Week Two

This week was full of getting into the swing of things. My classes are getting started, as is my internship with Dr. Ross Whippo. So, despite the world of federal policy and resource management seemingly going nuts, the environmental science community persists at effectively communicating quality scientific work with the integrity paramount to creating change. 

All-day data collection on Bishop's Beach wrack resumed this week, as Prairie Sievers, Dr. Whippo, and I continued the work of UAF's Dr. Brian Ulasik. Below this paragraph, you can use a button to find an article by the US National Science Foundation regarding wrack. Awareness of wrack content, biomass, and trends is a huge deal for all scientists and regulators of marine and semi-coastal spaces. I've been learning from studies such as Richard Quilliam et al.'s publication in Marine Pollution Bulletin titled 'Seaweed and plastic debris can influence the survival of fecal indicator organisms in beach environments' which has been a huge help in understanding why some beaches opt to remove wrack in areas of high tourism frequency. I am aware that Imogen R. Bailes and Darren R. Gröcke had some success using stable nitrogen isotopes to determine the source of excess nitrogen pollution (see their 2020 publication in Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry) which is increasingly prevalent as agricultural demand strains farmland internationally. Algaes are fascinating to me, because they're low on the trophic scale, meaning they can be a great indicator of what's impacting an environmental system as well as giving us information to help predict what will happen to larger organisms (such as fish or people) with exposure to ecotoxins. Beach and bay morphology also plays a huge role in the algal subsidies (see Jessica N. Reimer et al., 'Macrophyte wrack on sandy beaches of US Pacific Northwest is linked to proximity of source habitat, ocean upwelling, and beach morphology' in Marine Ecology Progress Series), which have a huge and significant impact on terrestrial plants. The NSF article below cites a study where plots of beachland with seaweed subsidies had 70% increased growth rates compared to those without macroalgae deposits. Again, I'm still new to studying wrack and learning about how wrack changes based on factors that impact bay communities of all species. I'm fascinated with these studies and would love to assist with marine or aquatic research similar to this. 

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to visit a few data collection locations in Kenai to asses water quality and grab eDNA samples. This is going to help Sarah Wilhelm with her master's thesis in critical Cook Inlet Beluga Whale habitat analysis. Belugas haven't been spotted (with confirmation from a scientist or accompanying evidence) since 2007. Still, groups such as the Alaska Beluga Monitoring Program utilize volunteers to collect more information and spot the special odontocetes. 

Critical habitat, highlighted in yellow, is all protected areas for Cook Inlet Beluga population feeding, swimming, breeding, etc. Map courtesy of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game information on Cook Inlet Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) https://adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=specialstatus.fedhabitat&species=cookinletbeluga 

We also stopped by the Kahtnuht'ana Duhdeldiht Campus, or the Kenai River Peoples Learning Center, where we met with a community leader who gave us a tour and incredible insight into tribal perspectives of the Kenai Peninsula and its ecological history. I am grateful to attend UAA, where those following the Western scientific process highly value the knowledge of indigenous peoples. Traditional sciences and observations are key to understanding the lands we inhabit. 

Now, we're on our way to the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage. I'll meet up with colleagues and friends from classes I've taken at UAA, and likely see friends from Citizens Climate Lobby here to learn more about our most at-risk ecosystems and populations. I'm thrilled to hear from new studies and seasoned leaders of the marine science community and public health.