Hi, Sierra!

Sierra Greene may be a new employee at Alaska Sea Grant, but for some of us she’s already a familiar face.  

For the past three years, Greene has worked as a graduate student research assistant for the Mariculture Research and Restoration Consortium (MarReCon), gathering mariculture-related field data and supporting farmers involved in the Alaska Sea Grant-affiliated project. Now she’s continuing in the same vein as our Mariculture Ecology Specialist.

“What I did for my graduate work  and what I’m continuing to do now is to manage the sensor network  that we have on mariculture farms across the central Gulf of Alaska,” she explained. “On the other side of that, I’m serving as a liaison between the farmers and the scientists on this large-scale project.”

Greene received a bachelor’s in marine biology from the University of South Florida. Her research experiences include studying coastal estuarine systems and harmful algal bloom dynamics in Southwest Florida, and studying Red Snapper populations in the Gulf of Mexico. She came to Alaska to pursue her master’s in fisheries from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (based in Juneau), where she began her work with MarReCon. Funded by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, the multiyear project conducts research and monitoring to help foster mariculture in the Valdez oil spill region, specifically Prince William Sound, Kachemak Bay and Kodiak Island.

“There is a large push for mariculture within the state, and especially within the spill area,” she said. “Through MarReCon, we are gaining  a better understanding of what each farm site’s oceanography looks like, how it could impact crop growth, and what effects scaling up the industry could have in these regions.”

As a research assistant, Greene has been responsible for obtaining and processing field data from sensors and sampling around mariculture farms, providing valuable local information on variables like temperature, salinity, chlorophyll and nutrient levels. The other part of her job has been to work directly with farmers to keep them in the loop on the project.

“I have really liked working with all of the farmers and learning more about the industry,” she noted. “It’s been interesting learning what the farmers want out of this project, and how they can use these data to help them grow within the industry or to learn more about conditions at their farms.”

While Greene will continue with her previous duties, her work will scale up now that she’s at Alaska Sea Grant. For one thing, the total number of farms involved is slated to increase from nine to 13, of which she’ll work directly with about 10. Also, she’ll be taking on more of a leadership role in MarReCon. “I’ll be doing more coordinating across components, authoring scientific and outreach material, and helping to bring in funding if we need it for continued research.”