Conference addresses rapid change in Western Alaska

The 16th Western Alaska Interdisciplinary Science Conference was held in Nome this month, hosted by Alaska Sea Grant and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Northwest Campus. The four-day conference brought together more than 130 scientists, specialists and community members to focus on the theme “Western Alaska in transition.”

“As the ocean and climate of Western Alaska continues to warm, the impacts are like dominos, one falling into the next,” explained Gay Sheffield, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program agent for the Bering Strait region and co-chair of the conference. “WAISC is an opportunity to bring people and researchers from many disciplines to share their expertise and learn together as Western Alaska continues to comprehensively transition into a new future.”

Every year, WAISC provides a forum for bringing urban and rural Alaskans together to a regional hub community to share knowledge and science across disciplinary and cultural boundaries.

“For institutional experts to meet and learn from local and Indigenous experts is critical for informed decisions to be made regarding ballooning development and effects on the Bering Strait region of Alaska,” said Barb Amarok, the director of UAF Northwest Campus.

The event featured three plenary presentations. Nome’s Gail Smithhisler spoke at the opening reception on efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages. The next morning, climate scientist Rick Thoman discussed science research, monitoring and public service in a time of rapid and far-reaching changes in Western Alaska. On the third day, Nome’s Chris Olanna and his father, Ralph Olanna, provided perspectives on the comprehensive changes in the Bering Strait region, including the integration of local and Indigenous generational knowledge and new technologies to adapt to a changing environment.

Nearly 50 presentations were given on research topics that involved local knowledge, traditional knowledge and western science pertaining to Western Alaska. Overarching themes included community science, land and wildlife, ocean ecology, weather and climate, science in transition, harmful algae, energy, education and resource development.

“People commented that they enjoyed how locally focused the conference was,” said Tav Ammu, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program agent for Dillingham and an organizer of the event. “Part of the reason we move WAISC around different parts of Western Alaska is to encourage the interactions between local scientists and researchers and those from other areas.” 

Harmful algal blooms proved a hot topic—literally—as the Bering Strait region addresses this emerging threat. As the ocean waters of Western Alaska continue to warm, they now support algae species that can produce biotoxins that are harmful to humans and marine wildlife when ingested in high concentrations. These warmer ocean conditions bring novel summer explosions—blooms—of Alexandrium, which can impact human health, food security and wildlife health as associated biotoxins make their way through the food chain into subsistence and commercial seafoods. A longtime issue in Alaska’s lower and warmer latitudes, communities along Western Alaska are now recognizing the need to better understand this new threat and for nearshore monitoring and surveillance.

A group of students from Nome-Beltz High School presented original research on this topic, as proud parents crammed into the conference room to listen along with scientists and other conference participants.

Part of their study involved sampling and testing saffron cod—a regional subsistence food harvested by traditional methods through the ice during fall and into the winter months—for the presence of saxitoxin. With support from Sheffield and Emma Pate of the Norton Sound Health Corporation Office of Environmental Health, and funding from the Knik Tribe of Alaska, the samples were tested by an Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation lab in Anchorage.

While the consensus expectation was that there was unlikely to be detectable levels of toxin in the winter samples, toxins were detected, albeit at levels considered safe for consumption, raising questions about the processes occurring in the winter months as the ecosystem continues to be pressured by warming ocean waters.

“While they were presenting their research, there were excited murmurs from the audience as the students quoted papers or presentations from scientists in the room,” reported Ammu. “The scientists quickly understood how valuable their research, and sharing their research, was for the regional researchers, public, and students in the region.”

More information is available on the 2024 Western Alaska Interdisciplinary Science Conference website.