Alaska Sea Grant announces new research projects

Alaska Sea Grant is excited to announce six new research projects, with over $1.2 million in federal funding supporting Alaska researchers and graduate students over the next two years. The projects address state and regional issues including coastal erosion, the effect of environmental changes on fish species interactions and marine mammals, environmental stressors on oyster mariculture, and approaches to improving stock assessments.

“Many strong proposals were submitted to this year’s research competition,” said Molly Cain, Alaska Sea Grant’s associate director for research. “We received 18 pre-proposals, and 13 were encouraged to submit full proposals. Through a rigorous peer review process, six projects were identified for funding which address critical needs and priorities in Alaska.”

Alaska Sea Grant funds and manages marine-related research carried out by institutions throughout the state. The competitively selected projects cover diverse topics and geographic regions in Alaska while advancing Alaska Sea Grant’s focus areas of healthy coastal ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, resilient communities and economies, and environmental literacy and workforce development.

This research complements Alaska Sea Grant outreach and education programming, which serves Alaska’s coastal communities that depend on marine, coastal, and watershed resources. Each project involves strong partnerships and has a plan to engage and inform communities and users. Project partners include shellfish farmers, commercial fishermen, Alaska Native Tribes and organizations, industry, nonprofits, and universities, as well as municipal, state, and federal agencies. Each project also helps launch a scientific career in Alaska by supporting the work of a graduate student under the guidance of the project’s lead scientist.

The research projects were included in Alaska Sea Grant’s federal grant submitted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and funded through the National Sea Grant College Program. Each research project provides non-federal matching funds to complement federal funding.

Project summaries and the researchers and institutions involved are available on the Alaska Sea Grant research website and through the links below.

• Integrating Emerging Technologies with Community-Based Observations to Assess Spotted Seal Ecology at Terrestrial Haul-Outs in Arctic Alaska
• Too Big to Ignore: Foraging Strategies and Competition between Marine Top Predators in a Rapidly Changing Bering Sea
• Evolutionary Underpinnings of Stress Response in Pacific Oysters
• Quantifying the Influence of Environmental Conditions on Potential Trophic Interactions and Growth of Juvenile Sockeye Salmon & Threespine Stickleback within Iliamna Lake
• Development of a Non-Lethal Genetic-Based Method for Aging Pacific Halibut
• Nature-Based and Community-Engaged Arctic Coastal Protection