AMSS 2012The UAA Environment and Natural Resources Institute (ENRI) was privileged to sponsor the 2012 Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS), in which 17 ENRI researchers participated. The AMSS, held this year January 16-20 at Anchorage’s Hotel Captain Cook and Dena’ina Center, is an annual gathering of eminent scientists, students, and government agencies involved in marine research in Alaskan waters. ENRI scientists presented research findings on topics ranging from the impact of floating plastic debris on the marine environment to the relationship between deglaciation and the marine foodweb in the Gulf of Alaska. ENRI research topics featured at the 2012 AMSS included the following: • The relationship of marine plastic debris to Persistent Organic Pollutants in the marine ecosystem• Comparative isotopic studies as a method of studying the foodweb ecology of Low-Arctic (Aleutian) and High-Arctic (Greenland) seabirds • Combining local knowledge and western scientific techniques to study freshwater seal populations in Lake Iliamna • Distribution and ecology of zooplankton and juvenile pelagic fishes in the Copper River plume (Gulf of Alaska) • Isotopic characteristics of Beaufort Sea polar bear tissues and diet: Food web ecology of a top predator • Agent-based modeling of mammal-eating killer whales and their prey AGU Fall 2011 MeetingFifteen UAA Environment and Natural Resources Institute (ENRI) faculty fellows, research scientists, and graduate student researchers provided twenty-two presentations at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2011 in San Francisco, California this past week. The AGU Fall Meeting is the largest conference of Earth and space scientists from around the world. ENRI researchers presented their research discoveries and discussed their scientific findings with more than 20,000 of the world’s leading scientists. ENRI Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Adam Csank showcased his research findings from northwest Greenland, which indicate that there is seasonal variation in the source and age of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC). ENRI Research Scientist Dr. Patrick Sullivan gave and participated in several oral presentations highlighting research findings from his work on treeline shifts in Arctic Alaska and factors affecting the Arctic carbon cycle. ENRI Faculty Fellow and Professor of Biological Sciences Dr. Bjartmar Sveinbjörnsson presented research findings which help to explain why treelines are expanding north in latitude and upward in elevation. ENRI Research Scientist Dr. Birgit Hagedorn presented research findings from studies of Greenland Ice Sheet and the ground ice in Beacon Valley, Antarctica. ENRI participation in the AGU Fall Meeting 2011 demonstrated the strong research program which ENRI is building at UAA; this research program benefits UAA, Alaska’s scientific community, its resource managers, and the public. ENRI's Fall 2011 AGU PresentationsAntarctic ResearchDr. Jennifer Burns, Faculty Fellow in the UAA Environment and Natural Resources Institute (ENRI) and Professor in the UAA Department of Biological Sciences, is currently conducting research in Antarctica. Burns arrived in Antarctica on October 17th, joining UAA Master’s students Linnea Pearson and Michelle Shero and PhD students Kim Goetz and Luis Huckstadt from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC). Burns is Co-PI on a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project studying Weddell Seals; her collaborators are Dr. Daniel Costa (UCSC) and Dr. Eileen Hofmann, Old Dominion University (ODU). Burns and her colleagues are studying Weddell seals’ habitat use and winter diving behavior, using conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) tags which allow monitoring of the seals’ behavior during Antarctic winters, when direct observation is not possible. A number of Weddell seals were outfitted with CTD tags in January and February 2011. Data from these tags was transmitted to the researchers via satellite throughout the Antarctic winter, but data transmission was limited by technical constraints. The researchers’ first task during this field season is to collect tags placed last year, in order to collect full data for each animal. Read Dr. Burns’ Weekly Situation Report for November 7-16 Read Dr. Burns’ Weekly Situation Report for October 31 - November 6 Read Dr. Burns’ Weekly Situation Report for October 10-21 View Photos and Videos from Dr. Burns’ research in Antarctica |
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