 (November 1, 2014)
• Grant G-11255 "ASGARD: Arctic Shelf Growth, Advection, Respiration, and Deposition Rate Experiments" - Seth Danielson - NPRB (BOEM)- Mod 2 - $393,394.00 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-12117 "CY2018 Navy-funded cruises on R/V Sikuliaq" - Doug Baird, Jr. - ONR- Mod 2 - $1,737,723.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12333 "ASGARD: Arctic Shelf Growth, Advection, Respiration, and Deposition Rate Experiments" - Seth Danielson - NPRB (SHELL) - $714,586.00 (July 1, 2018)

Grant that received incremental funding that is controlled by another department is as follows:

• Grant G-9930 "UAF Support for OSU/UW DOE MURC FOA, Task 1: Debris detection, characterization, modeling and mitigation" - Andy Seitz - Oregon State University _INE Lead) - Mod 5 - $43,077.00 (January 1, 2015)

Message from the Dean

A key recommendation of the Visiting Expert Committee is to ensure continued strength of CFOS by hiring new tenure-track and research faculty. In this regard, it is a great pleasure to announce the following new faculty hires.

Dr. Kristen Gorman has been appointed Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Marine Biology. Kristen completed her doctorate in biology at Simon Fraser University. She is primarily interested in the evolutionary and physiological ecology of high latitude fish and wildlife ecosystems, including waterfowl of western Alaska, Antarctic seabirds, and a variety of marine fish and bird species of the Gulf of Alaska. Since February 2018, Kristen has held a temporary joint research appointment with CFOS and the Prince William Sound Science Center, and is now full time at CFOS. Kristen’s office is Irving II 230 and her laboratory is O’Neill 141.

Dr. William Burt has been appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Oceanography. Will earned his doctorate in oceanography at Dalhousie University and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia. His research expertise focuses on biogeochemical cycles, with an emphasis on ocean carbon dynamics. Will is planning to visit CFOS on December 5 and 6 and attend our upcoming faculty retreat. Will’s office and laboratory will be located in Irving II. His start date is September 2019.

Dr. Seth Danielson has been appointed Associate Professor in the Department of Oceanography. A UAF alumnus, Seth earned his doctorate in physical oceanography at the former SFOS and has since been employed as research faculty. Seth looks forward to building on his considerable research program and growing his teaching and advising activities. Seth’s office is O’Neill 113 and his laboratory is located in the Oceanography Commons and the Seward Marine Center Mooring Shop.

Please join me in congratulating and welcoming Drs. Gorman, Burt and Danielson as new faculty in CFOS.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is in Seward wrapping up a series of planned maintenance tasks and regulatory inspections. Sikuliaq will load gear on Wednesday for her next cruise, a 10-day trip led by Dr. Eric D’Asaro from the University of Washington. The goal of the cruise is to recover two Lagrangian floats near Ocean Station Papa.

Sikuliaq will then continue on to Seattle to unload science gear from two Arctic Ocean cruises this past summer. After discharging the gear and three containers, Sikuliaq will transit from Seattle to Portland, Oregon, up the Columbia and Willamette Rivers to the Vigor Portland shipyard for her regulatory 5-year dry-docking and maintenance contract. The shipyard contract is scheduled to last 10 weeks.

Activities and Accomplishments

Jenell Larson was recently appointed as editor of the Alaska Society for Marine Mammalogy Student Chapter.

On November 14, Gordon Kruse and postdoc Judith Rosellon Druker participated in meetings with the Sitka community in association with their NOAA-funded project titled, “Gulf of Alaska Integrated Ecosystem Assessment.” Judith led a workshop on ecosystem components for Southeast Alaska with Sitka as a focus.

Letters of Intent for Coastal Marine Institute proposals are due on Friday, November 30. Graduate student proposals will be accepted until January 14.

Last week in Seattle, Alaska Sea Grant attended Pacific Marine Expo. Gabe Dunham, Julie Matweyou, Heather Brandon and Kayla Schommer shared information about marine safety, business management, mariculture startups, the Alaska Young Fishermen's Summit series, and CFOS undergraduate and graduate student recruiting.

A video about Dockside Discovery, a marine education program organized by Alaska Sea Grant’s Melissa Good, won a Goldie Award from the Alaska Broadcasters Association. The video was produced by KUCB/Channel 8 TV.

CFOS in the News

KCAW featured the integrated ecosystem assessment project that Judith Rosellon Druker is involved with (noted above).

The World Wildlife Fund published a story on an Arctic Ocean Acidification session at the Arctic Biodiversity Congress in Finland, co-chaired by Claudia Gelfond Roche.

With assistance from Orutsararmiut Native Council employee (and Fisheries graduate student) Janessa Esquible, Milo Adkison gave the council and Tad Lindley's Bethel High School students an overview of how ADF&G sets escapement goals and opens and closes salmon fisheries. The course used web-based video games, which you can try for yourself: Set Escapement Goals and In-season management game.

The Kodiak Daily Mirror wrote a story about Alaska Sea Grant’s recent five-day class on seafood processing and quality control held at the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center.

Publications

Brown, K.L., S. Atkinson, K. Keller, and H. Pearson. 2018. Diet of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) from Icy Strait, Alaska, based on stomach content analysis. Marine Mammal Science.https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12539

Dissen, J.N., A.C.M. Oliveira, L. Horstmann, and S.M. Hardy. 2018. Regional and temporal variation in fatty acid profiles of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) in Alaska. Polar Biology 41(12): 2495–2510. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-018-2386-2

Iken, K., F. Mueter, J.M. Grebmeier, L.W. Cooper, S.L. Danielson, and B.A. Bluhm. 2018. Developing an observational design for epibenthos and fish assemblages in the Chukchi Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2018.11.005

Kadko, D., A. Aguilar-Islas, C. Bolt, C.S. Buck, J.N. Fitzsimmons, L.T. Jensen, W.M. Landing, C.M. Marsay, R. Rember, A.M. Shiller, L.M. Whitmore, and R.F. Anderson. 2018. The residence times of trace elements determined in the surface Arctic Ocean during the 2015 US Arctic GEOTRACES expedition. Marine Chemistry. doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2018.10.011

Klenz, T., M. Dengler, and P. Brandt. 2018. Seasonal variability of the Mauritania Current and hydrography at 18°N. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC014264

Moreno-Mayar, J.V., L. Vinner, P. de Barros Damgaard, C. de la Fuente, J. Chan, J.P. Spence, M.E. Allentoft, T. Vimala, F. Racimo, T. Pinotti, S. Rasmussen, A. Margaryan, M. Iraeta Orbegozo, D. Mylopotamitaki, M. Wooller, et al. 2018. Early human dispersals within the Americas. Science. https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aav2621

Olsen, D., C. Matkin, R. Andrews, and S. Atkinson. 2018. Seasonal and pod-specific differences in core use areas by resident killer whales in the Northern Gulf of Alaska. Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 147:196–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2017.10.009

Sullivan, J.Y., G.H. Kruse, and F.J. Mueter. 2018. Do environmental and ecological conditions explain declines in size-at-age of Pacific halibut in the Gulf of Alaska? In: F. Mueter, M. Baker, S. Dressel, and A. Hollowed (eds.). Impacts of a Changing Environment on the Dynamics of High-latitude Fish and Fisheries. Alaska Sea Grant, University of Alaska Fairbanks. https://seagrant.uaf.edu/bookstore/pubs/item.php?id=12464.

Valenzuela-Molina, M., S. Atkinson, K. Mashburn, and D. Gendron. 2018. Fecal steroid hormones reveal reproductive state in female blue whales sampled in the Gulf of California, Mexico. General and Comparative Endocrinology 261:127–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2018.02.015

Message from the Dean

The recent Chancellor’s forum on respect, diversity and inclusion is an important topic for the University and indeed the nation. CFOS is active in this discussion because ensuring an inclusive and diverse faculty, staff and student body is fundamental to our values as a College. In this regard, and considering here only gender demographics, it is notable that female faculty at CFOS represent over forty percent of our total faculty and nearly half of tenured faculty. While we have more work to do on this front, in particular increasing our ethnic and racial diversity, the proportion of female faculty at CFOS is more than twice that of STEM female faculty at many top public universities.

Further, women represent nearly seventy percent of our hard-working staff (excluding for this discussion our seagoing staff aboard Sikuliaq). Among our student body, just under half of our undergraduates and nearly two-thirds of our graduate students are women. CFOS will continue to prioritize the core values of respect, diversity and inclusion as we strive to deliver excellence in teaching, research and public engagement.

Another priority for CFOS is engaging our many stakeholders and supporters. Last week, members of the Pollock Conservation Cooperative (PCC) board met with Keith Criddle, Andy Seitz, Kaitlin Manishin and me at Trident Seafoods headquarters in Seattle. The PCC is the largest philanthropic contributor to marine research and education at UAF/CFOS, and provides support for the Ted Stevens Professorship in Marine Policy held by Keith Criddle. As PCC Research Center (PCCRC) director, Keith provided an excellent summary of the history of the PCCRC to representatives from Aleutian Spray Fisheries, American Seafoods Company, Glacier Fish Company and Trident Seafoods. Andy and Kaitlin gave informative and lively presentations on their salmon research. This was followed by a working lunch and tour of C/P Starbound led by Karl Bratvold of Aleutian Spray Fisheries. A big thank-you to our valued stakeholders and to Stephanie Madsen, executive director of the At-Sea Processors Association, Keith Criddle, Pat Berry and Gabrielle Hazelton for helping to coordinate this important and productive meeting.

As noted in prior C-Notes, Sikuliaq is part of the international Arctic Icebreaker Research Consortium (ARICE), which has the goal of fostering transnational collaboration and providing support for polar research scientists and vessels. The ARICE program recently announced the first round of funding recommendations for ship-time proposals. It is a pleasure to convey that Dr. Hauke Flores of the Alfred Wegener Institute has been funded to work aboard Sikuliaq next year to conduct his project entitled, “Sea-ice association of polar cod and its prey in the western Arctic Ocean (GO-WEST).” Hauke will collaborate with Franz Mueter to use the new Surface Under-Ice Trawl [PDF] (SUIT) to study zooplankton and fish in arctic waters off the Alaska coast. Congratulations to Hauke and Franz on this award as part of this new polar research vessel consortium.

Yesterday was Veteran’s Day. Please take a moment to reflect on and honor the military veterans who served our country. Never forget.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is still in Seward for the next three weeks, undergoing a series of planned maintenance tasks and regulatory inspections.

In early December, Sikuliaq will embark on a 10-day trip to recover two Lagrangian floats near Ocean Station Papa (OSP) for Dr. Eric D’Asaro from the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory. OSP (50°N, 145°W) has one of the longest records of ocean time-series measurements, dating back to 1949.

After completing the float recoveries, Sikuliaq will continue on to Seattle to prepare for her regulatory 5-year dry-docking and shipyard maintenance.

Activities and Accomplishments

Megan McPhee has been appointed by the U.S. Department of State to the Advisory Panel of the U.S. Section of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC).

On November 5, MAP faculty Melissa Good and husband Josh welcomed the newest addition to the Unalaska UAF fleet: Aurelia Rose, 7 lbs. 2 oz. Welcome, Aurelia!

Gordon Kruse convened a workshop with colleagues from Japan, Korea and the United States entitled, "PICES Contribution to Central Arctic Ocean Ecosystem Assessment" as part of the annual meeting of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) in Yokohama, Japan. Gordon serves as one of three US delegates to the PICES Fishery Science Committee.

Peter Westley’s new course, Salmon, People and Place (FISH F394), is CFOS’s debut asynchronous online course. Peter’s students will learn about the connections between salmon and people with a particular emphasis on the ties between salmon, Alaska Natives, and Indigenous peoples more broadly.

The Coastal Marine Institute is now accepting graduate student proposals until January 14.

Andy Seitz, Russ Hopcroft and Andrés López all gave terrific presentations at UAF Faculty Research Day, held on November 7.

CFOS in the News

KTVF featured the CFOS Glider Lab and some of the important marine mammal work that the lab is conducting.  The story was picked up by KTUU.

Gay Sheffield discussed implications of reductions in sea ice for algae in this KNOM story.

KTUU mentioned Alaska Sea Grant’s role in helping to free an entangled humpback whale in Unalaska Bay.

Alaska Native News republished an Alaska Sea Grant blog post on the upcoming Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium.

Publications

Litzow, M.A., L. Ciannelli, P. Puerta, J.J. Wettstein, R.R. Rykaczewski, and M. Opiekun. 2018. Non-stationary climate–salmon relationships in the Gulf of Alaska. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences285(1890). https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1855

Grant Awards for October 2018

The new awards for October are as follows (with official start dates in parentheses):

• G-12427 "RII Track-4: Advancing Machine Learning in Biological Oceanography Through Interdisciplinary Collaborations" - Eric Collins - NSF - $187,301.00 (October 1, 2018)
• G-12453 "Next Generation MHK River Power System Optimized for Performance, Durability, and Survivability" - Andy Seitz - Igiugig Village Council - $23,874.00 (October 1, 2018)

This new grant is currently on assumption:

• G-12470 "UAF FY19 Support for Marine Scientist Hollmen" - Tuula Hollmen - $84,495.00 (October 1, 2018)

This new grant is controlled by another department (amount of funding is for CFOS only):

• G-12460 "UAF Technical support at Amchitka Island Underground Nuclear Test Site for AK Department of Environmental Conservation" - Seth Danielson (CDR Lead) - AK Department of Environmental Conservation - $6,858.00 (July 1, 2018)

Message from the Dean

One of Chancellor White's goals is to foster innovation and technology transfer at UAF. In this regard, CFOS has established a three-year partnership with the Alaska Ocean Cluster Initiative (AOCI) based at our Seward Marine Center. Led by director Joel Cladouhos and the Bering Sea Fishermen's Association, AOCI is building the Blue Pipeline Incubator (BPI) at SMC with the goal of growing scalable, innovative ocean-related businesses in Alaska. Justin Sternberg is the new BPI coordinator, and his office will be located in the Rae Building. This new partnership provides an opportunity for CFOS to enhance its basic and applied research while helping to spur job creation for the benefit of the state. Many thanks to Jennifer Harris, Kara Axx and VCAS Kari Burrell for their help in moving this new partnership forward.

Kudos to Milo Adikson for testifying at the recent U.S. Senate field hearing in Anchorage, which was led by Senator Sullivan, Chairman of the Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee. The purpose of the hearing was to examine the current available data and identify information gaps related to the health and sustainability of Alaska’s salmon. Our new Center for Salmon and Society, of which Milo is director, was established for exactly this reason—to be a resource for science and science policy expertise in the effective management of Alaska’s wild salmon. Nice work, Milo!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Halloween!

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is in Seward working on planned maintenance, regulatory inspections and gear testing for the next five weeks. These include U.S. Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping inspections of ballast and anti-roll tanks, thruster drive motor maintenance, and small boat repairs and maintenance.

Activities and Accomplishments

Last week Lauren Frisch, Doug Baird, Brenda Konar and Gay Sheffield attended the Arctic Waterways Safety Committee and Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission meetings in Anchorage. Gay Sheffield gave a presentation on the impact of harmful algal blooms on Alaska species such as walrus and seabirds. Seth Danielson presented on the ASGARD project and some upcoming Arctic work for the Arctic Waterways Safety Committee.

After the whaling meetings, Brenda Konar attended the Arctic Circle 2018 meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, where she participated on a panel entitled, "Minimizing the Footprint of Research in the Arctic.”

On October 20, Milo Adkison testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation as part of a field hearing panel entitled, “The State of Our Salmon: A Review of the Science and Data Informing the Management of Alaska’s Salmon Fisheries.”

The Coastal Marine Institute has garnered $1 million in new federal funding. Letters of Intent to CMI are due November 30. A separate CMI call to support graduate student projects ($25K per student) will soon be announced.

Gabe Dunham and Quentin Fong are teaching a five-part seafood direct marketing webinar over the next two weeks. The seminars highlight regulatory, business planning and marketing challenges in building a successful venture. Participating students are from Alaska and Seattle.

Chris Sannito taught the popular Smoked Seafood School last week at the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center. Entrepreneurs from several Alaska coastal communities as well as three students from Florida, Minnesota and Washington traveled to Kodiak for the four-day class.

Chris Sannito also presented his work to make pet treats out of pollock skins at Ocean Tuesday, a group aimed at advancing Alaska's Blue Economy.

Last week Dean Moran participated in the fall meeting of the Consortium of Ocean Leadership, which was followed by an Industry Forum on U.S. Offshore Aquaculture.

Ocean Acidification Research Center (OARC) member Claudia Gelfond Roche facilitated The Resilience Dialogues for Anchorage over two weeks this past June. The Resilience Dialogues is a public-private collaboration that helps build climate-resilient communities through facilitated online dialogues among scientists, practitioners and community leaders.

CFOS in the News

Alaska Journal of Commerce highlighted work by Amanda Kelley, Marina Washburn and Ashley Rossin to study the effect of ocean acidification on three clam species.

KTOO, KRBD and the Alaska Fisheries Report aired a story about Gary Freitag’s involvement with a team of researchers and community observers that identified a previously unknown invasive species in Southeast Alaska waters. The Juneau Empire also featured the work.

Gay Sheffield’s presentation on the importance of science and the capacity to support research was mentioned in a Nome Nugget story about the dedication of new facilities at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Northwest Campus. The event was attended by a number of UAF leaders, elected representatives and dignitaries.

Publications

Ducluzeau, A.-L., J.R. Tyson, R.E. Collins, T.P. Snutch, and B.T. Hassett. 2018. Genome sequencing of sub-Arctic mesomycetozoean Sphaeroforma sirkka strain B5, performed with the Oxford Nanopore minION and Illumina HiSeq systems. Microbiol Resource Announcements 7:e00848-18. https://dx.doi.org/10.1128/MRA.00848-18.

Tibbles, M., J.A. Falke, A.R. Mahoney, M.D. Robards, and A.C. Seitz. 2018. An interferometric synthetic aperture adar (InSAR) habitat suitability model to identify overwinter conditions for coregonine whitefishes in Arctic lagoons. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10111.

Message from the Dean

Students are at the core of our mission as a College. Training, mentoring and engaging our students in all aspects of our research, education and outreach activities is critical to our reputation as a leader in fisheries, marine biology and ocean sciences. Growing our student body is also one of the key reasons we are hiring new faculty.

In that regard, going forward we will include a graduate student in our monthly all-hands faculty meetings, our departmental faculty meetings (this is already being done in fisheries), and the Dean’s Executive Committee. We very much welcome the constructive input from our students on CFOS programs and activities.

Candidate interviews for the President’s Professorship in Fisheries and Ecosystems are now complete, and this week we will hold the final candidate interview for the seagoing faculty search. These faculty hires and our other faculty searches will greatly influence the future direction of CFOS. As such, it is important to provide input to these search committees as they prepare final recommendations. Thank you again to search chairs Mark Johnson (seagoing) and Gordon Kruse (fisheries), the faculty serving on these search committees, and our staff for their time and effort spent on this important activity.

Finally, CFOS Grants Manager Christina Barile recently tendered her resignation to be a full-time mom. Christina admirably served the College for six years and will be greatly missed. Please join me in wishing Christina the very best going forward.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is currently in her homeport of Seward following a successful STEMSEAS cruise. The weather in Norton Sound provided a robust welcome to the students, who were mostly unaccustomed to the realities of life at sea in western Alaska in October. Fortunately, the weather calmed down for the last four days of the transit and left a good impression on the students.

Sikuliaq’s crew has started 7 weeks of maintenance, regulatory inspections and gear testing. This includes US Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping inspections of ballast and anti-roll tanks, thruster drive motor maintenance, and small boat repairs and maintenance. In addition, Sikuliaq will be hosting interested shipyard personnel for two days as the shipyard personnel conduct ship checks in preparation of bids for the 5-year regulatory dry-docking this winter.

Activities and Accomplishments

Lauren Frisch and Dean Moran gave presentations focused on R/V Sikuliaq at an NSF-funded workshop entitled Arctic Researchers and Informal Science Educators (ARISE), which was held last week at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. 

Dean Moran participated in an NSF-funded workshop on the future of the geosciences workforce, which was held last week in Washington, DC.

Brenda Konar attended the annual American Academy of Underwater Sciences meeting in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, from October 10–13, where she presented updates on the UA dive program and highlighted some of our science.

Julie Matweyou taught a 10-hour USCG-approved commercial fishing marine safety and certification course from October 1–2 in Kodiak. Students, who were primarily fishing captains and crew, also worked with staff at the USCG Kodiak base deploying dewatering pumps and other rescue equipment.

Franz Mueter, Lauren Divine, Jared Weems, Julia Dissen and Veronica Padula took part in Bering Sea Days 2018, a special outreach and education event in the middle of the Bering Sea. During the weeklong education and outreach event, scientists and professionals visit St. Paul Island to teach pre-K–12 students about a broad range of STEAM disciplines. 

Congratulations to Mat Wooller on being selected as a Chancellor's Innovation in Technology and E-Learning Program fellow.

Alaska Sea Grant and Marine Advisory Program faculty and staff will be meeting in Fairbanks this week for their annual meeting. Please drop by their office in the Geophysical Institute to say hello!

CFOS in the News

Arctic Focus featured a video created about the research vessel William Kennedy’s maiden voyage, with some insight on the value of conducting Arctic research. The video features Katrin Iken and Brenda Konar.

KFSK highlighted Megan McPhee’s keynote presentation at the Petersburg Rainforest Festival on why salmon are smaller than they used to be.

UAF News and Information featured Amanda Kelley’s research on razor clams and ocean acidification. The Cordova Times picked up the story.

YubaNet.com and Sitnews featured Gary Freitag’s research on invasive species in Southeast Alaska waters.

The Juneau Empire featured Ali Schuler’s work to start the National Marine Sanctuary Program called Ocean Guardian.

Publications

Beder, A.M., L.A. Copeman, and G.L. Eckert. 2018. The effects of dietary essential fatty acids on the condition, stress response, and survival of the larvae of the red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticusTilesius, 1815 (Decapoda: Anomura: Lithodidae). Journal of Crustacean Biology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcbiol/ruy085

Coleman, J., C. Carothers, R. Donkersloot, D. Ringer, P. Cullenberg, and A. Bateman. 2018. Alaska’s next generation of potential fishermen: A survey of youth attitudes towards fishing and community in Bristol Bay and the Kodiak Archipelago. Maritime Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-018-0109-5

Jurgens, L.J., M. Bonfim, D.P. Lopez, M.F. Repetto, G. Freitag, L. McCann, K. Larson, G.M. Ruiz, and A.L. Freestone. 2018. Poleward range expansion of a nonindigenous bryozoan and new occurrences of exotic ascidians in southeast Alaska. BioInvasions Records 7 (in press).

Ringer, D., C. Carothers, R. Donkersloot, J. Coleman, and P. Cullenberg. 2018. For generations to come? The privatization paradigm and shifting social baselines in Kodiak, Alaska's commercial fisheries. Marine Policy 98:97–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2018.09.009

Valk, O., M.M. Rutgers van der Loeff, W. Geibert, S. Gdaniec, M.J.A. Rijkenberg, S.B. Moran, K. Lepore, R.L. Edwards, Y. Lu, and V. Puigcorbé. 2018. Importance of hydrothermal vents in scavenging removal of ²³⁰Th in the Nansen Basin. Geophysical Research Letters 45. https://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079829

Grant Awards for September 2018

The new awards for September are as follows (with official start dates in parentheses):

• Grant G-12167 "Impact of lagoon habitat on Steller's eiders" - Peter Winsor - NPRB - $75,451.00 (September 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12316 "Collaborative Research: Sea Ice as a drive of Antarctic benthic macroalgal community composition and nearshore trophic connectivity" - Katrin Iken - NSF - $187,428.00 (September 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12330 "Ecological controls of Alaskan pollock weight-at-length and size-at-age under rapid environmental change" - Mike Litzow - NOAA/CMDL - $199,082.00 (September 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12331 "Pilot program for commercial / subsistence educational macro algae aquaculture development for Alaska" - Gary Freitag - NOAA - $87,965.00 (September 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12352 "Marine Mammal Stranding Response and Reporting in Alaska" - Gay Sheffield - NOAA NMFS - $20,573.00 (September 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12361 "NOAA - Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO)" - Brenda Konar - AOOS - $81,003.00 (June 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12365 "Collaborative Research: Physical mechanisms driving food web focusing in Antarctic biological hotspots" - Peter Winsor - NSF - $651,176.00 (September 15, 2018)
• Grant G-12381 "Alaska Ocean Acidification Research: Autonomous Observations of Ocean Acidification in Alaska Coastal Seas" - Brenda Konar - AOOS - $153,798.00 (June 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12402 "Numerical investigations of the wind's influence on Bering Strait inflow and summer Chukchi Sea ice retreat using Regional Ocean Model Systems (ROMS)" - Ko-Fan Lu - NPRB Student Award - $25,000.00 (August 1, 2018)

These grants received incremental funding during the month of September:

• Grant G-11616 "LTER: Beaufort Sea Lagoons: An Arctic Coastal Ecosystem in Transition" - Katrin Iken - Mod 1 - University of Texas at Austin - $68,514
• Grant G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022" - Mod 4, Mod 5 and Mod 6 - Ginny Eckert (being transferred to Heather Brandon) - NOAA - Total of all 3 Mods $284,300.00
• Grant G-12117 "CY2018 Navy-funded Cruises on R/V Sikuliaq" - Doug Baird Jr. - Mod 1 - ONR - $500,000.00
• Grant G-12318 "Collaborative Research: Development of a Carbon Seaglider for ocean acidification monitoring and inorganic carbon process studies" - Andrew McDonnell (IARC Lead) - $34,079.00 (CFOS portion only; September 1, 2018).

Message from the Dean

It is a pleasure to announce the hire of Mike Litzow as a research assistant professor in fisheries at CFOS. Mike is a fisheries oceanographer who has been working as an adjunct research professor at our Kodiak facility for the better part of a year. This appointment officially includes Mike as part of our valued research faculty. Please join me in welcoming Mike to CFOS.

As many will surely now be aware, UAF was recently awarded a new $20M NSF EPSCoR grant. This 5-year award will support research, education and outreach activities focused on climate-driven changes in Alaska’s boreal forests and coastal margins. As part of this project, over the next few years CFOS will conduct searches to hire two new EPSCoR faculty members: one in fisheries genetics/physiology and one in biological oceanography. It is a pleasure to acknowledge all CFOS faculty and staff that helped make this EPSCoR proposal a success, and in particular co-project leads Anne Beaudreau and Brenda Konar.

The 2018 CFOS Annual Report is in the final stages of editing and will soon enter production. And, the CFOS 2019 calendar is just about complete. We expect both of these sharp new documents to be published in November. Kudos to Lauren Frisch for producing what will be the second CFOS Annual Report and our new calendar.

The autumnal equinox has passed and with that please enjoy the crisp fall air before the arrival of first snowfall.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is currently in Nome disembarking personnel from Dr. Jen MacKinnon’s (UCSD/SIO) SODA project. Tomorrow the Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Student Experiences Aboard Ships (STEMSEAS) group will move aboard, and then Sikuliaq will depart on Wednesday. Anne-Lise Ducluzeau will be an instructor on the STEMSEAS cruise and Rachel Lekanoff will be a teaching assistant.

After arriving in Seward on October 8, Sikuliaq crew will commence scheduled maintenance and regulatory testing over the next seven weeks.

Activities and Accomplishments

UAF administrators Kari Burrell and Larry Hinzman and UA Statewide administrators Miles Baker and Weston Eiler visited the Juneau Lena Point facility. They were briefed on the new ESPCoR project, maintaining the genetics program at CFOS, the pending faculty hires and other relevant research at Lena Point.

Brenda Konar attended a workshop at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania from September 24–26 to discuss the implementation of a global long-term observing and data sharing strategy for macroalgal communities.

Courtney Carothers, Rachel Donkersloot, Paula Cullenberg, Danielle Ringer, Jesse Coleman and Alexandra Bateman received the Research to Application award from National Sea Grant for their project entitled “Graying of the Fleet in Alaska’s Fisheries: Defining the Problem and Assessing the Alternatives.”

CFOS in the News

The third and fourth stories in a four-part series on the new Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-term Ecological Research program were republished in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

An Alaska Journal of Commerce story on House Bill 56 highlights research by Courtney Carothers and others on the pros and cons of ITQ systems for fisheries.

A summer field course for students from Russia and the US co-led by Megan McPhee was featured by Oceana Blog and EcoWatch.

UAF Cornerstone featured the new Alaska EPSCoR project co-led by Anne Beaudreau and Brenda Konar.

The Alaska Sea Grant blog highlighted Melissa Good’s work to assess threats from marine invasive species to the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea.

Alaska Sea Grant’s blog featured Amanda Kelley’s research on razor clams and how susceptible or resilience they may be to ocean acidification. The first-of-its-kind study is the focus of UAF CFOS grad student Marina Washburn’s master’s project.

Publications

Brewer, P., D. Chambers, R. Hetland, K. Karnauskas, R. Lowe, S.B. Moran, L.-Y. Oey, N. Pinardi, and A. Proshutinsky. 2018. Thank you to our 2017 peer reviewers (editorial). Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC014410

Ehresmann, R.K.,A.H. Beaudreau, and K.M. Green. 2018. Movement patterns of juvenile sablefish within a nursery area in Southeast Alaska. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. https://doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10099

Message from the Dean

Last week was a particularly exciting time for CFOS. We hosted the Ocean Studies Board (OSB) of the National Academies, which is the first time OSB has met in Alaska. President Johnsen graciously addressed the Board with inspiring remarks on the challenges and opportunities we face as valued members of the university in helping Alaska grow and prosper. Notably, the meeting included presentations by our distinguished faculty Seth Danielson and Russ Hopcroft, Alaska Sea Grant Director Heather Brandon, INE researcher Jeremy Kasper, AOOS Director Molly McCammon, and OSB alumni Keith Criddle and Terry Quinn participated in the Fisheries Subcommittee discussion.

The OSB meeting included a well-attended, full-day Scoping Session focused on the challenge of supporting marine infrastructure in Alaska and the broader Arctic in the face of rapidly changing environmental conditions. The meeting included the full spectrum of attendees and participants from Alaska Native communities and organizations, academia, federal and state agencies, the Governor’s office, the private sector, and our colleagues at IARC, IAB, INE, GI, and the VCR office. Chancellor White’s opening remarks rightly acknowledged the value of CFOS in helping to coordinate such discussions of regional and national importance.

The meetings concluded with the inaugural FOS keynote seminar delivered by Dr. Cisco Werner of NOAA. The seminar was a truly thought provoking presentation on the importance of innovation and emerging technologies to better manage complex marine ecosystems in the face of climate change. It is a pleasure to once again thank Cisco for making the long journey to deliver this wonderful seminar, and for his support of the new NOAA QUEST fisheries faculty position at CFOS.

These meetings would not have been possible with the dedication and energy of our staff; it is a great pleasure to thank Lauren Frisch, Jennifer Harris, John Haverlack, Heather Leavengood and Scott Lonergan for their time and effort in making these high-level events a great success.

To add to this excitement, we are currently hosting multiple on-campus interviews as part of our recruitment of seagoing faculty and the new President’s Professor in fisheries. And, we will soon begin advertising for the NOAA QUEST fisheries and mariculture faculty positions. A big thank-you to all the chairs and members of these search committees and to our faculty, staff and students for their time and effort spent on these important faculty searches.

Finally, as noted at our recent all-hands faculty meeting, we will hold an all-hands faculty retreat at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage on January 27, 2019, one day prior to the start of the 2019 Alaska Marine Science Symposium. The CFOS Dean’s Office will support the retreat. The purpose of the retreat is to review progress in our research, academic and outreach programs since our last retreat in September 2016, and to establish priorities to advance the mission of CFOS. With your input, the DEC will develop the agenda for this important gathering.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is continuing its current mission to support the Stratified Ocean Dynamics of the Arctic (SODA) project fieldwork in the Chukchi Sea, led by Dr. Jen MacKinnon (UCSD/SIO) and co-PI Harper Simmons. Following this cruise, Sikuliaq will host researchers from Columbia University and college students as part of a Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Student Experiences Aboard Ships (STEMSEAS) cruise while transiting to Seward.

Activities and Accomplishments

During the week of September 10, CFOS hosted the 90^th National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Ocean Studies Board meeting, which included a daylong scoping session on Arctic Marine Infrastructure.

On September 12, NOAA Fisheries Chief Science Advisor Dr. Cisco Werner presented the inaugural CFOS Fisheries and Ocean Sciences Keynote Seminar, entitled "Emerging technologies and observations for fisheries and ocean research, operations and management in an ecosystem context."

A radio news piece produced by Compton Consulting featured work by Tanja Schollmeier and Katrin Iken on the impact of sea ice loss on benthic consumers in the Arctic. The radio piece is now part of the Alaska Public Radio Network collection and was recently aired by KBBI.

Lauren Frisch published her 100^th research story for CFOS—go Lauren!

CFOS in the News

UAF Cornerstone and the CFOS website featured work by Casey Clark, Lara Horstmann and Nicole Misarti on the use of zinc in walrus teeth in revealing population health dynamics. The story was republished in SitNews.

The first and second stories in a four-part series on the new Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-term Ecological Research program were republished in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Andrew McDonnell’s research on marine snow was featured in an article on Mashable and in Daily Magazine.

Dean Moran’s briefing on Sikuliaq to the UA Board of Regents on September 6 was highlighted by KUAC. The story is between 2:18–4:15 minutes in the KUAC recording and was republished by Alaska Public Media.

KFSK highlighted the 11^th annual Rainforest Festival led by Sunny Rice, which connects people to the natural world through education, exploration and the arts.

The Petersburg Pilot covered a summer science camp for middle school students organized by Sunny Rice as well.

Frozenfoodsbiz.com reported on a study coauthored by Quentin Fong regarding the large market potential of Alaska wild salmon in China.

National Fisherman highlighted Alaska Sea Grant’s leadership institute for seafood processing managers.

Publications

Anvari, M., B. Smith, C. Sannito, & Q.S.W. Fong. 2018. Characterization of rheological and physicochemical properties of Alaska walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) roe. Journal of Food Science and Technology 55(9): 3616–3624. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13197-018-3287-7

Charapata, P., L. Horstmann, A. Jannasch, and N. Misarti. A novel method to measure steroid hormone concentrations in walrus bone from archaeological, historical, and modern time periods using LC/MS/MS. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8272

Cunningham, C.J.,* P.A.H. Westley, and M.D. Adkison. 2018. Signals of large scale climate drivers, hatchery enhancement, and marine factors in Yukon River Chinook salmon survival revealed with a Bayesian life history model. Global Change Biology 24(9): 4399–4416. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14315

Ehresmann, R.K., A.H. Beaudreau, and K.M. Green. 2018. Movement patterns of juvenile sablefish within a nursery area in Southeast Alaska. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. https://doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10099.

Hayes, C.T., R.F. Anderson, H. Cheng, T.M. Conway, R.L. Edwards, M.Q. Fleisher, P. Ho, K.-F.  Huang, S.G. John, W.M. Landing, S.H. Little, Y. Lu, P.L. Morton, S.B. Moran, L.F. Robinson, R.U. Shelley, A.M. Shiller, and X.-Y. Zheng. 2018. Replacement times of a spectrum of elements in the North Atlantic based on thorium supply. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 32. https://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2017GB005839

Whitney, E.J., A.H. Beaudreau, and D.H. Duncan. 2017. Spatial and temporal variation in the diets of Pacific staghorn sculpins related to hydrological factors in a glacially influenced estuary. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 146(6): 1156–1167 https://doi.org/10.1080/00028487.2017.1341852

Grant Awards for August 2018

The new awards for August are as follows (with official start dates in parentheses):

• Grant G-12195 "Hot spots of activity in the cold ocean: Ecological characterization of size-fractionated microbial communities" - Eric Collins - NPRB - $174,940.00 (August 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12253 "Graduate Studies Agreement between Laura Stichert and ADFG" - Gordon Kruse - ADFG - $3,015.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12255 "High-Latitude Ocean Change Laboratory:  a Kasitsna Bay Laboratory Improvement Grant" - Brenda Konar - NSF - $258,237.00 (August 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12263 "Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Program: Proposal for Health, Social and Economic Disruption Regional Priority Setting" - Victoria Baker - National Academy of Sciences - $64,843.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12273 "140M0118Q0042 Arctic Ocean Circulation Model" - Seth Danielson - BOEM - $10,000.00 (August 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12275 "Fitness Effects of Hatchery Supplementation of Auke Creek sockeye salmon - Phase 2" - Megan McPhee - Pacific Salmon Commission - $12,666.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12305 "Collaborative Research: Development and fabrication of a high-temperature borehole fluid sampler to characterize seawater-basalt and the thermal limits of life on Earth" - Geoff Wheat - NSF - $78,614.00 (August 15, 2018)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of August:

• Grant G-10831 "ASGARD: Arctic Shelf, Advection, Respiration and Deposition Rate Experiments" - Seth Danielson - Mod 6 (Russ Hopcroft) - NPRB - $101,744.00
• Grant G-11073 "Time-Series Monitoring of Ocean Acidification in Alaska" - Brenda Konar - Mod 5 - AOOS - $29,000.00
• Grant G-11133 "Chukchi Sea Ecosystem Mooring" - Seth Danielson - Mod 4 - AOOS - $100,000.00
• Grant G-11157 "Seward Line Monitoring" - Russ Hopcroft - Mod 3 - AOOS - $105,001.00
• Grant G-11158 "HFR Operations and Maintenance" - Seth Danielson - Mod 5 - AOOS - $156,000.00
• Grant G-11299 "An Arctic marine mammal observing system" - Peter Winsor - Mod 2 - AOOS - $40,000.00
• Grant G-11684 "ECOHAB 2017: Uncovering the mechanisms behind wintertime occurrences of paralytic shellfish toxicity in geoduck fisheries in Southeast Alaska" - Ginny Eckert - Mod 1 - NOAA - $495,887.00
• Grant G-11709 "LTER:  Resilience in the Environmental Mosaic of the Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA) Shelf Ecosystem" - Russ Hopcroft - Mod 1 - $1,127,000.00
• Grant G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022" - Ginny Eckert - Mod 3 - NOAA - $207,029.00
• Grant G-12114 "Inertial and Turbulent Processes in the Iceland Basin:  A proposal to the Near Inertial Shear and Kinetic Energy in the North Atlantic Experiment (NISKINE) Departmental Research Initiative" - Harper Simmons - Mod 1 - ONR - $70,000.00

Message from the Dean

As we kick off the fall semester, it is a pleasure to extend a warm welcome to our new and current students. This is an exciting time for the College and UAF, and our faculty and staff stand ready to support your education, training and future success.

Nearly a year has passed since we hosted the Visiting Expert Committee to provide an assessment of the health and needs of CFOS, and we continue to check the boxes of key recommendations in the VEC report. This includes hiring new tenure-track and research faculty, assessing our academic curricula, strengthening the capabilities of the Seward Marine Center and R/V Sikuliaq, and continuing our efforts to engage and collaborate with Alaska Sea Grant. In that regard, going forward the College will reinvest five percent of CFOS indirect cost recovery (ICR) funds returned to CFOS to those faculty that generate ICR from external grants and contracts. Details of this reinvestment in our research enterprise will be forthcoming.

Today marks Gordon Kruse’s last day of work at CFOS. Gordon was hired in 2001 as an inaugural President’s Professor of Fisheries, and it is fitting that he is chairing the search for the new CFOS President’s Professorship of Fisheries and Ecosystems. Gordon’s reputation as an expert in quantitative fisheries is revered, and he notes admirably that the greatest reward of his academic career has been working with students. Please join me in congratulating Emeritus Professor Gordon Kruse on a very productive career at S/CFOS and wishing him the very best in retirement.

Finally, please join me in congratulating Ed deCastro as the new Port Captain at the Seward Marine Center. Ed previously worked as Warehouse Manager and most recently as interim Port Captain at SMC.

Wishing everyone a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway for Dr. Jen MacKinnon’s (UCSD/SIO) Stratified Ocean Dynamics of the Arctic (SODA) cruise. The overall goal of the SODA project is to study processes controlling the distribution of heat and salt in the Beaufort Sea. Dr. Harper Simmons (UAF/CFOS) is co-PI of the SODA cruise, with operations coordinated with USGCG Healy and NOAA aircraft.

The SODA cruise is scheduled to end in Nome on September 30. After a brief port call, Sikuliaq will embark several college students and a handful of researchers for a Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Student Experiences Aboard Ships (STEMSEAS) cruise while transiting to her homeport of Seward. This STEMSEAS cruise is supported by the National Science Foundation and coordinated by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.

Activities and Accomplishments

The Kachemak Bay Laboratory received support from a National Science Foundation Field Station and Marine Lab Improvement Grant. With this funding, the lab will advance its capabilities to study ocean acidification in coastal waters, as well as strengthen the Ocean Acidification Research Center and the Gulf Watch Alaska Monitoring Program. Congratulations to Brenda Konar, Amanda Kelley, Katrin Iken and Claudine Hauri for their successful work on this proposal.

A weeklong summer science field camp for 6–8th graders in Petersburg was led by Sunny Rice in partnership with several local organizations. Students explored terrestrial and marine ecosystems, learned sampling techniques and reported on a species of choice to their parents as the final project.

Liz Dobbins participated in OceanHackWeek, a workshop to train scientists in analysis of large oceanographic data sets, including linking Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-term Ecological Research program data with model results on the Alaska Ocean Observing System data portal.

CFOS in the News

A UAF press release highlighted a new study coauthored by Courtney Carothers investigating the shortcomings of ITQ systems for fisheries. The press release was also published on the CFOS website, and republished in Science Daily, SitNews and Science Magazine.

All four parts in the new NGALTER feature story series can now be found in one place on the CFOS website.

Oceans Unmanned published a press release about work by Melissa Good and others to respond to marine mammal strandings in the Aleutian Islands using drones.

Arctic Today ran a story about an Alaska Sea Grant–funded research project in Utqiagvik that involves training citizen scientists to measure impacts of coastal erosion and flooding.

KMXT-FM mentioned Alaska Sea Grant’s efforts to develop a handheld test kit for toxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning.

The Nome Nugget published a story about Gay Sheffield’s work to identify a seal satellite tracker that a Golovin resident discovered on the beach.

Publications

Brown, R.J., and J.A. Lopez. 2018. Morphological variability among spawning populations of Bering cisco Coregonus laurettae. Copeia 106(3): 405–413. https://doi.org/10.1643/CG-17-702

Dissen, J.N., A.C.M. Oliveira, L. Horstmann, and S.M. Hardy. 2018. Regional and temporal variation in fatty acid profiles of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) in Alaska. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-018-2386-2

Miller, G.H., J.W. Magee, M.L. Fogel, M.J. Wooller, P.P. Hesse, N.A. Spooner, B.J. Johnson, and L. Wallis. 2018. Wolfe Creek Crater: A continuous sediment fill in the Australian Arid Zone records changes in monsoon strength through the Late Quaternary. Quaternary Science Reviews 197. Available online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327079263_Wolfe_Creek_Crater_A_continuous_sediment_fill_in_the_Australian_Arid_Zone_records_changes_in_monsoon_strength_through_the_Late_Quaternary

Young, O.R., D.G. Webster, M.E. Cox, J. Raakjær, N. Einarsson, R. Virginia, J. Acheson, L. Øfjord Blaxekjær, D. Bromley, E. Cardwell, C. Carothers, E. Eythórsson, R.B. Howarth, S. Jentoft, B.J. McCay, F. McCormack, G. Osherenko, E. Pinkerton, R.J. vanGinkel, J.A. Wilson, L. Rivers III, and R.S. Wilson. 2018. Moving beyond panaceas in fisheries governance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1716545115

Message from the Dean

It is a great pleasure to welcome Heather Brandon as director of Alaska Sea Grant. Heather brings significant experience in fisheries and marine policy that will be an asset to Alaska Sea Grant and Alaska’s coastal communities. Heather’s primary office will be located at our Lena Point facility, and she will begin work on August 27. I am grateful to interim director Ginny Eckert for her leadership during this transition and to the search committee for its time and effort dedicated to this key hire. Please join me in welcoming Heather to Alaska Sea Grant, CFOS, and the UAF community.

And, please join me in welcoming Sarah Walters as facility logistics and science coordinator at the Seward Marine Center. One of Sarah’s priorities will be coordinating the annual Alaska Tsunami Bowl.

Next month CFOS will host six interviews for multiple tenure-track positions in fisheries and oceanography. Three candidates for the seagoing faculty cluster hires will visit Fairbanks, and three finalists for the President’s Professorship in Quantitative Fisheries will interview at our Fairbanks and Juneau locations. Details of the interview schedules and candidate expertise will be forthcoming from search chairs Mark Johnson (seagoing faculty search) and Gordon Kruse (President’s Professor search).

Last week, I visited Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to discuss opportunities for collaboration focused on Arctic research and present an overview of our College’s research, teaching and outreach programs. The visit was very productive and it is my hope that this will help to advance research collaborations between Sandia, CFOS and UAF. Many thanks to Lori Parrott and her team and colleagues at Sandia for graciously hosting my visit.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway in support of Dr. Carin Ashjian’s (WHOI) Shelf Break Ecology cruise in the Beaufort Sea. The purpose of this cruise is to investigate physical and biological oceanographic processes along the shelf break of the Beaufort Sea during periods of upwelling and relaxation in summer and early fall. The team is sampling both underway and on station using bioacoustics, ADCP, CTD, bongo nets, Tucker trawls, towed profiler, and bird and marine mammal observations. The cruise will end in Nome next week.

Sikuliaq’s next cruise is Dr. Jen MacKinnon’s (SIO) Stratified Ocean Dynamics of the Arctic (SODA) cruise. Dr. Harper Simmons (CFOS) is a co-PI on the SODA project. The SODA cruise operations—deploying autonomous vehicles and moorings in the Beaufort Sea—are being coordinated with USCGC Healy. 

Activities and Accomplishments

Jeff Falke, Chris Sergeant and Davin Holen are part of a team investigating the resilience of Southeast Alaska wild salmon to climate change. The group recently met in Juneau to develop a sampling plan. 

Jessica Cross is currently on USCGC Healy conducting carbonate chemistry measurements along the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. This is the second year that the Ocean Acidification Research Center has been involved with the DBO project, focusing on ecosystem vulnerabilities and resilience.

Jessica Pretty is currently participating in the NASA EXPORTS expedition. Andrew McDonnell is a co-PI on this project. Learn more about the cruise in this press release or on the cruise blog.

Melissa Good co-led the 9th annual Pribilof Islands Summer Science youth camp in St. Paul. This year's event honored marine researcher Michelle Ridgway, who passed in January. Ridgway was a passionate advocate for Bering Sea ecosystems and a brilliant outreach educator among Pribilof youth.  

Torie Baker presented at the fifth International Fishing Industry Safety and Health conference (IFISH-5) on a NIOSH-sponsored worker health assessment of commercial harvesters, a first in the United States for this workforce.

The Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center is hosting two marine science middle school interns in partnership with the Association of Latin Women in Alaska (ALMA), a family cultural resource center based in Kodiak. Julie Matweyou is the intern supervisor.

CFOS in the News

A feature story series on the May Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-term Ecological Research program cruise was released over the past two weeks.

Story 1, “Sikuliaq expands ways to study Gulf of Alaska ecosystems,” was published on the UAF website, CFOS website and SitNews.

Story 2, “Submarine ‘airplane’ revolutionizes measurement of seawater content,” was published on the UAF website, CFOS website and SitNews.

Story 3, “Sikuliaq improves analysis of phytoplankton’s nutrient needs,” was published on the UAF website, CFOS website and SitNews.

Story 4, “Sikuliaq researchers find odd, abundant animal-plant plankton,” was published on the UAF website and the CFOS website.

Radio Canada International’s Eye on the Arctic program reported on Gay Sheffield’s work monitoring probable shark attacks on pinnipeds in western Alaska waters.

Publications

Nielsen, J.K., C.S. Rose, T. Loher, P. Drobny, A.C. Seitz, M.B. Courtney, and J. Gauvin. 2018. Characterizing activity and assessing bycatch survival of Pacific halibut with accelerometer pop-up satellite archival tags. Animal Biotelemetry 6:10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-018-0154-2

Wild, L.A., E.M. Chenoweth, F.J. Mueter, and J.M. Straley. 2018. Evidence for dietary time series in layers of cetacean skin using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 32(16): 1425–1438. https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8168

van Hardenbroek, M., A. Chakraborty, K.L. Davies, P. Harding, O. Heiri, A.C.G. Henderson, J.A. Holmes, G.E. Lasher, M.J. Leng, V.N. Panizzo, L. Roberts, J. Schilder, C.N. Trueman, and M.J. Wooller. 2018. The stable isotope composition of organic and inorganic fossils in lake sediment records: Current understanding, challenges, and future directions. Quaternary Science Reviews196:154–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.08.003

Schlitzer, R., R.F. Anderson, E.M. Dodas, M. Lohan, W. Geibert, A. Tagliabue, A. Bowie, C. Jeandel, M. Maldonado, W.M. Landing, D. Cockwell, C. Abadie, W. Abouchami, E.P. Achterberg, A. Agather, A. Aguliar-Islas, et al. 2018. The GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Product 2017. Chemical Geology 493:210–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.05.040

Yang, L., K. Nadeau, J. Meija, P. Grinberg, E. Pagliano, F. Ardini, M. Grotti, C. Schlosser, P. Streu, E.P. Achterberg, Y. Sohrin, T. Minami, L. Zheng, J. Wu, G. Chen, M.J. Ellwood, C. Turetta, A.Aguilar-Islas, R. Rember, G. Sarthou, M. Tonnard, H. Planquette, T. Matoušek, S. Crum, and Z. Mester. 2018. Inter-laboratory study for the certification of trace elements in seawater certified reference materials NASS-7 and CASS-6. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 410(18): 4469–4479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1102-y

 Hauri, C., S. Danielson, A.M.P. McDonnell, R.R. Hopcroft, P. Winsor, P. Shipton, C. Lalande, K.M. Stafford, J.K. Horne, L.W. Cooper, J.M. Grebmeier, A. Mahoney, K. Maisch, M. McCammon, H. Statscewich, A. Sybrandy, and T. Weingartner. 2018. From sea ice to seals: A moored marine ecosystem observatory in the Arctic. Ocean Science Discussion. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2018-82.

McConnell, C.J., P.A.H. Westley, and M.V. McPhee. 2018. Differences in fitness-associated traits between hatchery and wild chum salmon despite long-term immigration by strays. Aquaculture Environment Interactions 10:99–113. https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00261

Message from the Dean

The active search to hire sea-going tenure-track faculty is progressing very well. At this stage, three candidates have been invited to present their research and teaching interests, meet with faculty, staff and students, and learn more about the exciting programs and opportunities at CFOS. Candidate interviews will take place in Fairbanks starting next month; details will be forthcoming. Kudos to search chair Mark Johnson and the entire search committee for their time and effort dedicated to this important faculty recruitment process.

CFOS is set to host the 90^th meeting of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Ocean Studies Board (OSB), which will take place in Fairbanks on September 10 and 12. The agenda includes invited presentations by Seth Danielson and Russ Hopcroft (CFOS), Jeremy Kasper (INE) and Molly McCammon (AOOS), who will discuss the response of marine ecosystems to climate warming and changing ice cover, ocean circulation, and coastal processes in North Pacific and Arctic waters. Also presenting will be the new Director of the Alaska Sea Program – that search has concluded and I look forward to introducing our new director.

In conjunction with the OSB meeting, on September 11 CFOS will host a one-day Scoping Session on Arctic Marine Infrastructure that will be conducted jointly by OSB, the Polar Research Board and the Marine Board of NASEM. The objective of the Scoping Session is to explore marine infrastructure needs in the U.S. Arctic and to determine whether this topic would benefit from a focused NASEM study. Interest in this Scoping Session has grown significantly and will feature panels on Arctic coastal communities, navigation and port facilities, safety and communication, and research and observational needs. Invited participants include representatives from Alaska Native villages and corporations, the Arctic research community, federal and state agencies, Alaska governor’s office and the private sector. The Scoping Session is open and will conclude with a reception at the Museum of the North. A detailed agenda will be forthcoming.

Finally, we are extremely fortunate and I am personally thrilled to convey that Dr. Cisco Werner, Chief Science Advisor and Director of Science Programs for NOAA Fisheries, will present the inaugural keynote lecture as part of the 2018 Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (FOS) seminar series. Dr. Werner’s seminar is entitled “Emerging technologies and observations related to fisheries and ocean research, operations and management in an ecosystem context”. The seminar will be held in the Murie Auditorium from 4:30-5:30 pm on September 12. A separate announcement will be forthcoming; please mark your calendars for this open and highly recommended keynote presentation. 

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway on Dr. Carin Ashjian’s (WHOI) Shelf Break Ecology cruise in the Beaufort Sea. The cruise is investigating the physical and biological oceanography along the shelf break of the Beaufort Sea during periods of upwelling and relaxation in summer and early fall. Researchers are sampling underway and on station via bioacoustics, ADCP, CTD, bongo nets, Tucker trawls, towed profiler, and bird and marine mammal observations. The cruise will end in Nome on August 28^th.

Following Ashjian’s Shelf Break Ecology cruise is Dr. Jen MacKinnon’s (UCSD/SIO) Stratified Ocean Dynamics of the Arctic (SODA) cruise. The SODA cruise is being coordinated with the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy.

Activities and Accomplishments

Amy Kirkham was selected as a Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow for 2019.

CFOS graduate Kirsten Ressel gave two presentations on “Distribution, life history, and reproductive biology of spawning Capelin, Mallotus villosus, in Norton Sound and local population differentiation in Alaska” for the Nome Rotary Club and the Nome Strait Science series.

The publication listed below titled “Autumn distribution of Bristol Bay red king crab using fishery logbooks” is Gordon Kruse’s 100th coauthored peer-reviewed publication of his career.

Megan McPhee presented “Collaborative Fisheries Education Across the Bering Sea: A Case Study from Alaska and Kamchatka" along with her colleague Professor Alexander Anatolyevich Bonk from Kamchatka State Technical University at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Russian American Pacific Partnership in Anchorage, July 25–26.

CFOS in the News

The work of Gay Sheffield and other scientists to understand the effects of oil dispersants on Arctic wildlife was featured by the Nome Nugget.

KTVA 11 featured research on successful management and sustainable harvesting of kelp and rockweed led by Brenda Konar and Brian Ulaski.

NPR featured a story on “the Blob’s” effect on cod crashes in the Gulf of Alaska, featuring Mike Litzow’s research on whether cod populations will ever recover.

Publications

Alabia, I.D., J. García Molinos, S.-I. Saitoh, T. Hirawake, T. Hirata, and F.J. Mueter. 2018. Distribution shifts of marine taxa in the Pacific Arctic under contemporary climate changes. Diversity and Distributions 2018:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12788.

Holsman, K., A. Hollowed, S.-I. Ito, S. Bograd, E. Hazen, J. King, F. Mueter, and R.I. Perry. 2018. Chapter 6: North Pacific and Pacific Arctic marine fisheries. In: M. Barange, T. Bahri, M.C.M. Beveridge, K.L. Cochrane, S. Funge-Smith, and F. Poulain (eds.), Impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture: synthesis of current knowledge, adaptation and mitigation options. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper 627, Rome. http://www.fao.org/3/I9705EN/i9705en.pdf

Wild, L.A., E.M. Chenoweth, F.J. Mueter, and J.M. Straley. 2018. Evidence for dietary time series in layers of cetacean skin using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 32(16): 1425–1438. https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8168

Zacher, L.S., L. Horstmann, and S.M. Hardy. In press. A field-based study of metabolites in sacculinized king crabs Paralithodes camtschaticus (Tilesius, 1815) and Lithodes aequispinus Benedict, 1895 (Decapoda: Anomura: Lithodidae). Journal of Crustacean Biology.

Zacher, L.S., G.H. Kruse, and S.M. Hardy. 2018. Autumn distribution of Bristol Bay red king crab using fishery logbooks. PLoS ONE 13(7): e0201190. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201190.

Grant Awards for July 2018

The new awards for July are as follows:

• Grant G-12117 "CY2018 Navy-funded cruises on R/V Sikuliaq" - Doug Baird Jr. - ONR - $5,000.00 (out of $1,941,391.00) - (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12149 "AINA Revitalization" - Mark Johnson - UA Foundation - $25,000.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12160 "Ulaski Northern Gulf of Alaska Applied Research Award" - Brenda Konar - UA Foundation - $5,000.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12161 "Pacific Cod Individual Based Model Enhancement and Validation" - Ken Coyle - NPRB - $84,133.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12178 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Ship Operations - CY2018-2022" - S. Bradley Moran - NSF - $2,547,032.00 (July 1, 2018)
• Grant G-12200 "Quintillion - Bowhead Whale Sampling" - Gay Sheffield - UA Foundation - $19,000.00 (July 1, 2018)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of July:

• Grant G-10539 "Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) Continuation" - Mod 5 - C. Geoffrey Wheat - University of Southern California - $205,209.00 (October 1, 2015)
• Grant G-11494 "High-frequency characterization of the physicochemical parameters of Cook Inlet, Alaska" - Mod 1 - Amanda Kelley - BOEM - $26,649.00 (June 5, 2017)
• Grant G-11532 "Coastal Community Vulnerability Index and Visualizations of Change in Cook Inlet, Alaska" - Mod 2 - Davin Holen - BOEM - $50,000.00 (June 14, 2017)
• Grant G-11557 "CAREER: Imaging the global distribution and drivers of the ocean's biological carbon pump" - Mod 1 - Andrew McDonnell - NSF - $136,349.00 (July 1, 2017)
• Grant G-11653 "Coastal hydrographic physical dynamics and oceanography assessments" - Mod 1 - Seth Danielson - NPS - $104,078.00 (August 2, 2017)
• Grant G-11744 "Synthesizing Optically and Carbon Export-Relevant Particle Size Distributions for the EXPORTS Field Campaign" - Mod 1 - Andrew McDonnell - University of Santa Barbara NCEAS - $66,228.00 (September 15, 2017)
• Grant G-11936 "Alaska Sea Grant Omnibus 2018-2022"- Mod 2 - Ginny Eckert - $819,589.00 (February 1, 2018)

The following grant controlled by another department received incremental funding during July:

• Grant G-11468 "Microbial Biodegradation of Alaska North Slope Crude Oil in Pacific Arctic Marine Environment" - Mod 1 - IAB - Sarah Hardy - BOEM - $34,740.00 (May 15, 2017)

Message from the Dean

It is a great pleasure to convey that Chancellor White will support a new tenure-track faculty in mariculture at CFOS. This tripartite faculty position comes with four years of support from the Chancellor’s office and will be based at our Kodiak facility. Congratulations and many thanks to Brenda Konar on her successful proposal for this faculty position, entitled: UAF Mariculture/Aquaculture Research and Academic investment. Brenda has agreed to lead the search for this important new faculty position.

It is also a pleasure to convey that Dr. Krista Oke has accepted a prestigious UAF Centennial Post-doctoral Fellowship to work at CFOS. Under the direction of Peter Westley, Dr. Oke will work with faculty and collaborators to explore the ecological, economic, and cultural impacts of Alaska salmon as part of the recently launched Center for Salmon and Society. Dr. Oke is an evolutionary ecologist who earned her PhD at McGill University examining patterns and processes of (non) parallel evolution in fishes. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Oke to CFOS and the UAF community.

Extending a warm welcome and congratulations to UAF’s new Provost Anupma Prakash on her first day on the job. CFOS looks forward to working alongside Provost Prakash to help grow UAF’s academic and research mission.

Finally, congratulations to the Summer 2018 graduates!

Summer 2018 Graduates

• Rhea Ehresmann, M.S. Fisheries. Advisor: Anne Beaudreau
• Janessa Esquible, M.S. Fisheries. Advisor: Shannon Atkinson
• Tessa Minicucci, M.S. Fisheries. Advisor: Megan McPhee
• Jacob Metzger, M.S. Marine Biology. Advisor: Brenda Konar
• Maggie Chan, Ph.D. Fisheries. Advisor: Anne Beaudreau
• Ellen Chenoweth, Ph.D. Fisheries. Advisor: Megan McPhee and Shannon Atkinson
• Benjamin Williams, Ph.D. Fisheries. Advisor: Gordon Kruse

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway on the second leg of the Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment (AACSE) led by Dr. Anne Sheehan (University of Colorado) and Dr. Doug Wiens (Washington University). AACSE is a shoreline-crossing community seismic experiment around the Alaska Peninsula. Researchers will deploy about 75 ocean bottom seismometers over the course of the experiment. The AACSE project is scheduled to end in Seward on Wednesday.

On Friday, July 27, Sikuliaq will transit from Seward to Nome to stage for two Arctic projects in August and September—Dr. Carin Ashjian’s (WHOI) Shelf Break Ecology cruise and Dr. Jen MacKinnon’s (UCSD/SIO) Stratified Ocean Dynamics of the Arctic (SODA) cruise. Both of these cruises will be conducted in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The SODA cruise is being coordinated with the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy.

Activities and Accomplishments

Anne Beaudreau published a blog post about UA Fisheries Days on her website. The two-day event at Lena Point featured the 22^nd annual Student Research Symposium and a fisheries open house that attracted nearly 500 visitors.

Gordon Kruse recently participated in a town hall/text-in live radio show on KUHB in St. Paul (watch the interview on the Pribs Blues Muse website). The interview, conducted by Jared Weems and CFOS alumna Lauren Divine, focused on his career involvement in fisheries science and management in Alaska. The following week, Kruse, Weems, Divine, Veronica Padula and Melissa Good participated in the ECO Bering Sea – Pribilof Islands science camp attended by about 30 students from St. George and St. Paul Islands.

Franz Mueter was co-chair of the Ecosystem Studies of the Subarctic and Arctic Seas (ESSAS) Annual Science Meeting held in Fairbanks on June 12–14. The meeting attracted over 40 participants from 7 countries. More information can be found on the meeting’s website.

Anne Beaudreau was involved in the production of the short film called Respect the Land, which illustrates how Iñupiaq values guide approaches to hunting and harvesting.

CFOS in the News

KMXT and the Kodiak Mirror highlighted a meeting earlier this week that discussed a new faculty member who will be based at the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center.

Alaska Public Media highlighted Mat Wooller’s new publication on how climate change may have sparked human migration into interior Alaska.

Researchers are now using drones to collect whale snot, which is a more efficient way to collect hormone samples for whales. Ideas.ted.com highlighted this new technology, featuring Shannon Atkinson’s work on whale pregnancies and stress levels.

An Alaska Sea Grant blog post about an uptick in shark attacks on ice-associated seals and sea lions in northern and western Alaska generated stories by Alaska Public Radio, Arctic Today and a front-page article in the Anchorage Daily News. The blog was also republished by Delta Discovery, Sitnews, SanJuanIslander.com and phys.org. Fairbanks television stations KTVF and KXDF also covered the story.

An Alaska Business Monthly story on the graying of the fleet, which refers to the increasing age of fishing captains and crewmembers in Alaska, highlighted contributions by Paula Cullenberg and Courtney Carothers.

Alaska Sea Grant’s work to better understand an unusual mortality event involving pinnipeds was covered in Sitnews. The event caused widespread public health and food security concerns in more than 50 Alaska and Russian coastal communities along the coast of the Beaufort, Chukchi and Bering Seas in 2011.

Gay Sheffield’s work on a recent seabird die-off in northwest Alaska was covered by the Arctic Sounder and KNOM. The KNOM story was republished in the Anchorage Daily News and Juneau’s KTOO.

Publications

Teerlink, S., L. Horstmann, and B. Witteveen. 2018. Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) blubber steroid hormone concentration to evaluate chronic stress response from whale-watching vessels. Aquatic Mammals 44(4): 411–425. https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.44.4.2018.411

Wooller, M.J., E. Saulnier-Talbot, B.A. Potter, S. Belmecheri, N. Bigelow, K. Choy, L.C. Cwynar, K. Davies, R.W. Graham, J. Kurek, P. Langdon, A. Medeiros, R. Rawcliffe, Y. Wang, and J.W. Williams. 2018. A new terrestrial palaeoenvironmental record from the Bering Land Bridge and context for human dispersal. Royal Society Open Science 5:180145. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180145

Message from the Dean

I hope that everyone had a relaxing and safe July 4th break.

It seems hard to believe that we are already into the second week of July. As we have now passed the halfway mark of this calendar year, it is timely to reflect on what we have accomplished to date and what we can look forward to achieving in the coming months. 

Here are a few noteworthy points. We managed to close FY18 above our projected budget deficit; this is a significant achievement given the financial challenges we faced at this time last year. The sacrifices that all of you have made to help advance the College are most appreciated—thank you. We were successful in our submission of the R/V Sikuliaq Ship Operations CY2018–2022 proposal to NSF. An RFP has been submitted to build a new and more capable coastal research vessel to replace the Little Dipper. And, we are proceeding with a number of important staff and faculty searches. 

It is a pleasure to thank the members of these CFOS search committees, the Dean’s Executive Committee, the Management Team and all CFOS staff who work hard to advance the mission of the College—your collective work is helping to ensure that our students and faculty achieve excellence in research, teaching, and service. Great work CFOS!

Next week, UAF Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization (OIPC) Director Gwen Holdmann and I will visit our Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center. The purpose of the visit is to better familiarize Gwen and her OIPC team with our facility, programs and activities at Kodiak, and to help foster intellectual property development and technology transfer related to seafood and marine sciences, including engagement with local community organizations and businesses.

Finally, as some of you may already be aware, CFOS Development Officer Teresa Thompson has accepted the position of Executive Assistant to UA President Jim Johnsen. Teresa’s last workday at CFOS will be July 13. For over a decade Teresa has worked passionately as the Development Officer in the former SFOS and now CFOS. We will organize a proper farewell event later next month—stay tuned for details. Please join me in thanking Teresa for her dedication and valued contributions to S/CFOS and wishing her the very best going forward in her new position.

In that regard, please send future C-Notes information to Lauren Frisch at lcfrisch@alaska.edu.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is moored in Seward to stage for the second leg of the Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment (AACSE). Dr. Anne Sheehan (University of Colorado) and Dr. Doug Wiens’ (Washington University) AACSE project is a shoreline-crossing community seismic experiment around the Alaska Peninsula. The AACSE project will end in Seward with offloading gear on July 26th. Sikuliaq then transits from Seward to Nome to start two Arctic projects in August and September—Dr. Carin Ashjian’s Shelf Break Ecology cruise and Dr. Jen Mackinnon’s SODA cruise.

Activities and Accomplishments

CFOS in Juneau hosted the BRIGHT Girls (Budding Research Investigators in Geosciences, Habitat, and Technology) program for two weeks in June.  Dr. Andy Seitz, Dr. Anupma Prakash, and Jamie Womble, '03, are Co-PIs; Dr. Laura Oxtoby, '16, is the Project Manager and Lisa South Wirth, '10, is an instructor, among others. http://www.brightgirlsak.org/

Ocean Acidification Research Center (OARC) member Dr. Jessica Cross, ’13, recently participated in POLAR 2018 in Davos, Switzerland. Dr. Cross presented at Arctic Science Summit Week, the Pacific Arctic Meeting group, and the Arctic Observing Systems to demonstrate the effects of OA in the Arctic and Alaska. 

CFOS in the News

Last month KUAC and 220 news outlets around the country covered a report on Cook Inlet Beluga whale feeding ecology based on isotopes in bone and teeth. Mark A. Nelson, Lori T. Quakenbush, Barbara A. Mahoney, Brian D. Taras and CFOS faculty member Matthew Wooller published the report.

The Nome Nugget, KNOM radio and KTOO public media ran segments about Seth Danielson’s ASGARD cruise last month.

Publications

Muller-Karger, F.E., P. Miloslavich, N.J. Bax, S. Simmons, M.J. Costello, I. Sousa Pinto, G. Canonico, W. Turner, M. Gill, E. Montes, B. Best, J. Pearlman, P. Halpin, D. Dunn, A. Benson, C. Martin, L. Weatherdon, W. Appeltans, P. Provoost, E. Klein, C. Kelble, R.J. Miller, F. Chavez, K. Iken, S. Chiba, D. Obura, L.M. Navarro, H.M. Pereira, V. Allain, S. Batten, L. Benedetti-Cecchi, J.E. Duffy, R.M. Kudela, L-M. Rebelo, Y. Shin, and G. Geller. 2018. Advancing marine biological observations and data requirements of the complementary essential ocean variables (EOVs) and essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) frameworks. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00211.

Ansong, J.K., B.K. Arbic, H.L. Simmons, M.H. Alford, M.C. Buijsman, P.G. Timko, J.G. Richman, J.F. Shriver, and A.J. Wallcraft. 2018. Geographical distribution of diurnal and semidiurnal parametric subharmonic instability in a global ocean circulation model. Journal of Physical Oceanography 48(6): 1409–1431. https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-17-0164.1.

Zhao, Z., M.H. Alford, H.L. Simmons, D. Brazhnikov, and R. Pinkel. 2018. Satellite investigation of the M₂ internal tide in the Tasman Sea. Journal of Physical Oceanography 48(3): 687–703. https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-17-0047.1.

Waterhouse, A.F., S.M. Kelly, Z. Zhao, J.A. MacKinnon, J.D. Nash, H. L. Simmons, D. Brazhnikov, L. Rainville, M.H. Alford, and R. Pinkel. 2018. Observations of the Tasman Sea internal tide beam. Journal of Physical Oceanography 48(6). https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-17-0116.1.

Watson, J.T., A.C. Haynie, P.J. Sullivan, L. Perruso, S. O'Farrell, J.N. Sanchirico, and F.J. Mueter. 2018. Vessel monitoring systems (VMS) reveal an increase in fishing efficiency following regulatory changes in a demersal longline fishery. Fisheries Research 207:85–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2018.06.006. 

Sugihara, G., K.R. Criddle, H. Ye, A. Lee, G. Pao, C. James, E. Saberski, and A. Giron-Nava.  2018. Comprehensive incentives for reducing Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea walleye pollock fishery: Individual tradable encounter credits.  Regional Studies in Marine Science 22:70–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2018.06.002.

Grant Awards for June 2018

• Grant G-12114 "Inertial and Turbulent Processes in the Iceland Basin:  A Proposal to the Near Inertial Shear and Kinetic Energy in the North Atlantic Experiment (NISKINE) Departmental Research Initiative" - Harper Simmons - ONR - $100,000 (out of a total $1,100,222) (April 15, 2018)
• Grant G-12127 University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Oceanographic Technical Support - Year 1 of 5" - Steven Hartz - NSF - $752,072 (out of $4,152,072) (June 15, 2018)
• Grant G-12134 "Heritability of Life History Traits in Little Port Walter Chinook Salmon" - Megan McPhee - UA Foundation - $28,500 (June 7, 2018)

The following grants received incremental funding during the month of June:

• Grant G-10779 "Shear microstructure and towed body measurements of internal waves and turbulence in the Beaufort Sea" - Harper Simmons - ONR - $50,043 (June 1, 2016)
• Grant G-11630 "Arctic Integrated Ecosystem Survey (IES) Phase II" - Franz Mueter - BOEM - $371,593 (July 31, 2017)

Message from the Dean

Governor Walker signed the Fiscal Year 2019 spending bill and CFOS has submitted its projected balanced budget for the coming fiscal year. The Dean’s Office is working to finalize the annual CFOS FY19 budget overview memo that outlines our fiscal challenges and opportunities going forward; that memo will be transmitted to CFOS and the Provost in the coming weeks.

The recent Seward Marine Center (SMC) site visit conducted as part of the UAF Campus Master Plan was productive and informative. Related to this effort, a meeting chaired by VCAS Kari Burrell will soon be held to discuss strategies to replace Sikuliaq’s homeport pier in Seward, which has exceeded its intended lifetime of 35 years. As described in the CFOS Decadal Plan and VEC report, investment in our shoreside facilities and laboratories is important given our national responsibility as operator of Sikuliaq and as the lead institution for the new NGA LTER project. It is encouraging and appropriate that SMC will be included in the UAF vision of a top-tier research university.

In addition, as part of the broader Campus Master Plan effort, a separate meeting was recently held to consider improvements to facilities and buildings across the entire UAF campus. A possible future space envisioned for CFOS headquarters is a new building on the south side of O’Neill, equipped with modern offices, meeting areas, and laboratories. A rendering of this new complex idea is expected by September.

Last week, interviews were held in Anchorage for the next Director of Alaska Sea Grant (ASG). The two finalists, Heather Brandon (currently with the NOAA Office of International Fisheries and Seafood Inspection) and Glenn Haight (currently with the Alaska Board of Fisheries), presented their vision for the future of ASG. The Search Committee is soliciting input; please provide feedback to Interim Director Ginny Eckert by June 29.

Finally, as many of you may already be aware, Sue Keller will retire this month after 35 years of service at Alaska Sea Grant. Sue has worked diligently as ASG publications manager on books, newsletters, and reports. Please join me in thanking Sue for her valued contributions and wishing her the very best going forward.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq completed the second cruise of the ASGARD (Arctic Shelf Growth, Advection, Respiration and Deposition) Rate Experiments project under the direction of Dr. Seth Danielson (UAF-CFOS). The ASGARD project is part of the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) Arctic Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (AIERP).    

Sikuliaq is currently in Nome and will stage the next cruise for Dr. Hongsheng Bi’s (University of Maryland) project entitled “Demographic structure and recruitment patterns of the scyphozoan, Chrysaora melanaster, in the Bering Sea: the influence of climate on ecosystem function,” also known as the Bering Sea jellyfish cruise. Dr. Bi’s cruise will end in Dutch Harbor on July 3.

Sikuliaq will celebrate Independence Day at Dutch Harbor/Unalaska, and then transit to Seward to stage for the second leg of the Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment (AACSE).

Dr. Russ Hopcroft has provided a 3D printer to manufacture parts in support of Sikuliaq science operations.

Activities and Accomplishments

CFOS Ph.D. student Lauren Wild was awarded best student oral presentation at the Western Division AFS conference in Anchorage last month. Also, Fisheries M.S. student Tessa Minicucci won an award for best Pink and Chum oral presentation.

Trent Sutton has been selected by the American Fisheries Society (AFS) as one of the new editors of Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (TAFS). TAFS is the oldest and most recognized scientific journal of AFS.

Melissa Good organized a community cleanup with the Unalaska Divers Association and Unalaska City Parks, Culture and Recreation Department. Melissa and 12 volunteers hauled underwater trash and cleaned the shoreline of Iliuliuk Creek. Melissa also represented CFOS at the Unalaska City Career Fair, which was attended by 250 people, and assisted with logistics for researchers on Sikuliaq.

Marilyn Sigman visited three classrooms at College Gate and Chester Creek elementary schools and led stream field trips for two Chester Valley classes, reaching 125 students. She also trained 10 volunteers to give lessons on the Westchester Lagoon field trips.

Ocean Acidification Research Center (OARC) collaborator Darren Pilcher gave a presentation entitled “Impact of local biogeochemical processes and climate variability on ocean acidification in the Bering Sea” at the Ecosystem Studies of Subarctic and Arctic Seas (ESSAS) meeting recently held in Fairbanks. OARC researchers have been monitoring OA in the Bering Sea through ship-based sampling, moored platforms, and autonomous vehicles such as gliders and saildrones since 2008.

CFOS in the News

The Bristol Bay Times published a story about an investigation of invasive species at docks in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor. Melissa Good is working to deploy detection devices following up on a Marine Invasive Species Risk Assessment.

Stories on health issues in Alaska fishermen based on research done by Torie Baker and others were published by Anchorage Daily News, HealthNewsDigest.com, Medical Xpress, SeafoodNews.com, SitNews, and