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Izembek Brant Project Report

by John  Sargent, Friends Volunteer

John Sargent volunteered with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge assisting with the Pacific Brant Age Ratio Study during October 3 to 13, 2023. Nearly all of the worldwide distribution of brant stage at Izembek Lagoon during the autumn migration before moving on to warmer climates in California and Mexico where they spend the winter months. Izembek Lagoon is also one of the largest concentrations of eelgrass in the world and was the first in North America listed as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. 

The purpose of the study is to estimate the number of juvenile brant born this year relative to adults. This information will be used to determine the 2023 productivity of brant along the Pacific Flyway. By the end of the survey, we successfully met our goal of classifying 39,000 juvenile and adult brant in Izembek Lagoon! To access the lagoon we drove in pickups, walked in the tundra, boated in zodiacs and took side-by-side ATVs to get to more remote areas. 

The Izembek adventure was scheduled to start on October 2, but was delayed one day because of the looming government shutdown that did not happen. Then, a few days later, while awaiting at the Anchorage airport for his flight to Cold Bay, John learned that his flight would be cancelled because of eruptions of the Shishaldin Volcano in the Aleutian Island of Unimak, west of Cold Bay.  As the volcano calmed down, John and another volunteer, Catherine Trimingham, boarded the Aleutian Airlines flight to Cold Bay to finally start the Brant Age study adventure.  While attempting to make a landing, at Cold Bay the plane lifted off again, presumably due to strong cross winds to make another attempt, which the pilot safety did.  Such is life in one of the windiest and remote places in North America, and one of the most volcanically active regions in the world! Once at the refuge we settled in to the comfy house that served as the bunkhouse with full kitchen and hot running water.  

Acknowledgements: John would like to thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Izembek National Wildlife Refuge staff, especially Wildlife Biologist Alison Williams, Refuge Manager Maria Fosado, Biological Science Technician Cristina Trimingham, Wildlife Biologist Michael Swaim, volunteer Catherine Trimingham, and USGS Field Assistant Technician Evan Buck for field support, sharing field work, and making my stay and experience most enjoyable and memorable.  Thank you all!

Bird and Wildlife Observed or reported on or near the lagoon:

Black brant (very abundant- 100s of thousands), cackling geese (abundant) northern pintail, mallard, harlequin duck, gadwall, Eurasian widgeon, green wing teal, emperor geese, white fronted goose (one), greater yellowlegs, large feeding flocks of rock sandpiper, dunlin sandpiper, bald eagles, short eared owl, marlin, peregrine falcon, glaucous wing gulls, juvenile Sabine’s gull, tundra swan, red breasted mergansers, Steller’s eider (one), black legged kittiwakes, snipe, fox sparrow (dark subspecies), willow ptarmigan, red necked grebe, Pacific loon, ravens, black billed magpies and Lapland longspurs.  Also, wolf, brown bear tracks, brown bear scats, and diggings for ground squirrels; arctic ground squirrels; red fox, Pacific walrus (hundreds sunbathing), harbor seals and sea otters abundant feeding in lagoon. Coho salmon carcasses in creeks.

Making our approach to the airport at Cold Bay to begin the Brant Age Ratio Survey. It was very windy!

Ahhh… we finally made it to Izembek Lagoon to start the Brant Age Ratio Survey! John Sargent counting brant. The weather was blustery and we lucked out to have only limited rainfall, mild temperatures (mid 40s) and no further substantial eruption of volcanos!

Mike wearing his comfy wool hat while characterizing brant juveniles and adults at Izembek Lagoon.

Brant geese at Izembek Lagoon.

Alison, Christina, Evan and Catherine counting a large flock of brant. Most birds where too far to count but with use of a zodiac we were able to access more out-of-the-way areas of the lagoon.

Zostera marina (eelgrass), one of many worldwide species of seagrasses. Brant forage almost exclusively on eelgrass leaves during their autumn in Izembek Lagoon. The seeds are an important food for dabbling ducks.


And the sun did shine a few times! This is the eelgrass beds during low tide. During low tide we walked the Zodiac to deeper water.  This was fortunate because it enabled us to get up close and personal with the eelgrass, the productive muds rich in detritus, and the abundance of shellfish and crabs that inhabit this important resource.  We also saw many sea otters and harbor seals in the lagoon, and a large group of sunning walrus near the entrance with the Bering Sea!

We rejoiced when Frosty Peak, a large volcano became visible on the last day of our survey.


Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Wildlife Biologist, Alison Williams surveying for brant at Izembek Lagoon. I thank her for her knowledge, skill at boat handling (especially in ocean swell near the outlet to the Bering Sea), and her kindness and graciousness during the survey work, planning, and making this a truly memorable experience.





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In the Field: Friends Volunteering

by Poppy Benson, Friends Board Vice President
It was a busy September for Friends with volunteers helping with the Walks for the Wild, our September meeting and our special event.  But three Friends were far afield with Meg Parsons of Anchorage and Mike Coffing of Homer at Izembek Refuge and Caroline Brouwer, currently from Hawaii, at Kodiak Refuge.  Here is what they had to say.

The Izembek Quonset Hut Hustle:  Wind, Wildlife and Wide-open Views
By Mike Coffing 


Winds of 37 knots with gusts to 60+ knots were my welcome to Izembek Refuge at Cold Bay! Although the winds were always blowing, they were usually not as strong and were much more friendly most of our stay. The warm smiles, friendly and supportive Izembek Refuge staff were absolutely amazing. We were there to help clear out a large, WWII era, Quonset hut located 10+ miles north of Cold Bay and near Izembek Lagoon. During each round trip with the pickup truck, hauling 15 loads of equipment and supplies from the Quonset to the Refuge HQ in Cold Bay, our eyes were scanning the roadside “tundra” and open horizons for wildlife. We were never disappointed. After the day’s work of lifting, loading, hauling and unloading supplies, the warm refuge bunkhouse with the full kitchen, hot showers and comfortable beds was most relaxing. 



Meg Parsons added:The Quonset hut is huge- unlike any I have seen previously. It was full of an assemblage of Refuge materials- research equipment and building supplies which was very like many homesteads I have experienced.  One keeps things since it could be possible to use in the future. pc: Meg Parsons

We got in on one of the biggest local events of the year, the 3-day Labor Day Silver Salmon Derby, where we helped by weighing in fish. A kickoff “Ribs/Chicken and ALL the fixings” dinner, a polar plunge, a bonfire and potluck added to the fun.This annual fundraiser supports the Cold Bay Emergency Services.


Meg Parsons at Russell Creek with her first ever silver salmon.  She said of her arrival at Izembek, “I flew from Anchorage to Cold Bay with the view of cloudy blue skies opening up to view the terrain of water, remote islands, and volcanoes. A great start to an area new to me and my excitement was exhilarating!” pc. Laticia Melendez/USFWS


Our last day we accompanied refuge staff when they gave a Refuge tour, using two small busses and two pickup trucks, to arriving passengers on the Alaska Ferry Tustumena from town to Grant’s Point, located at the edge of Izembek Lagoon. Meg added that “I enjoyed extending enthusiasm and appreciation of Izembek to the ferry passengers.”

Working at Izembek Refuge was a great experience. Thanks to Matthew and all the Refuge staff for having us.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
An Incredible Time at Kodiak:  Bears, Coast and a Wonderful Staff
By Caroline Brouwer


L-R Caroline Brouwer, Sierra Speer, Erin Strand, Patricia Prince, Natalie Fath, Danielle Fujii-Doe in the Kodiak Visitor Center. pc: USFWS

Overwhelmed with cruise ships at a low staff time of the year, Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge asked for a Friends volunteer to help in September at their Visitor Center. Alaskan brown bears, whales, and talking about the National Wildlife Refuge System are some of my favorite things, so I jumped at the opportunity to apply and was lucky enough to be selected by the refuge.

I got to Kodiak Island just in time for the silver salmon run to start and the frenzy of bears feasting on salmon, fattening up for the winter. It’s been a dream of mine for years to go see the island, the refuge, and its bears. The bears, I saw, in droves. But Kodiak Refuge is so pristine partially because its not on the road system, so I spent my free hours hiking on non-refuge lands and gazing in awe at the beautiful islands and coastline. 

Four out of the 10 days I was on the island, were cruise ship days with passengers flooding the town. Over 1,600 passengers passed through the Visitor Center on those four days, which was a great opportunity to talk about refuges and wildlife. One of the glorious things about the Refuge System is that refuges are not as highly visited as National Parks, offering a more solitary experience than parks. The downside is that many people have no idea what a refuge even is, or that there is this incredible System of public lands set aside for wildlife of which Kodiak is just one piece.

Education is part of our Friends mission: teaching visitors about wildlife refuges, and the importance of refuge habitat and species protection. They can then become stewards and advocates for refuges.

The Kodiak staff were incredible and capable, but, like most refuges, they have lost much of their capacity to complete critical tasks due to budget cuts. It was valuable to me as Friends Advocacy Committee Chair to see this for myself.  Our advocacy column in this same newsletter is devoted to the budget, so please click on that article as well to hear how the funding fiasco currently happening in Washington, DC is affecting refuges on the ground. 

Many, many thanks to the talented Kodiak Refuge staff, particularly Mike Brady, Danielle Fujii-Doe, Natalie Fath, and Amy Peterson and hardworking, generous and knowledgeable volunteers and seasonal staff– Sierra, Patricia, Nicole, Jan, and Stacey.  A special shout out to Erin Strand whom I credit with keeping me alive by teaching me everything I know about bear safety, as we staffed a community event at the Coast Guard base. Thank you to everyone for making this trip so incredible. I hope I was able to give back as much as I received!


My last night was the most exciting (terrifying? incredibly stupid?) part of the trip. I went to the Buskin River to catch one last glimpse of the magnificent bears. The only bear I saw was in the process of expelling a huge tapeworm from his rear end.  Fascinated,  I watched him while he ate salmon. I lost sight of him, then heard him splashing loudly in the river too close to me. I hustled out of the area and turned on the video on my phone as I walked away, and then  – well, see for yourself

For an explanation of tape worms in Alaskan bears … check out thisarticle

 




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In the Field: Friends Volunteering

by Poppy Benson, Friends Board Vice President
 

On a river and lakes and mountainsides, Friends were helping Refuges this past July-August.  Read the reports of three members about their work on Kodiak, Yukon Delta and Tetlin Refuges.

Saw Some Amazing Fish
by Michelle Beadle, Palmer member

I spent a week in July helping the Fish and Wildlife Service Fisheries crew at the Kwethluk Fish Weir in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. Due to high water lingering into summer, the weir had only been “fish tight” for a couple days prior to my arrival. Having fish identification experience myself, I spent lots of time helping with the fish counts to free up the crew for buttoning up other projects. Fish passing through the weir are counted and monitored by video 24 hours a day. Chinook, sockeye, and chum made up the bulk of the fish observed with occasional pink salmon and whitefish showing up as well. 



Saw Some Amazing Fish by Michelle Beadle, Palmer member

My time at the weir was great fun. I learned a lot about what it takes to run a weir on a large river system. The crew lead from the Kenai Fisheries Office, Derek, and the workers from the nearby village of Kwethluk were a pleasure to work with and shared a wealth of knowledge. The peacefulness offered by the remote tundra and adventure of traveling along the rivers rounded out the experience. I am looking forward to many more adventures in Western Alaska!


The fish trap is also closed for a short time each day, which allowed us to live capture fish to record age, sex, and length before releasing the fish upstream.  pc: Rory Spellman


Rory Spellman, Soldotna Friend, and Ryan Peyton, Anchorage Friend, also volunteered at the weir.


Would I do it Again?
In a Heartbeat:  Berry Monitoring on Kodiak Island

by Moira O’Malley, Fairbanks Friend
 

You may have heard of Exploratory Botanist Steve Perlman “going to extremes by descending remote cliff faces to save Hawaii’s most endangered native plants from extinction”.   Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge has their own Extreme Wildlife Biologist- Bill Pyle.  Bill is on a mission to help save the Kodiak bears by monitoring berries- salmon, blue, elder, and devil’s club. I assisted him for 3 1/2 weeks this summer. 

Berry monitoring with Bill is not for the faint of heart. First of all, you have to get to the remote sites by a Beaver Cub float plane; weather permitting, of course. It’s often a waiting game. Once at the site, be prepared to stay in a public use cabin with no running water (Uganik), a teepee (Red Lake, my favorite), the ‘posh’ Camp Island (Karluk), and the bunkhouse (Kodiak). Then the fun begins. Kodiak bushwhacking features steep climbs, scrambling through stinging nettles, burning poochki (wild celery), tussocks, ‘root grabbers’, all while under relentless attack by mozzies (mosquitoes), no-see-ums, white socks, and biting flies.  And dealing with cold soggy fingers and keeping the data dry! On one site, I was perched on a 140-degree slope barely hanging on by the ‘skin’ of my boots with my heels dug into the wet, muddy, slippery soil to keep from sliding down the incline!


My job was writing down data as it was given to me, often shouted from a distance. Alders became my friend. They not only provided shade, but the branches offered a comfortable place to sit while collecting data.

Oh, the views, wildlife, and flora of Kodiak Island! What an unforgettable experience!  Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!


The Set Up Crew:  Banding Ducks was a Bonus
by John and Lyn Kennedy, Soldotna Friends

We spent the first three days of our week building and setting up the duck banding traps in Deadman and Yarger lakes at Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge. The traps consisted of 40 foot long rolls of chicken wire prepped with a door to be used by banders to enter the trap and retrieve the ducks. We boated the materials to the desired area in the lakes and held the traps in place with ground rods. Then an opening was fashioned to allow the ducks to swim into the trap and bird netting was attached creating a roof so the ducks weren’t able to fly out. Traps were baited with barley and corn and fingers were crossed hoping the ducks would come.

It was early in the season so we went with the expectation that we would just be setting things up and not actually banding any ducks, so for us it was a bonus.  Lin Kennedy prepping duck for banding.

On the fourth day, we actually caught some ducks.  Deputy Refuge Manager Ross Flagen was in his element teaching how to determine if it was a juvenile or a mature duck, male or female.   After that a band was put around a leg, and they were sent along their merry way.   As John and I were newbies to this and have no birding experience, it was very educational.

 It was a fun, informative week.  We enjoyed being able to experience the Tetlin Refuge.  The staff we encountered were all very friendly, excited and appreciative to have “Friends” at their refuge.  John and I would both be more than happy to go back again.


Great Weather if You like it Hot with Thunder and Lightning.
by Dan Musgrove, Soldotna Friend

Our second week team of Dan Musgrove and Jerry Hupp had to be very adaptable to the extreme weather conditions.  The three teams after them were canceled due to the high water making it impossible to trap ducks.  Hear what Dan had to say. 

Dan Musgrove with the outhouse he was building as part of the Scottie Creek historic cabin’s transition to a public use cabin.

Due to the hot weather and high water levels duck banding was not good and we only got three ducks the first day. We ended up adding a couple more traps on Deadman Lake for later on in the season.  After that we switched gears and started working at Scottie Creek Cabin.  The Tetlin Refuge was turning this historic cabin into a public use cabin. We helped build an outhouse and enhanced the trail going into the cabin. We lined the trail with sawdust, which took two large dump trailers full from Tok.

We had great weather if you like it hot with thunder and lightning.  Thermometer in the shade of the Northway gas station showed almost 90 degrees!  I had a great time volunteering and would recommend it to everyone. Thanks again for these opportunities.




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Reports from the Field: Friends Volunteers in Action

by Poppy Benson, Friends Board Vice President
 

We have over 20 volunteers out this summer and fall and here are the early reports.

Galbraith Lake Bunkhouse – The area “is to die for”, said Friends volunteer Bev Cronen about her work site at Galbraith Lake in the Arctic Refuge. “There aren’t very many places you can look in every direction and see wilderness and beauty.”  Bev and her husband Louis Dupree of Homer drove their camper up the Dalton Highway to help the refuge assemble the insides of a new bunkhouse.  Bev went on to say that they really enjoyed the refuge people and volunteers they worked with and were glad to be a part of this.  She praised their supervisor Paul Banyas for his flexibility and adaptability as they had several surprises when they arrived at Galbraith Lake after a long day of packing the trailer with furniture parts, tools, and supplies and pulling it up the Haul Road.  They arrived at 11 pm, only to find that the bunkhouse still had carpenters working in it and the old bunkhouse was full of archeologists.  Thank goodness Louis and Bev had their camper but Paul made it all work. 



First meal on the newly assembled table in the new Galbraith Lake bunkhouse. From L to R – Refuge Intern Clay, hired carpenters Zack and; Nathan, Refuge maintenance worker Paul Banyas, Friend Louie Dupree, and refuge volunteer Ken. It was an amiable group that finished the work in time  to go hiking. pc:: Bev Cronen.

Kenai River Festival, Soldotna. Every year we help the Kenai Refuge at their booth and do outreach of our own at the Kenai River Festival in early June.  Volunteer participation was great this year under Marie McConnell’s leadership. Seven friends volunteered: Marie, Lynne Schmidt, Dan Musgrove, Becky Hutchinson, Anna Haylock, Carolyn Weathers who helped with the refuge activities and Michelle Semerad who came from Anchorage to help.  Marie reported attendance at the festival seemed to be down and more of a tourist audience than in prior years.   
 


Marie McConnell and Lynne Schmidt of Soldotna at the Friends outreach table at the Kenai River Festival in June. pc: USFWS




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Few Moose, Few Wolves: What is the Story on the Yukon Flats Refuge? 1/17, 5pm-6pm (AKT)

Presented by Bryce Lake, Wildlife Biologist, Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge

Speaker Reception with Bryce and light refreshments: Morris Thompson Cultural Center, 101 Dunkel Street, Fairbanks, or join others at Alaska Maritime Refuge Islands & Ocean Visitor Center, 95 Sterling Hwy or Kenai Refuge Visitor Center, 33398 Ski Hill Road or Kodiak Refuge Visitor Center, 402 Center St.

Doors open at with light refreshment at 4:30pm, presentation begins at 5pm at all 4 locations!


   

Bryce Lake with sedated wolf after the radio collar was attached. His red coat was a deliberate choice so the helicopter capture crew could  easily find Bryce in the expansive landscape to deliver a wolf to him for collaring.

Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge is unique because wolves and moose occur there at some of the lowest densities in North America. With moose the only large prey available to wolves on the Yukon Flats, how does the low prey density change the wolves behavior?  Do wolves eat fewer moose when moose are scarce (wolf kill rate)?  How do wolves adapt to few prey (search behavior)?  Join Yukon Flats Wildlife Biologist Bryce Lake to hear his stories about his four years of field work trying to answer these questions.   He will share moose numbers, wolf numbers, and what he has learned about this unusual predator/prey situation.


Yukon Flats Refuge, a vast complex of wetlands, is the third largest refuge in the country.. pc: USFWS

Bryce Lake says the most rewarding aspect of his job is the inspiration he draws from interacting with and learning about the hidden ways of nature, some of which he will share in this talk. Bryce has been a wildlife biologist for the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge since 2008.  He has broad experience in Alaska having spent 13 summers from 1998 to 2008 living in a tent and working as a field technician on the Copper River Delta, North Slope, Yukon Delta, and the Interior. He has had prior experience on other Alaska National Wildlife Refuges including Yukon Delta Refuge and as an intern at Kanuti Refuge. Bryce’s job as a wildlife biologist is to conduct biology to inform management decisions. This usually means aerial surveys to count wildlife, capture and radio collar birds and mammals, and band ducks. His latest experiment is using trail cameras to monitor furbearers, particularly lynx. You can read about surprising things that Bryce has discovered with his trail cameras in the Science Corner of our February 2021 issue of our newsletter. 

Bryce holds a master’s degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His thesis focused on how early environment shapes the growth of goslings. In his spare time, he enjoys all things outdoors, usually fishing, camping, hunting, and hiking with his two dogs. He also enjoys watching a close hockey or football game. Bryce lives in Fairbanks.

 

Moose and wolf research takes place during the lovely but often brutally cold winter with temperatures frequently below zero. pc: USFWS



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    Climate Scenarios for Alaska’s Refuges: Projections, potential impacts, and science for adaptation. 11/15, 5pm-6pm (AKT)

    With Dr. Jeremy Littell of the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center

    This presentation was recorded.  View below:
    How might climate change affect Alaska’s national wildlife refuges?  Climate change is already affecting the high latitudes, including Alaska, in profound ways – warming in the Arctic is now three to four times faster than the average for Earth as a whole. How and how fast the climate will change in the future varies considerably across Alaska, and how those changes will affect the ecosystems, habitats, and species are a critical science need for refuges attempting to adapt to and plan for these futures. Littell will discuss what we know about likely future changes, the impacts that are likely to occur, and how those vary among Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges. Along the way, he’ll describe how we develop climate projections for the future and where the uncertainties about those futures come from.

    Jeremy Littell is a climate impacts ecologist at the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center (USGS). He conducts research at the intersection of climate change, ecological responses, and science needs of resource managers and decision makers and works to provide climate information that is relevant to decision makers’ adaptation to climate change. He has 20 years’ experience in climate impacts research. Jeremy grew up in southcentral Alaska, studied and worked outside, and returned in 2012. His doctoral work at the University of Washington focused on ecological and climatic controls on wildfire in the western U.S. and the role of climate in Douglas-fir tree growth across its climatic range. He also worked as a research scientist at the UW Climate Impacts Group, collaborating with resource managers in Federal and state agencies to better understand and use climate information in planning and adaptation.   When he’s not working (and sometimes while working), he can be found trying to find out how much of Alaska can be crossed via human powered locomotion in a day or spending time with his family.



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      Tufted puffin bringing a bill load of fish to feed its puffling (chick). Pc Robin Corcoran

      Tracking Puffins in the Kodiak Archipelago. 10/18, 5pm-6pm (AKDT)

      The bobbing orange and yellow bills of Tufted and Horned Puffins are signs of summer off the coast of Alaska. These beloved birds have sometimes been called “clowns of the seas” due to their playful appearance. However, little is known about where these iconic species overwinter when they spend eight to nine months at sea away from breeding colonies. Join Robin Corcoran and Katie Stoner to learn about the ecology of Tufted and Horned puffins. Discover the habitats of Kodiak’s puffins and hear how Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, in cooperation with Oregon State University, is working to better understand and investigate factors that might be impacting populations of these two charismatic seabirds within the Kodiak Archipelago.
      Katie Stoner “grubbing” puffins on Chiniak Island. It takes a long arm to reach into the puffin burrows. pc:Robin Corcoran/USFWS
      • In Kodiak, join us for the presentation at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center with a speaker reception starting at 4:30. 
      • In Soldotna, a watch party at 5 p.m. at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center on Ski Hill Road followed by volunteer orientation for those interested.
      • In Homer, a watch party at 5 p.m. at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge’s Islands & Ocean Visitor Center followed by an opportunity to join Friends and learn about volunteer opportunities with the Refuges.

      Robin Corcoran has said that it is a dream come true that part of her duties  as Avian Biologist for Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge are the same things that she would do in her free time – watch and photograph birds.  In spite of  growing up on Long Island outside of New York, she got to play unsupervised in a woods, a marsh and shore where she developed her passion for all wild things.  She particularly likes birds because they are more diverse than mammals.  Since Robin started working at Kodiak Refuge in 2009, she has studied everything from Kittzlitz’s Murrelets nesting on rocky mountain tops, to the rapidly declining Aleutian Tern. Robin oversees an annual songbird mist netting and banding program and spends much of each summer navigating the Kodiak Archipelago coastline by skiff to count nearshore marine birds.   Hear more about Robin’s interesting career on this podcast.  


      Katie Stoner is an Oregon State University PhD student working in collaboration with Kodiak Refuge for her dissertation research assessing the conservation status and threats to Tufted and Horned Puffins breeding in the Kodiak Archipelago within the Gulf of Alaska.  She developed a passion for wildlife and birdwatching while attending summer camps with the Audubon Society of Portland in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology and Natural Resource Ecology from the University of Vermont. During her undergraduate degree, she had the opportunity to volunteer for Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge on the refuge’s Kittlitz’s Murrelet Nesting Ecology Project, and she used data from her fieldwork on this project to complete her undergraduate thesis. 

      After graduating, Katie gained experience studying avian ecology as part of several different research programs. She contributed to the conservation of threatened and endangered petrels and shearwaters in the tropical mountains of Kauai’s Na Pali Coast and monitored tree nests of the Marbled Murrelet in Oregon’s coastal forests. She lived in remote field camps for her work including in the backcountry of the Kodiak Archipelago, on Chowiet Island in the Gulf of Alaska, and on the windy slopes of Cape Crozier on Ross Island, Antarctica studying Adelie Penguins for Point Blue Conservation Science. 

      Katie is thrilled to return to Alaska and Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge to learn the secrets of Alaska’s “clowns of the seas.”




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        Life at the end of the continent: geese of Izembek Refuge. 9/20, 5pm-6pm (AKDT)

        Presentation by Alison Williams, Widlife Biologist

        Izembek National Wildlife Refuge is a remote refuge in southwest Alaska that contains one of the world’s largest eelgrass beds and hosts a huge diversity of wildlife. In particular, the refuge is critical habitat for several iconic Alaskan goose species that rely on the refuge as migratory staging and wintering areas.  So why are these geese at Izembek, and where do they come from? How are geese at Izembek affected by changing environmental conditions? Come learn about the life of Alaska’s geese and how Izembek is a key piece of their life history!

        Hundreds of thousands of waterfowl, including virtually the entire population of Pacific Black Brant, visit the lagoon to feed on eelgrass and rest during migration. pc: Kristine Sowls/USFWS

        Alison Williams is a wildlife biologist at Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, stationed in Cold Bay, Alaska. Originally from Colorado, she grew up in the wild foothills of the Rocky Mountains with a love for wildlife, open spaces, and a special interest in birds.  She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation, before coming to Alaska as a seasonal Biological Science Technician for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Through her work, she spent several remarkable years traveling to various Wildlife Refuges within Alaska, including multiple visits to Izembek, which piqued her interest in seaducks, seabirds, and life on the remote edges of Alaska. She started her current, dream job at Izembek in March 2021, and has enjoyed learning about and seeing the huge diversity of wildlife Izembek has to offer. Alison also recently completed a Master of Science Degree in Avian Sciences from University of California Davis on Common Goldeneye reproductive ecology in interior Alaska




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        Bird Camp! A Summer Season on Aiktak Island with Sarah and Dan: Tuesday, 4/19, 5–6 pm (AKDT)

        Presentation by: Sarah Youngren & Dan Rapp,
        Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Biological Technicians

        Watch Presentation (Youtube)

        Post-presentation Q&A:

         

        There are islands in Alaska where hundreds of thousands of seabirds gather annually to breed. These islands are critical to the survival of these species. Imagine yourself living on one of these islands with one other person. Sound picturesque? It is, but you won’t be spending your days sipping umbrellaed drinks while lounging on the beach. You’re here to do a job. You’re here to collect long-term monitoring data on the seabirds (and other species) that breed on your island. You’re going to be cold, wet, and generally uncomfortable for most of your stay. It’s not an easy life, but it’s worth it. You’ll see and hear things very few ever will. You’ll get to collect data that monitors the health of Alaskan seabird populations and the ocean they, and mankind, depend on for survival. Join Sarah and Dan for a summer field season on Aiktak Island, in the Eastern Aleutians, as biological technicians for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. They will show you what it takes to work in this rugged and remote refuge.

        Sarah Youngren and Dan Rapp are seabird researchers. Most people have no idea what they do, because they work where very few people go and with species that spend most of their lives at sea (or in these places few people get to go). Between Sarah and Dan, they have 28 years of experience working with seabirds on remote islands in Alaska and Hawaii (and a stint in Louisiana). They both started their professional careers working with Alaskan salmon, and dabbled in other fieldwork, but both eventually found their way to a remote seabird colony. All parts of living and working on these islands spoke to them, and their addiction hasn’t let up. They have worked with a plethora of seabird species, ranging in size from the armful Black-footed albatross, to the fit in your palm Leaches storm-petrel. Most of the data they collect contributes to long-term datasets for the purpose of detecting trends / changes within seabird populations. But they also conduct and participate in original research, most recently they helped outfit albatross with tags to track their movements across the North Pacific from their breeding colony at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Both Sarah and Dan earned their Masters degrees in marine science from Hawaii Pacific University in 2015, with theses that addressed patterns and impacts of plastic ingestion in Hawaiian seabirds. After completing their graduate work, they returned to seasonal fieldwork. Since 2015 they have been spending summers working for Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, specifically on Aiktak Island in the Eastern Aleutians.




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        Bears, the Emerald Isle and Bear Biology in Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge: Tuesday, 3/15, 5 – 6 p.m. (AKDT)


        This meeting’s presentations were recorded.  Watch below:

        Arctic Refuge Video




        Dr. Joy Erlenbach, Kodiak Refuge Bear Biologist



        Have you ever wondered what a bear biologist actually does? Get a tour of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge—see the lush green landscapes, the jagged peaks, the idyllic remote streams, the majestic bears and wildlife…and get to know the bears of Kodiak just a little bit better. Find out what the refuge has to offer, and the ways our biologists work to maintain the land and resources for future generations. Listen as Joy shares with us what it’s like to be a bear biologist at Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge— the work she does, the needs of bears, and future directions for bear biology and management in Kodiak.

        Protected ocean waters within a fjord, the surface of Three Saints Bay reflects mountains like the surface of a calm lake. pc: Robin Corcoran.

        Joy Erlenbach says she became interested in bears because of the adaptability of bears—their ability to adjust to myriad challenges and still succeed—as well as their misunderstood nature.  Joy has studied black, brown, and polar bears but brown bears are her favorite because of their big personalities and grit.

        Joy has been Kodiak Refuge’s bear biologist since March 2020. Prior to working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service she was a Postdoc, PhD Student, and Masters student at Washington State University where she studied nutritional ecology of Alaskan brown bears, optimal diets for brown bears in the wild and captivity, and energetics of polar bears on land.  She did extensive field work in Katmai National Park from 2015 to 2018 for her PhD as well as short stints for other projects on the Kenai Peninsula and the Kotzebue area. She has also done field work in Canada, Yellowstone, and California.  She has been involved in 15 scientific papers including her PhD thesis, Nutritional and Landscape Ecology of Brown Bears in Katmai National Park, Alaska.

        “One of my favorite memories during some of my work was watching a young wolf and a young brown bear play tag on the intertidal. That and the time the same young bear recognized how bad she was at fishing and gave up and just lazy-river floated down the river instead.”

        In addition to job skills such as collaborative research planning, data and statistical analysis, and population monitoring, Joy’s resume includes unusual skills such as capturing large wildlife by helicopter darting, aerial netting and snares, planning remote field research camps and projects, backcountry navigation and radio telemetry.




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