animatedcollapse.addDiv('1', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() animatedcollapse.addDiv('2', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() Who is watching walrus?             Meet... Jill Prewitt   Research Associate Jill has worked with many species of animals, from bobcats and wolves to belugas and walrus. She worked as an animal trainer and a veterinary technician before becoming a researcher. "I love learning how these species survive in such a challenging environment."     Hear Jill describe her work at the Alaska SeaLife Center and how she got to this point in her career. (3 minutes)      

  A New Way to Share ASLC Stories!   The ASLC 60 North Science Blog has expanded to include even more stories highlighting the important work that happens at the ASLC!  See the new look of the blog and join our staff as they share stories fo research, education, wildlife response, and animal care. All the amazing archived science stories are still active on the blog, but the link has changed to https://stories.alaskasealife.org/                

animatedcollapse.addDiv('1', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() animatedcollapse.addDiv('2', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init()         MEET DR. BODIL BLUHM MARINE BIOLOGIST AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS WHAT SHE STUDIES: -Marine invertebrates -Sea ice & benthic ecology EDUCATION: B.A. Biology M.S. Zoology Ph.D. Marine Biology ONE COOL EXPERIENCE WHEN WORKING IN THE ARCTIC WAS... "We were trying to trawl for bottom fauna, at like 10,000 feet, in ice (in the Arctic deep sea). We deployed an ROV and deep sea cameras and we were sitting on the ship, and live-seeing what was on the sea floor, creeping around there." Dr. Bodil Bluhm describes what she likes best about Arctic marine research. (1:00) Video Transcript   I think the two things I like best are the interactions with people, and that's both with the fellow scientists from all over the place as well as with outreach activities, just talking to my five year old and her preschool group- the other day they had this ocean topic and I brought my dive gear, and they get all excited- so that's one part I really like, the interaction with people. Also on the international level, with the Arctic being the Arctic there's a lot of countries all around it, and we really have contacts to all of them. The other thing I really like is the study area itself. It has so many challenges, and it is under pressure from all these different activities- including climate change, and oil and gas and so on- but it just keeps being an interesting area to me to study. So those are the two things that really keep me excited about the work.   WHO IS STUDYING SEA ICE?  

    animatedcollapse.addDiv('1', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() animatedcollapse.addDiv('2', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init()         MEET DR. KATRIN IKEN MARINE BIOLOGIST AND PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS WHAT SHE STUDIES: -Foodweb interactions -Marine plants and invertebrates         ONE CHALLENGE OF WORKING IN THE ARCTIC IS... "You have to be prepared to be cold, because you can only put on so many clothes." Dr. Katrin Iken describes how her work as a scientific diver gives her special insight into her study of marine ecosystems. (1:00) Video Transcript   I am a scientific diver, and I love doing it.  Not just for the adventure but really for the reason that it gives me a completely different appreciation of how things look under water.  It is much easier for me to understand, sort of how organisms live together and how they work together if I can actually see them in their natural environment.  It’s very different to see them there than for instance to have a big bottom trawl bring up organisms and you look at a big pile of them, but they are all just jumbled together and you don’t know anymore how they were actually distributed; especially sort of in relation to each other, in relation to certain habitat features such as rocks or sediment or elevation under water or depressions in the sea floor you know, all these kind of things.  So I think it gives us as researchers a different insight to be able to actually see how it is under  the water.     WHO IS STUDYING SEA ICE?  

  animatedcollapse.addDiv('1', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() animatedcollapse.addDiv('2', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init()         MEET MARTIN SCHUSTER UAF GRADUATE WITH AN MS DEGREE IN MARINE BIOLOGY AND PAST RESEARCH TECHNICIAN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS WHAT HE STUDIES: -Kelp forest ecology -Scientific diving EDUCATION: B.S. Biological Sciences M.S. Marine Biology   THE BEST WAY TO GET STARTED IN THE SCIENCE FIELD IS... "to volunteer. You have to make your interests known to people... The people who ask questions, that's what highlights you as someone who (gets into grad school)." Martin talks about how he got involved with marine research and scientific diving at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. (01:15) Video Transcript   I was just sort of taking biology classes until I stumbled upon this poster that said ‘Scientific Diving here at UAF’ and I thought, ‘well, why the heck not’ and it looked pretty cool.  I was looking for a change, so I took that class with Dr. Conar and it really changed my life in a lot of ways.  After I put on that dry suit and got under the water, I really realized the amazing diversity of life we have here in these super cold waters.  It was hard for me to imagine before because I’d never stuck my face into the water before.  Just seeing a kelp forest for the first time and all the amazing plant and invertebrate life in there really made me realize that this was a thing that I could do.  So after that I took the class again, and then I took it again, and then I ended up joining Brenda’s lab, and becoming a scientific diver for her.  Then eventually became a grad student, which has led me to a lot of other cool fieldwork that’s not diving related as well, including this icebreaker expedition that I went on with Rolf.      WHO IS STUDYING SEA ICE?  

  animatedcollapse.addDiv('1', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() animatedcollapse.addDiv('2', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init()         MEET DR. ROLF GRADINGER SEA ICE SCIENTIST AND PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS WHAT HE STUDIES: -Sea ice & polar ecology -Microbiology EDUCATION: M.S. Marine Biology Ph.D. Marine Science   ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT WORKING IN THE ARCTIC IS... "It's like a little bit of exploration. You go there, nobody has been there before. We were the first people walking on that ice and taking samples. That's very exciting!" Dr. Rolf Gradinger describes what he loves about working in the Arctic. (0:45) Video Transcript   What keeps me going is that I'm fascinated with the Arctic. You know, I did my first Arctic cruise in 1984 and I can't get enough. What always amazes me when we do these kinds of trips, is the beauty of the landscape. During the transit sometimes you see Orcas or you see Bowhead whales, and you have this beautiful coastline. And personally, I love the ice, the different shapes of ice. Like a sunset in an ice covered water, I would do a lot of things to see that again. I have to admit this, it's just stunningly beautiful. Each time it's a wonderful experience, and I just love to learn. That's the other part, I'm always curious and I love to learn, and I feel pretty priviledged that I can do this as my profession.       WHO IS STUDYING SEA ICE?  

  animatedcollapse.addDiv('1', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() animatedcollapse.addDiv('2', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init()         NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE, YOU CAN DO YOUR PART TO HELP CARE FOR THE BERING SEA! Since changes to the Bering Sea food web will directly impact people around the world, it's everyone's responsibility to do our part to care for the ocean. You might feel like there's not much you can do to preserve the health of clams and copepods in the Bering Sea, but in fact you CAN help! Here are ideas of positive things you can do: Educate yourself about how humans are impacting climate in the Arctic and around the globe. Do your part to help lessen our impact: Learn about your carbon footprint and about what earth-friendly actions you can take in your everyday life. Then, take the pledge. Let us know: What's one thing you'll do to help care for the ocean? Coming Soon: Ocean Ally Quiz! Find out how things you already do every day help the ocean.     WHO IS STUDYING SEA ICE?  

  animatedcollapse.addDiv('A', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() animatedcollapse.addDiv('B', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init()         MEET DR. KATRINA COUNIHAN SCIENTIST at the Alaska SeaLife Center WHAT SHE STUDIES: - Microbiology - Pathology - Immunology EDUCATION: B.A.S. in Biology and History from the University of California Davis Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of California Davis   "SOMETIMES WHAT THEY SEE CANDLING AN EGG...could look normal to them and then we open it and we see something that’s unusual that they weren’t able to see on candling. You never know what you’re going to find until you open it." "MY FAVORITE PART OF RESEARCH...even when you kind of finish a project it often creates more questions than answers, so you aren’t doing the same thing every day. I like having something new to do all the time." Dr. Katrina Counihan tells why she likes working in the lab on the Steller's eider project. (0:55) Video Transcript I like working in the lab because it’s hands-on work. I like pipetting things and working with samples, and you work with the different equipment. And the eggs are always fun because each one can be a little different, so it’s always interesting to see what result you are going to get with whatever experiment you're doing. The hardest part is usually not breaking the yolk, because you want to have the albumen and the yolk separated cleanly. Everyone thinks they are going to be like a chicken egg and have pretty tough yolks, but eider eggs have very delicate yolks, so you have to empty it into the dish very gently and take your samples very quickly because the yolk breaks pretty fast. That’s usually the challenge we always set for each other, to not break the yolk. After three hundred plus eggs you get pretty good.   CLICK BELOW TO LEARN ABOUT SEADUCK SCIENTISTS!    

  animatedcollapse.addDiv('A', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() animatedcollapse.addDiv('B', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init()         MEET NATHAN BAWTINHIMER Aviculturist at the Alaska SeaLife Center WHAT HE DOES: - Eider husbandry - Eider mate pairing - Artificial incubation EDUCATION: B.S. in Biological Sciences with minor in Wildlife Science from North Carolina State University HOMETOWN: Ayden, North Carolina   "THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A TYPICAL DAY... During breeding season we'll candle all the eggs, enter all the data in the spreadsheet, and keep very detailed records of everything we see every day when we candle. The husbandry aspect is much less time-consuming in the winter time. In the winter, it's a lot of cleaning and routine maintenance. Like this past winter, we put up bird spikes to keep away ravens and magpies that like to sit on the walls." Nathan tells how and why he got his start working with Steller's eiders. (0:58) Video Transcript I’m the eider research aviculturist. I help with setting up pairs, setting up nest sites, promoting breeding behaviors and a lot of the incubation practices that we use. I have raised birds since I was a teenager with my father. My senior year of college I did an internship with Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Center in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. I worked with over 100 different species of waterfowl there but the Steller's are one of the few species I hadn’t worked with and I really wanted to get some experience with them, and this job presented itself and I was lucky enough to get it and I have been enjoying working with them ever since. They’re really not like any of the other eiders. The fact that they’re declining so rapidly is a motivating factor for me to jump on board with the eider team to try and help save them and reintroduce them to the wild.   CLICK BELOW TO LEARN ABOUT SEADUCK SCIENTISTS!    

animatedcollapse.addDiv('A', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() animatedcollapse.addDiv('B', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init()         MEET SADIE ULMAN Avian Research Coordinator at the Alaska SeaLife Center WHAT SHE STUDIES: - Wildlife and habitat ecology EDUCATION: B.A. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin- Madison M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware HOMETOWN: Black River Falls, Wisconsin     "PLANNING THE LOGISTICS, YOU ALWAYS MAKE 'PLAN A'...and then you hope you’ll get out there within a day or two of that plan, depending on the weather. Floatplane access is very weather-dependant: things like cloud cover, fog, and wind can delay flights. We’re dropped off at a site by a floatplane and we unload all our gear onto the riverbank. We have all our camp stuff in big drybags and totes and we set up camp there for a few days. We have our base camp and go from there on a daily basis to all our sites. When the floatplane comes back, we pack up all our stuff in the plane and the floats. You have to be creative with getting all your gear in there!" Sadie describes some of her favorite things about working in the field. (1:04) Video Transcript Maps are one of my favorite things to create and look at and follow. Reading maps is a really big part of fieldwork. I love to look where we are going and what else is out there to explore. The typical day is, you never know what’s going to happen. Waking up in the tent and just kind of hoping that it’s not raining so you can do your work. From camp to where you want to go ranges from, it could be as close as a 15 minute walk or sometimes it is an hour and a half to two hours. The landscape in which you’re walking could be mudflats, through ponds, it could be crossing mud sloughs at low or high tide. If it’s high tide you have to be creative. What you see and find out there varies all the time. Even when you are at camp, cooking food and stuff, you can still be watching wildlife and what the birds are doing, which is really fun. And you get to sleep on the tundra, with birds singing, it’s pretty great!   CLICK BELOW TO LEARN ABOUT SEADUCK SCIENTISTS!  

animatedcollapse.addDiv('A', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() animatedcollapse.addDiv('B', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init()         MEET TASHA DIMARZIO Avian Curator at the Alaska SeaLife Center WHAT SHE DOES: - Manages captive eider population - Assists with field work in Barrow and on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta EDUCATION: B.S. in Fish and Wildlife Management from Minot State University, North Dakota HOMETOWN: Lake Tapps, Washington ONE OF MY FAVORITE ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT IS... "I really like mentoring interns and just getting people jazzed about birds, about why I love birds, and about what we do here. It's always fun to see young people come in and they might not really know a lot about eiders or birds and, hopefully, by the time they leave they will want to pursue a career with birds." Tasha talks about how she started working with birds and what she enjoys most about her work at the Alaska SeaLife Center. (x:00) Video Transcript My mom got me three chickens when I was ten and I kind of fell in love with them really quick, and then just started accumulating more and more birds. By the time I went to college I had something like 5 aviaries with a thousand or so birds. So, I kind of became obsessed with it and kind of sprouted from there and ever since it’s just been wanting to work on more and more birds, specifically marine birds and waterfowl. The work I do here is: I help manage the captive breeding population of the Steller’s and spectacled eiders and then I get to help with some of the field research on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. My favorite part is definitely the field aspect. By going out there you can not only learn from the environment and collect data but then you can also see the birds in their natural habitat and bring that back here to the Center and try to put that into play with the husbandry of the birds and making these habitats the best we can and trying to replicate what the field is like. But then also feeling like you are really contributing to science and what we are doing here is affecting what is going on in the wild.   CLICK BELOW TO LEARN ABOUT SEADUCK SCIENTISTS!  

    animatedcollapse.addDiv('A', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() Meet Seth Danielson, Ph.D. Research Associate Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks Seth's role in Gulf Watch Alaska: Environmental Drivers Co-Principal Investigator, Gulf of Alaska Mooring (GAK1) Important skills for his position: In my position it is important to be able to write clearly and to be proficient at computer programming. Programming skills allow one to perform customized analyses that will extract new information from a dataset, while writing skills are needed to communicate your results and demonstrate the importance of your work. Challenges in his work: "Sometimes the biggest challenge is in properly crafting a scientific hypothesis that is both tractable and cost-effective. There are often very expensive ways to find answers to a research problem but these may not be affordable. Half the fun of doing research is finding the right balance between costs, effort, and scientific results." Seth's advice to young people interested in science: "A solid background in mathematics, statistics and critical thinking provides a springboard that can direct you into any of the sciences that interest you. Set yourself up for success by learning how to both identify and solve problems." Seth Danielson describes his interest in oceanographic research. (1:16) Video Transcript My name is Seth Danielson; I’m a Research Associate Professor of Oceanography at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. As a research professor, I’m really interested in firstly understanding how the world works and going out and making new discoveries about how the ocean system responds to the atmosphere: how it provides an environment that the fish and the birds and the whales are living in in the marine system, and how the physics – the winds, the waves, the currents, the temperature of the ocean – how all those affect the ecosystem as they come together. Along the way I get to go to these beautiful places, remote places that very few people get to see on the ocean and along the coasts around the Arctic and around Alaska. I get to bring my stories back to schools and share those with the students, and that’s a lot of fun and very fulfilling. The ability for us to be able to learn new things about the world and communicate them is just incredibly satisfying – it makes a great career.   Who is watching the Blob?    

  animatedcollapse.addDiv('A', 'fade=1') animatedcollapse.ontoggle=function($, divobj, state){ //fires each time a DIV is expanded/contracted //$: Access to jQuery //divobj: DOM reference to DIV being expanded/ collapsed. Use "divobj.id" to get its ID //state: "block" or "none", depending on state } animatedcollapse.init() Meet Sonia Batten Biological Oceanographer, Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science Sonia's role in Gulf Watch Alaska: Environmental Drivers Principal Investigator Important skills for her position: Basic science training, interest in small things, interest in seeing both "big pictures" and patterns Challenges in her work: "Anything to do with studying the ocean is challenging because you can’t sample enough of it to really understand what is going on. So trying to understand what’s going on across the horizontal region, down through the water column, and through time is really hard because they all change, all of the time." Sonia's advice to young people interested in science: "If you have a questioning mind and you like looking at the way the world works, then you are a scientist.  How you use that in a career could be anything from teaching, to talking with politicians to try and get policies that will help a community - there are so many different things. I would just say that it may not be the dry and dusty thing that you think it is. You can be a scientist and have a huge range of careers. If you are interested in things like that, keep your mind open for opportunities where you can use science." Sonia Batten discusses one of the coolest things about the ocean. (0:31) Video Transcript I think the coolest thing is that you can take a bucket of seawater, you can filter out the stuff and put it under a microscope and show people and they go, “Oh my god, I didn’t know I was swimming with that!” You can look at a crab larvae, a little tiny crab before it settles out under the microscope, and it’s got, some of them have spines that are three times the length of their body sticking out, and they look like alien things, and you have no idea that you’re swimming with that kind of thing, and yeah – I think that’s cool.   Who is watching the Blob?