ENRI researchers and students present at Annual Meeting of The Wildlife Society

Environment and Natural Resources Institute (ENRI) researchers and students gave seven presentations at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Alaska Chapter of The Wildlife Society, held April 10-13 in Anchorage. Their presentations are the result of research projects which focus on a wide range of Alaskan birds and mammals-from tufted puffins to polar bears-and will highlight the exciting, state-of-the-art food web ecology research currently in progress at UAA.

Department of Biological Sciences Professor Doug Causey, an ENRI faculty fellow, and his graduate students and collaborators related findings from several studies of Alaska birds:

• Biogeochemical indicators of change in marine bird communities in Northwest Greenland and the Aleutians
• Inorganic element and phthalate levels in tufted puffins from the Western Aleutians
• Determination of breeding ground origins of midcontinent greater white-fronted geese from Interior and Northwest Alaska through analysis of feather stable isotope values

Department of Biological Sciences Professor Don Spalinger, an ENRI faculty fellow, and his collaborators and graduate student gave a presentation on the nutritional ecology of moose in an urban landscape.

Department of Biological Sciences Professor Jeff Welker, ENRI director, and his collaborators and graduate students presented findings from studies of tundra swans, gray wolves and polar bears:

• Stable isotopes and satellite tracking as a means to better understand tundra swan migration ecology
• Determining the food web ecology of a top predator by analyzing stable isotope profiles of polar bears from the southern Beaufort Sea
• Using stable isotope analysis and GPS technology to determine the complexity of gray wolf diets in Southwest Alaska