News
The latest blog posts and news releases from Alaska Sea Grant
There are 90 harbors in Alaska. How clean is yours? (9/29/2021) - Tav Ammu, Alaska Sea Grant State Fellow, contributed to this story. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) and Alaska Sea Grant are asking Alaskan boaters, harbor users, and community members to participate in a survey aimed at improving pollution prevention in Alaska’s marine environment. Since 2010, the Alaska Clean Harbors program has sought to…
New podcast explores solutions to warming ocean (9/29/2021) - Ocean acidification and ocean warming are growing concerns of coastal Alaskans and the seafood industry. As carbon dioxide levels rise in the atmosphere due to fossil fuel burning and deforestation, about one-third gets absorbed by the ocean, making it more acidic. The ocean also absorbs most of the excess heat resulting from greenhouse gas emissions,…
State Fellow spotlight: Becca Cates (9/28/2021) - Jesse Gordon contributed to this story. Becca Cates recently began her Alaska Sea Grant State Fellowship with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Cates earned her B.S. in Environmental Science from Western Washington University, where she developed an interest in marine ecology. After completing her undergraduate degree, she moved to the Florida Keys, where she worked…
Remembering Judy McDonald (9/24/2021) - A long time University of Alaska Fairbanks employee and contributor to marine science and education, Judy McDonald, has died. Judy worked at the UAF Seward Marine Center with her husband, Dr. A.J. Paul, a biological oceanographer. The couple collaborated on researching commercially important Alaskan fishes and invertebrates, and their work led to better understanding and…
Cause of seabird die-offs still unknown (9/17/2021) - For the fifth year in a row, Gay Sheffield has been investigating unusual seabird deaths in Western Alaska in collaboration with Bering Strait residents, Kawerak Inc., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others. Sheffield is a marine mammal biologist and Alaska Sea Grant’s Marine Advisory Program agent in Nome. Part of her work involves…
Rainforest Festival promotes environmental literacy and stewardship (9/15/2021) - Each year in September, the town of Petersburg hosts a Rainforest Festival celebrating the beauty and bounty of Southeast Alaska’s temperate coastal rainforest. The Rainforest Festival is a non-profit event bringing participants closer to the natural world through arts and educational activities. This was the 14th year for the multi-day event, which features live music,…
New podcast shares stories from coastal communities (8/30/2021) - National Sea Grant has launched a new podcast called On My Coast. The podcast shares the stories of people on America’s coasts and how Sea Grant brings science together with communities for solutions that work. Host Amara Davis is a Knauss Fellow. This first episode, titled Resilient Island Communities, features Alaska Sea Grant’s Sunny Rice,…
Marine Advisory Program’s Gabe Dunham taking statewide role (8/29/2021) - A few changes are taking place within Alaska Sea Grant’s Marine Advisory Program (MAP). Gabe Dunham, the MAP agent in Dillingham, will shift his focus from regional to statewide and is moving to Juneau. Alaska Sea Grant is recruiting a new Dillingham MAP agent to fill the vacancy Dunham will leave in Bristol Bay. As…
Pacific Shellfish Institute works with Alaska shellfish growers to address emergency rainfall closures (8/27/2021) - Many Alaskan shellfish farms are located far from population centers in pristine coastal waters. In June of 2016, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) implemented a blanket emergency closure policy for remote shellfish growing areas any time two or more inches of rain falls within a 24-hour period. It rains quite often in Southeast Alaska,…
From Germany to Alaska to D.C., a Knauss fellow charts a new path through the pandemic (8/25/2021) - The John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship offers a professional opportunity to graduate students with an interest in national policies that affect ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources. Every year, successful applicants from around the country are matched with hosts in the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government for a one-year paid fellowship…