| Project Name | Izembek Brant Age Ratio Survey |
| Project Number | 470 |
| Location | Field site; |
| Dates | Sept 29, 2025 - Oct 10, 2025 |
| Duration | Sept 29, 2025 - Oct 10, 2025 |
| Number of Volunteers Needed | Two FILLED |
| Description | Izembek National Wildlife Refuge lies between the highly productive waters of the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. The heart of the refuge is Izembek Lagoon, a coastal ecosystem that\'s home to one of the world\'s largest eelgrass beds. Hundreds of thousands of waterfowl, including virtually the entire population of Pacific black brant, visit the lagoon to feed on eelgrass and rest as a stopover during the fall migration, before flying as far south as Baja Mexico for the winter. This staging period provides the ideal opportunity to study the Pacific black brant population.
For this project, you would be assisting Izembek NWR with field work to conduct brant productivity surveys throughout Izembek Lagoon. The survey involves observing flocks of brant to determine the proportion of juveniles and adults present, which is an indicator of the current year’s reproductive success. This metric is useful to understand population trends and is shared with waterfowl managers across multiple agencies. The survey is conducted by traveling to various areas around the refuge by foot, boat, or UTV.
Call Izembek National Wildlife Refuge for more details at 907-532-2446. |
| Skills Needed | FWS Defensive driving (optional, but will allow volunteers to drive FWS vehicles) No other training required, but familiarity with boats, UTVs, and travel in bear country desirable.
Waterfowl or bird survey experience is desirable, but not required. Volunteers must be comfortable traveling in a small boat, sometimes in choppy water. Volunteers must be comfortable and capable of hiking over wet, uneven terrain in dense brown bear habitat. Volunteers should be tolerable of days of bad weather, potentially including wind, rain, snow, hail, and cold. Accommodations will be in refuge housing and will require sharing spaces with other volunteers and employees. |
| Materials Needed | Izembek Refuge will provide Housing; Equipment; airfare round trip Anchorage to Cold Bay. |
| Contact | Jeff Kalin, jeff_kalin@fws.gov, 907-532-2446 |